I am a qualified archaeologist with over 15 years’ experience of researching, recording and interpreting 20th century military sites in the UK. I currently work within community engagement and can provide consultation as a freelance archaeologist.
My main areas of expertise include the defensive landscape and military structures of 1940s Britain and the First World War practice trench systems used to prepare soldiers for the Western Front.
Teaching attendees of a Home Front Legacy Day School how to record an original WW1 hut
Between 2014 and 2019 I was the Project Archaeologist for the Council for British Archaeology and Historic England funded ‘Home Front Legacy 1914-18’ project. This project concluded in 2019 and the database will soon be published and archived on the Archaeology Data Service’s website.
Participants learning about WW2 pill-boxes at Reighton, North Yorkshire.
On the 28th of June 2014 I conducted a training day for the Council for British Archaeology. The ‘Interpreting twentieth-century defence landscapes’ training day was held at Reighton Sands, North Yorkshire, and aimed to further understanding of twentieth-century defence landscapes. You can find out more about this training day on the CBA website.
A guided walk of WW2 defences in Loddon, Norfolk, during my CBA Community Archaeology placement
I am also a graduate of the Council for British Archaeology’s ‘Community Archaeology Bursaries Project’. As one of a cohort of twelve CBA placements during 2012 I was seconded to the Norfolk Historic Environment Service. I planned and conducted archaeological training sessions during the course of the year. You can read more about my Community Archaeology training bursary here.
Between 2019 and 2022 I was the Community Archaeologist and Discovery Programme Officer- Humber for the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeology Network.
Currently , I am a Reports and Publications Supervisor for MOLA Northampton and I’m now a member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.
Chris Kolonko 