Steve Crane Personal Profile

Like many of the people who are part of the Poulton Research Project, I have always had a deep interest in history and archaeology, and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to get involved at Poulton, and to gain hands-on experience of so many aspects of archaeology.

I trained initially as a civil engineer and surveyor, but eventually decided that I preferred working in a comfortable office to a muddy building site (just as well I didn't become a professional archaeologist, then !). I have worked in IT for over 25 years, which makes me one of those dinosaurs who can remember the world before PCs - I still have punched cards and paper tapes in the loft !

I became involved with the Project in 1999 through one of the very first Archaeology courses that Mike Emery ran at West Cheshire College. Since then, along with Ray Carpenter, we have tended to specialise in some of the more technical and scientific aspects of archaeology at Poulton:

We maintain the survey framework for the site, establishing site grids and TBMs as necessary, so that the archaeologists can accurately record their work on plans and sections. We use some reasonably sophisticated equipment, including a total station and GPS.
We manage the large number of skeletons which are excavated from the Chapel site, checking that they are recorded and processed correctly, and performing basic analysis (determination of age, sex and height) before they are transferred to Liverpool University for more detailed study.
And last but not least, we are the webmasters for this website !

As part of the educational mission of the Project, we are always very willing to share our specialised knowledge.

(PS. My colleague in the picture - that's the one on the right - is only plastic. But he is very helpful in our work on skeletal remains.)