From vocational orientation to the leadership skills of an excavation leader: Presentation of a modular and study-parallel skills training programme for commercial archaeology in the private sector

Abstract

Sharing scientific knowledge from universities with experience from the private sector is not anymore only customary in the natural and engineering sciences. Archaeology has become part of the socially relevant private sector due to the costs-by-cause principle. Which makes skills and methods belonging to project and personnel management even more important. However, the practical content of the curricula is limited to a few mandatory weeks. It quickly becomes clear that neither occupational safety, nor personnel management, nor project management, i.e., can be provided in these practical seminars, which should constitute the basics for an excavation leader. This contribution aims to develop and present a solution in which – in addition to the study of prehistory and early history or other archaeological disciplines – practical training can take place as a knowledge transfer between university and industry.