At the Archaeological Resource Centre in York (a public visitor centre)
there is a tray to trowel.
 
Ah, to be in a country so rich that students can pay for such
facilities!  It's a completely different culture here (despite the
similarities in our earthenwares).  Here, students are hired or
volunteer for rescue dig work (i.e. to work on sites which are going to
be built upon, whether or not the students dig them).
 
In article <[log in to unmask]>, Praetzellis
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>OK, you can take your finger off of the delete button now -- the
>SOPA/ROPA/DOPA thread is over.
>
>Meanwhile, a non-email colleague at a local community college is interested
>in hearing from anyone who has constructed an "archaeological" site for the
>purpose of training students in stratigraphic excavation techniques. He
>wants to do the same and would like advice, others' experiences, etc.
>I did this myself a few years ago and am still digging portions of the site
>every spring.
>The advantages:
>1.  I'm not destroying a real site for no other purpose than to give
>students an introduction to digging.
>2.  There's no report to write at the end of the class (I really like that
>one).
>3.  It's *exactly* like digging a real site. After only 3 months, I
>couldn't tell that it was a phoney.
>The disadvantages:
>1.  I have to rebuild a portion of it each year.
>2.  It cost about $500 for soil to create.
>3.  I had to hassle with university administration for a piece of unused
>land: "You want to do WHAT?"
>
>So, if you have ever built a site -- something with real digable features,
>not just artifacts on the surface -- please let me know and I'll pass on
>the information. Thanks a lot!
>
>Adrian Praetzellis
>[log in to unmask]
>[SOPA member since 1981]
 
--
Pat Reynolds
[log in to unmask]
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Prattchet)