Thames Valley Archaeological Services

TVAS North Midlands have been busy excavating in Dumbleton, Gloucestershire and are hosting an open day this weekend (Sunday 10th May) to share the findings so far!

So far we've uncovered various aspects of a Late Iron Age/Roman rural settlement and we'll have some of the lovely finds on display.

If you are in the area on Sunday 10th May come on down between 10am - 4pm to see what's been uncovered!

All the details are in the first photo and directions are on the last. Details can also be found on our website:
https://tvas.co.uk/2026/05/06/tvas-north-midlands-excavations-at-dumbleton-gloucestershire-open-day/

We're looking to hire an Administrator based in Reading! Please head to our website to find out more:

Careers - Thames Valley Archaeological Services Home About Us Services News Academic Scientific Data Scientific Dating Isotopic Studies Reports Resources Publications Bibliography Contact Us Careers THAMES VALLEY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES Providing archaeological solutions for both planning and research TVAS Careers TVAS has an extensive track reco...

Seasons greetings from all of us at TVAS! Here's a look back at our top posts of 2025. We hope everyone has had a good year and we look forward to making some more discoveries in 2026!

Top left: Cassie's placement post
Top middle: finds from Trinity College excavations
Top right: TVAS South West Langport finds
Bottom left: Jack's placement post
Bottom middle: ring from Trinity College excavations
Bottom right: Throwback drone photo from Cotswold's Community excavations

We're ! We are looking for Archaeological officers (G2,G3) and Junior Supervisors/Project Supervisors (G4, G5) to join our East Midlands (Wellingborough, Northamptonshire) office.

For more info and how to apply head to our website:
https://tvas.co.uk/careers/

Placement Cassie has also just had a fantastic year with us as part of her degree of Reading at the University of Reading. Here's what she has to say about her past year at TVAS:
'I chose this placement because I wanted to gain experience in commercial archaeology, and I have loved my time at TVAS. It has broadened my archaeological interests and skills through work in evaluations, excavations, and finds.

Starting anything new can be scary, but the team is wonderful, and I have felt supported throughout. I have worked on features that span from prehistory to the modern day, and in a variety of settings and geologies. Some highlights include excavating incredibly interesting burials and finding a Roman villa. One such burial was an Anglo-Saxon grave containing an adult with lots of grave goods, including a workbox, beads, brooches, and baby teeth.

My experience with TVAS has helped me determine what I want to do after graduation, which is to remain in the commercial sector. I have also developed new interests, such as pottery and the Romans, areas in which I had previously little interest. I would encourage anyone to try a placement year, and I would recommend TVAS for anyone seeking commercial archaeology experience.'

Good luck Cassie and we hope to see you back in the field soon!

Photo 1: Cassie holding a bone pin
Photo 2: Cassie microexcavating a vessel
Photo 3: Cassie recording a trench during an evaluation
Photo 4: Excavating in all weathers including the snow
Photo 5: Off to the next trench on an evaluation
Photo 6: Cassie holding another pin and some tessarae

Emily (Site Supervisor) and Ceri (Osteologist) recently gave a talk to the South Oxford Archaeological Group on one of our recent excavations in Wallingford. We would like to say a huge thank you to those who attended and the group for having us. It is always a pleasure to speak to local archaeological societies about the work we do and about the exciting things we find!

It's that time of year again where we say goodbye to last year's University of Reading Archaeology at the University of Reading placements and hello to our new ones! We've had another amazing bunch this year and once again our placements have thoroughly enjoyed their time at TVAS and here's what they had to say. We start off with Jack:

'My time over the last year and a bit with TVAS has been a fantastic experience, now it is coming to a close I am shocked by how quick it feels it has gone by which is certainly a testament to my time with the company.

I have enjoyed everything I have done at TVAS, particularly the variability of where I have been given the chance to work which has been from Taunton in South West England all the way up to Lincolnshire. For me having this variability has really help me learn many different facets of commercial archaeology and has been extremely interesting getting to work in areas you have never been too before.

Of course, the dream is to get some cool finds and this year I feel like I’ve been quite fortunate and had the honour of finding some very exciting finds notably: a Neolithic flint axe head and a full in-tact grave good pot, and some other.

There are endless positive things I could say about TVAS and my time with the company, however, I will end it here with a thank you to every member of staff which instantaneously made myself and the other placements feel like we were part of the team.'

Good luck Jack and all our placements in your final year and we hope to see you in the field again!

Photo 1: Jack troweling at our site in Wales
Photo 2: Jack and Ben cleaning worked wood in the finds shed
Photo 3: Jack holding a complete pot deposited as a grave good
Photo 4: Jack and the Neolithic axe head
Photo 5: Jack (on his first site) digging a ring ditch
Photo 6: Rumple the dog (a good boy)

A taster of the things we've found at Langport! Join us for an open day on site tomorrow (31st August) between 10am and 3:30pm (see previous post for details)

This site could be over 2,000 years old 😮 This ancient Roman villa was found on the outskirts of Langport after being excavated earlier on this year due to planned development. The site will be open to the public on 31 August for people to view the villa.

Come one, come all to TVAS South West's site open day at Somerton Road, Langport! The South West team have been busy uncovering a Roman villa and associated structures with lots of cool finds coming up (as seen here).

The open day will be on Sunday 31st August between 10am and 3:30pm so if you're in the area please come and say hello!