UF archaeological field schools offered under any of the Department of Anthropology course rubrics (e.g., ANT 4824 and ANG 5824L Field Sessions in Archaeology) must satisfy certain criteria to ensure the highest standards of academic training as well as adherence to professional ethical guidelines.
A minimum two-page research design specifying the scope and intent of all field investigations must be submitted to the Chair of the Department of Anthropology prior to the listing of the course in the Schedule of Classes. The design must include a brief statement of plans for publication of the technical results of the field work, as well as for curation of all field notes and material collections. The document must also affirm that the proposed field school meets these restrictions:
- The field school must abide by the Principles of Archaeological Ethics promulgated by the Society for American Archaeology.
- The field school must abide by the Code of Conduct and Standards of Research Performance of the Register of Professional Archaeologists.
- The instructor of record for the field school must meet minimal qualifications for membership in the Register of Professional Archaeologists, although the person need not actually be a member of RPA.
- The instructor of record for the field school must have direct, on-site supervision of support staff (including Teaching Assistants) for at least 50 percent of time spent in field.
- The ratio of students to field supervisors (including instructor of record and teaching assistants) cannot exceed 10:1.
- To the extent feasible given the constraints of particular field situations, every field school curriculum should include training in field safety, equipment use and maintenance, map reading, orienteering with compass, use of survey equipment, reconnaissance survey, shovel testing, grid and unit layout, topographic mapping, stratigraphic excavation, artifact and ecofact identification, matrix processing, feature definition and excavation, plan and profile drawing, piece plotting and field photography. Field schools restricted to only a few of the above training opportunities must disclose these limitations in all advertisements and solicitations made to prospective students.
Approved October 2004