By Dean Eastmond
Bournemouth University’s Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, Dr Eileen Wilkes, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 programme Farming Today this weekend on how archaeology affects farming and the effects farming has on archaeology.
The show looks at modern day farming and was located in a Devon farm for this week’s episode, which Dr Wilkes has been excavating for over a decade looking at Iron Age and prehistoric settlements.
So far enclosures where animals stayed and settlements where people lived have been found – dating back to over 2000 years ago. The project that was originally supposed to be only two weeks long, is still giving results ten years on!
Wilkes explains that archaeological excavations sites and farmland coincide together: “I had fallen in love with the place, the farmer and his family were very happy to have us”.
“Over the winter when we’re not here, his sheep come and graze around the excavation site”.
It was reported that over 150 British Heritage site of prehistoric date and under threat by farming methods such as deep ploughing and building.
Listen to the Farming Today interview in full
Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.