Laying the Foundations: Manual of the British Museum Iraq Scheme Archaeological Training Programme

Edited by John MacGinnis Edited by Sébastien Rey

Book cover: Laying the Foundations: Manual of the British Museum Iraq Scheme Archaeological Training Programme

Extent: 308 pages

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: Ancient Near East, World Archaeology

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(January 2022)

ISBN: 9781803271408

8.07 x 8.86 inches

Price: $60.00

In stock

This book, which developed out of the British Museum’s ‘Iraq Scheme’ archaeological training programme, covers the core components for putting together and running an archaeological field programme. While the manual is oriented to the archaeology of Iraq, the approaches are no less applicable to the Middle East more widely.


Laying the Foundations, which developed out of the British Museum’s ‘Iraq Scheme’ archaeological training programme, covers the core components for putting together and running an archaeological field programme. The focus is on practicality. Individual chapters address background research, the use of remote sensing, approaches to surface collection, excavation methodologies, survey with total (and multi) stations, use of a dumpy level, context classification, on-site recording, databases and registration, environmental protocols, conservation, photography, illustration, post-excavation site curation and report writing. While the manual is oriented to the archaeology of Iraq, the approaches are no less applicable to the Middle East more widely, an aim hugely facilitated by the open-source distribution of translations into Arabic and Kurdish.

Foreword Preface Chapter 1 Initiating a Field Project Chapter 2 Documentary Research Chapter 3 Regional Survey Chapter 4 Satellite Imagery Chapter 5 Geophysical Prospection Chapter 6 Geographic Information Systems Chapter 7 Survey with Total Station / Multi Station Chapter 8 GPS Chapter 9 Drones Chapter 10 Database Chapter 11 Surface Collection Chapter 12 Excavation Methodology Chapter 13 Context Recording Chapter 14 Finds Chapter 15 Burials Chapter 16 The Dumpy Level Chapter 17 Environmental Protocols Chapter 18 Drawing Plans and Sections Chapter 19 Registration Chapter 20 Conservation Chapter 21 Small Finds Illustration Chapter 22 Ceramic Illustration Chapter 23 Photography Chapter 24 Photogrammetry Chapter 25 Damaged and looted sites Chapter 26 Site Management Chapter 27 Report writing Appendices: Surface survey record sheet Levels recording sheet Context sheet Burial sheet, Foreword ;

Preface ;

Chapter 1 Initiating a Field Project ;

Chapter 2 Documentary Research ;

Chapter 3 Regional Survey ;

Chapter 4 Satellite Imagery ;

Chapter 5 Geophysical Prospection ;

Chapter 6 Geographic Information Systems ;

Chapter 7 Survey with Total Station / Multi Station ;

Chapter 8 GPS ;

Chapter 9 Drones ;

Chapter 10 Database ;

Chapter 11 Surface Collection ;

Chapter 12 Excavation Methodology ;

Chapter 13 Context Recording ;

Chapter 14 Finds ;

Chapter 15 Burials ;

Chapter 16 The Dumpy Level ;

Chapter 17 Environmental Protocols ;

Chapter 18 Drawing Plans and Sections ;

Chapter 19 Registration ;

Chapter 20 Conservation ;

Chapter 21 Small Finds Illustration ;

Chapter 22 Ceramic Illustration ;

Chapter 23 Photography ;

Chapter 24 Photogrammetry ;

Chapter 25 Damaged and looted sites ;

Chapter 26 Site Management ;

Chapter 27 Report writing ;

Appendices: ;

Surface survey record sheetLevels recording sheetContext sheetBurial sheet

  • Edited by John MacGinnis
  • Edited by Sébastien Rey