Volunteering in the HER by Joanna Davies

Hello there. I volunteered for Access to Archaeology as part of my four week placement at GGAT for my degree in Archaeology and Ancient History at Cardiff University. This was the second time I was on placement at GGAT; good job they let me back! Two of the weeks were spent in HER working with Leonora in the room with the best view ever. I had done HER last year but this year knew the system (roughly) so was able to enter more data. I feel like I have contributed to the database and learnt so much about the workings of an archaeology trust. Reading the reports as I went along I saw the good, the bad and the bizarre of report writing, but each report showed the amount of work that goes into just one project.

Technology and me don’t tend to get on but I managed to conquer all before me and Leonora was always there if I didn’t know what to do or when I feared I had broken something important, luckily it was only the chair (which I fixed, honestly!). Sometimes you get bogged down with reports, as I did with Tir Gofal, but finishing a list is a good feeling. It’s not just typing on computers; there’s drawing polygons on computers and the joy of all joys, scanning. Be warned spirally binder machine is pure evil but I managed to tame it. I was often summoned by my fellow volunteers to confront the machine and I won!

Seriously though overall the experience was fantastic and I would recommend Access to Archaeology to anyone interested in archaeology or just curious. It’s well worth volunteering. It’s a rewarding experience and the people are lovely (especially Leonora). Get volunteering soon or all the Cardiff Uni students will have invaded again J

Joanna Davies, A2A Volunteer and Cardiff University Student