Sean R Taylor
Senior Archaeologist, Cornwall Archaeological Unit
I have worked for Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU) for 20 years. I graduated in 1996 from the University of Lampeter in Wales and worked the "digging circuit" and undertook survey work for the National Trust in Wales for a few years before getting a permanent role with CAU as an archaeologist. I was delighted to get work in Cornwall as its where I’m from and where I live. The work has always featured excavation work but is very diverse and I’ve worked on large GIS projects, historic building surveys, and assessments in between. I've been a Senior Archaeologist for CAU for the last eight years and managing major excavation projects since 2012.
The part of the job I enjoy most is being out in the field excavating – in dry weather at least. I really love the finds. I like seeing objects that were carefully made thousands of years of ago slowly
emerge from the dirt. A flint arrowhead, a lovingly made piece of metal work, or a piece of hand decorated pottery are all examples of human craftsmanship which still resonate with us today. I also enjoy piecing together the site records after the fieldwork is over and trying to make sense of it all. Every site is different and there’s always a new aspect of archaeology to learn about and read around on every job.