I’m a field archaeologist with over 20 years’ experience across the commercial and research sectors. I specialise in the excavation, recording and analysis of archaeological wood, with a strong interest in woodland exploitation and management as well as prehistoric woodworking technology. I hold a BSc (Hons) in Archaeology from UCL (2006), an MA by Research in Archaeology from the University of York (2018), as well as honorary research positions at the University of York and the University of Sheffield. I’ve been a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists since 2015 and serve on the ICOMOS-UK Wood Committee.
I started my career as a field archaeologist in 1997 at the Bronze Age site of Flag Fen, which led into a career in commercial archaeology and laid the foundations for my work as a wood specialist. I worked for a variety of units in East Anglia and London, latterly in Project Manager roles. During this time, I continued to work as a specialist on waterlogged wood assemblages and stayed involved with research at Flag Fen (co-editing the 2010 monograph for the site).
Since 2011, I’ve worked as a freelance archaeological wood specialist, undertaking work for a broad range of commercial units and university departments. Recently this has included excavation and analysis of the structural and artefactual wood assemblages at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr (University of York), and the Late Bronze Age site of Must Farm (Cambridge Archaeological Unit).
My time as an archaeologist started in the waterlogged environment of the East Anglian Fens and has continued to be focused around wetland environments and waterlogged burial contexts. I maintain my own research interests outside of my commercial contracts, exploring human-plant relationships within the woodlands that were so key to their way of life and their understanding of the world they inhabited.
Image: Dave Webb, Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Mike Bamforth 