The Department of Archaeology runs an MA in Experimental Archaeology and many of the staff and postgraduates in the department use experimental archaeology within their research.
Currently, there are two large staff research projects involving experiments. Learning to be Human (Bruce Bradley) explores the way in which individuals develop expertise in flintknapping and how these skills change the brain, and ‘Cornwall and the Sea in the Bronze Age’ (Robert van de Noort, Linda Hurcombe, Anthony Harding) combines research and presentation by building an Early Bronze Age sewn plank boat as part of a living exhibition.
Other research involves experiments moving large stones, tanning hides, processing bones to obtain fat, working plants for basketry and textile production, metalworking, working amber and projectile technologies.