Now: Archaeologist
“Since completing my BSc (Hons) Archaeology at Truro, I have now completed a master’s in Archaeology at the University of Bristol. During my master’s I started my job at Geoflo, and my roles at both Wells and Mendip museum and Glastonbury Abbey museum. My job at Geoflo involves the processing of archaeological soil samples to retrieve anthropogenic and environmental artefacts. In addition, I am also involved in geophysical surveys as required. In my roles as archivist, I have been recently helping a palaeontology PhD student researching Pleistocene animal remains (there are a surprising number of hyaenas!) from the caves in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, and accessioning artefacts excavated during last summer’s excavations at Glastonbury Abbey.
“While processing one soil sample I discovered an Anglo-Saxon blue glass bead, which was pretty exciting. As an archivist, I rediscovered a fireman’s helmet which was thought to have been permanently lost. This ‘find’ attracted the attention of the local newspaper and I was photographed wearing it.
“Get out there and do as much fieldwork and as varied fieldwork as possible, and keep doing it during your studies. My current job came from a volunteer excavation I was helping with: unknown to me, my future employer was watching the volunteers.”