Wednesday 7 October 2015

Emma's Placement with A2A



Hi! I'm Emma and I'm a Cardiff University BA Archaeology undergrad. I volunteered at GGAT in July 2015 for my 4 week summer placement as part of my degree. It was great fun! I had chance to experience various different aspects of archaeology and really enjoyed getting to know the team.
I spent 8 days in total in the HER department working on the Access to Archaeology project with Calli and Charina (who both deserve a big thumbs up for being very patient with me and teaching me the ropes!) At first the HER database seemed very daunting, however, with their perseverance and kindness I felt confident to give it my best try! It was interesting to have a glimpse of some of the various archaeological discoveries found in the Glamorgan-Gwent region.
The staff at GGAT have been great and the experience and skills I have gained is something I will be forever grateful for! If you are considering volunteering for the A2A project, I encourage you to do so. I can guarantee you'll enjoy it and gain lots of valuable experience at the same time.

Volunteering for Access to Archaeology



This was my second year taking part in GGAT's Access to Archaelogy project. After several months away I felt wary about returning to the project. How much would I remember? What if I needed to ask about basic things I could of helped other volunteers with myself just a few months ago?

Fortunately my fears were unfounded. After a quick run through, I picked up things again pretty quickly. This was largely thanks to Leonora and Charina, who are both very welcoming and easy to talk to. If you have any questions they are both easy to approach and there is never any embarrassment caused by asking the same question twice.

Taking part in the project gave me the opportunity to add new skills to my CV including experience with Geographic Information Systems (i.e. MapInfo, Cartographic assessment). I would highly recommend the project to anyone looking to learn new skills to increase their career prospects.

Richard Thomas