Walking the Past



Overview

There are archaeological sites all around us, such as hillforts and stone circles, Roman towns, ancient fields and roads. During this course, we will venture out and look at the archaeological landscape, to help students pick out and identify sites on the ground. We will visit the best sites I have been to on 12 courses of Walking the Past: Uffington Castle, the White Horse and Waylands Smithy; Danebury Hillfort; Aynho village, Rainsborough Camp and Astwick deserted Medieval village; The Rollright stones.

The first and last sessions will take place in Oxford from 10-12am. Students will take their own cars, and at the first session, those without transport will be able to arrange lifts. The next four sessions are 4 hours out in the field from 10am to 2pm and we will meet at agreed points at 10am. The field trips will not be too strenuous, but some sites have restricted access and agility will be required. Students should come equipped for rain (as this is an all-weather course) and bring packed lunch/coffee.

Programme details

Course starts: 25 Apr 2025

Week 1: Introduction at Ewert House 10-12am

Week 2: First trip, 10am-2pm

Week 3: Second trip, 10am-2pm

Week 4: Third trip, 10am-2pm

Week 5: Fourth trip, 10am-2pm

Week 6: Conclusion, at Ewert House 10-12am

Digital Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £285.00
Take this course for CATS points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Jennifer Foster

Jennifer Foster is an archaeologist who has specialised in the study of artefacts. She has worked at the British and Ashmolean Museums. She has been teaching archaeology to continuing education students for 30 years.

Course aims

This course aims take us out of the classroom into the field, to look at archaeology within a landscape context.

Course Objectives:

  • To gain first-hand experience of archaeological sites in the field.
  • To identify a range of prehistoric and later archaeological site types.
  • To consider archaeological sites in their landscape contexts.

Teaching methods

This course is very much a voyage of exploration: it is never possible to predict what you might find. There will be plenty of discussion, with handouts for each trip (e.g. where sites have been excavated and published).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • give descriptive and interpretative accounts of the sites visited;
  • be able to recognise the remains of past human activity in the landscape;
  • assess landscapes from an archaeological viewpoint.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be by the submission of a field notebook.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support