by Dave Gilbert

With the start of a new year, we are looking towards the future. The future of the company and the future of our staff and their careers. With this in mind Red River Archaeology Ltd is very pleased to announce that we have been able to secure funding through the European Social Fund for staff training. This funding may represent some of the last grants available through the Fund, now that the UK has left the European Union, and was specifically for their gender equality initiative the Evolving Leaders Programme. The programme described itself as “for women who are serious about building their career and want to prepare for senior management”. The Evolving Leaders Programme aims to support women to transform their strategic thinking and leadership skills, give women the confidence and tools to assess their leadership performance, develop critical thinking skills, achieve organisational goals, and make strong and informed management decisions.
 
All participants will be working towards an ILM Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management. Red River Archaeology’s senior management considered this an excellent learning package and an amazing opportunity for a motivated individual. On offer to all this opportunity was taken up by four such women: Victoria Rees (Post-Excavation Manager), Rose Calis (Osteologist), Francesca Giarelli (Project Supervisor), and Issica Baron (Project Supervisor).
 
Not only will this training improve the capability and capacity of our company that will directly feed into the quality of our service, but more importantly it will enhance the knowledge, skills, and careers of our staff.
 
Everyone at Red River Archaeology wishes all four the best with their studies and look forward to seeing them in the boardroom one day. 

by Dave Gilbert

​Recently a team from Red River Archaeology has been conducting field surveys in North Wales in advance and during line replacement work for the National Grid. These power lines are vital to the infrastructure of the country and cross a rich historic landscape, containing numerous archaeological sites. Part of this work has involved scheduled monument condition studies, before during and after work on the nearby pylons and lines. These surveys and monitoring were conducted to ensure that no damage was done to any of the monuments along the route of the power lines. These monuments form a significant element of the historic landscape, but what are they and why are they important?

​Red River Archaeology are pleased to confirm that Senior Project Manager Simon Roper was accepted on to the Registration Committee (Organisations) (RCO) of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) in October, and attended (online) his first committee meeting as a member this month. The RCO is made up of voting members of CIfA appointed to the committee by the Board of Directors and assesses applications to join the Registered Organisations scheme. It may decide to register an organisation subject to conditions or with recommendations, which the committee then determines have been met or not. The registered organisations scheme is incredibly important to the development of the profession as the single most visible assurance of standards, and Red River Archaeology value the opportunity to contribute to make it as successful as possible.

As part of a drive to improve quality and encourage innovation, Red River Group has created new roles which will enhance our operations in both the UK and Ireland as delivered for the Group by Red River Archaeology Ltd and Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd. The first two of these roles is Quality and Compliance Manager which has been taken on by Carmelita Troy and Geomatics and IT Manager which has been taken on by Jonathan Millar. 

Red River Archaeology Ltd was commissioned to undertake a programme of archaeological work in St Edeyrns. This housing development project to the north-east of Cardiff involved the construction of 1020 new homes along with associated retail centre, two primary schools and community amenities; to be delivered in four phases.  

​We are proud to be part of the Living Wage movement as an accredited Living Wage Employer. This means that every member of staff in our organisation earns not just the minimum wage but the real Living Wage. The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, based on the cost of living in the UK. We believe that every member of staff deserves a Living Wage, because a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. You can find out more about the Living Wage by visiting www.livingwage.org.uk

This statement has been prepared in response to the global pandemic of Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) and its growing presence within the United Kingdom. We are committed to complying with Government and Official Medical Guidance and assisting in the control of COVID-19 in our employees and all others affected by our works.
​
​We have implemented a detailed companywide action plan in order to facilitate this. We support and fully observe the measures identified in the Construction Sector – Site Operating Procedures Protecting Your Workforce During Coronavirus (Covid-19) issued by the Construction Leadership Council. We have created specific procedures and policies to deal with Covid-19.
Red River Archaeology (RRA) remains open for business and our team can be contacted via email or phone as usual. Through detailed assessment, planning and mitigation measures, we have continued to maintain operations on two major infrastructure sites and are able to continue to deliver fieldwork services for the construction sector, where we can assure safe working environments. Do get in touch if we can assist you.

Yesterday was International Women’s Day and we posted on social media our thanks to all the ladies that work at Red River Archaeology and help make the company the a success. While the day highlights these social concerns they should not be forgotten about for the rest of the year, and we believe people should expect an equal opportunity to shine.

Recent excavations by Red River Archaeology in the environs of a Roman villa in Wiltshire, England discovered an amazing Roman well which contained a wonderful collection of artefacts and ecofacts. Amongst this assemblage was a well preserved Roman coin dating from the early 4th century. This was identified as a nummus of Crispus Caesar (Flavius Julius Crispus). Coins turn up from a huge variety of contexts on archaeological sites. The majority are lost in antiquity and a lucky archaeological outcome of a past misfortune! As archaeologists, however, we always look hard at the evidence and see if it is possible to understand past intentions through the material remains left in the ground.