The York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited (YAT) is an educational charity, [1] established in 1972 in the city of York, England. It carries out archaeological investigations, fieldwork, excavation and research in York, Yorkshire and throughout Britain and beyond. Its staff include specialists in archaeological excavation, historic building analysis and recording, artefact curation, conservation and research, archaeological computing, and illustration and design.
YAT primarily provides archaeological services to fulfil planning conditions, serving clients from private individuals to local authorities and commercial developers, as a company operating within the commercial archaeology sector.
In 2011, Trent and Peak Archaeology was taken over by YAT, allowing extension of their commercial archaeology operations to Nottingham. [2] YAT also operated ArcHeritage providing archaeological services in Sheffield, [3] and Northlight Heritage in Glasgow, a social enterprise promoting better use of heritage resources. [2] [4] In November 2021, the three archaeological services – York, Trent & Peak and ArcHeritage – were brought together under the York Archaeology brand. [5]
The Trust created and runs the Jorvik Viking Centre in Coppergate Walk, York, which is noted for its living history approach. The centre is on the site of the Trust's 'Viking Dig' which contributed to archaeologists' knowledge of town life in Viking Age England. [6] Other sites in York run by the Jorvik Group are:
From 2014, the Trust operated two small museums in gatehouses of York's city walls: the Richard III Experience at Monk Bar and the Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar. Both closed in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to their limited capacity for social distancing. [7] In April 2022 the Henry VII Experience was replaced by the City Walls Experience. [8]
Since the 1980s, the Jorvik Viking Festival has been run by YAT each February half term. [9]
The trust publishes printed and web-based reports, popular books and information resources. It offers opportunities to take part in archaeological investigation through its annual training excavation 'Archaeology Live', and hosts the Community Archaeologist for York.
Rescue archaeology, sometimes called commercial archaeology, preventive archaeology, salvage archaeology, contract archaeology, developer-funded archaeology or compliance archaeology, is state-sanctioned, archaeological survey and excavation carried out as part of the planning process in advance of construction or other land development. In Western Europe excavation is the final stage in a sequence of activities that starts with desk-based assessments of the archaeological potential through exploratory fieldwork - monument surveys, testpitting, shovelpitting, evaluations and so forth. Other less common causes for salvage digs can be looting and illegal construction. One effect of rescue archaeology is that it diverts resources and impacts pre-planned archaeological work.
The Richard III Experience at Monk Bar was located in Monk Bar, the tallest of the four gatehouses in the historical city walls of York, England. It described the life of Richard III, the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty.
The Lloyds Bank coprolite is a large coprolite, or fossilised specimen of human faeces, recovered by the York Archaeological Trust while excavating the Viking settlement of Jórvík in northern England.
The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and Wales and in Scotland and is a company limited by guarantee.
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources ; after 400, Angles took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "wild-boar bay", 'jór' being a contraction of the Old Norse word for wild boar, 'jǫfurr'. The modern Welsh name is Efrog.
York had around 45 parish churches in 1300. Twenty survive, in whole or in part, a number surpassed in England only by Norwich, and 12 are used for worship. This article consists of a list of medieval churches which still exist in whole or in part, and a list of medieval churches which are known to have existed in the past but have been completely demolished.
The Anglian Tower is the lower portion of an early medieval tower on the city walls of York in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is located on the south-west (interior) face of the city walls, currently in the grounds of York City Library and accessible on foot both from there and the Museum Gardens.
The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England, containing lifelike mannequins and life-size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city. Visitors are taken through the dioramas in small carriages equipped with speakers. It was created by the York Archaeological Trust and opened in 1984. Its name is derived from Jórvík, the Old Norse name for York and the surrounding Viking Kingdom of Yorkshire.
Coppergate Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in York in North Yorkshire, England. It is named after Coppergate, one of York's medieval streets.
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust is an educational charity which was established in 1975. Its objective is ‘to advance the education of the public in archaeology’. CPAT is one of four Welsh Archaeological Trusts (WATs) which work to help protect, record and interpret all aspects of the historic environment. This includes providing advice to local authorities on archaeology and planning, undertaking archaeological projects for private- and public-sector clients, and delivering a programme of community archaeology events and activities.
York and its district, the City of York, has many distinct localities, suburbs and villages.
Barley Hall is a reconstructed medieval townhouse in the city of York, England. It was built around 1360 by the monks of Nostell Priory near Wakefield and extended in the 15th century. The property went into a slow decline and by the 20th century was sub-divided and in an increasingly poor physical condition. Bought by the York Archaeological Trust in 1987, it was renamed Barley Hall and heavily restored in a controversial project to form a museum. It is open to the public and hosts exhibitions.
Peter Vincent Addyman,, known as P. V. Addyman, is a British archaeologist, who was Director of the York Archaeological Trust from 1972 to 2002. Addyman obtained a degree in archaeology at Cambridge University, after which he lectured at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Southampton, while also conducting excavations. In 1972 he was offered the directorship of the newly founded York Archaeological Trust, the creation of which he had proposed; along with excavation work in York, he oversaw the development of the Jorvik Viking Centre, the Archaeological Resource Centre, and Barley Hall. In 2000 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
DigVentures is a social enterprise organising crowdfunded archaeological excavation experiences. It is registered with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), and is a CIfA Accredited Field School.
The City Walls Experience at Micklegate Bar is located in the southern gatehouse of the historical city walls of York, England. It is operated by the Jorvik Group and uses maps, display screens and video presentations to tell the story of the fortifications surrounding the city.
Dominic Tweddle,, is an English archaeologist specialising in Anglo-Saxon studies and the director general of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Previously he spent time as a research assistant at the British Museum and as the assistant director of the York Archaeological Trust, where he helped develop the Jorvik Viking Centre. He is also an honorary professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and the University of Portsmouth.
Micklegate is a street in the City of York, England. The name means "Great Street", "gate" coming from the Old Norse gata, or street.
The archaeology of Wales is the study of human occupation within the country of Wales which has been occupied by modern humans since 225,000 BCE, with continuous occupation from 9,000 BCE. Analysis of the sites, artefacts and other archaeological data within Wales details its complex social landscape and evolution from Prehistoric times to the Industrial period. This study is undertaken by academic institutions, consultancies, charities as well as government organisations.
Richard Andrew Hall was an English archaeologist who specialized in Viking activity in the British Isles.