YORK ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST FOR EXCAVATION AND RESEARCH LTD LBG

Their core work

York Archaeological Trust (YAT) is one of the UK's leading independent professional archaeological organisations, based in York — a city with exceptionally deep and well-preserved historical layers spanning Roman, Viking, and medieval periods. They conduct archaeological excavation, post-excavation analysis, and heritage research, combining field practice with specialist scientific methods. In their H2020 involvement, YAT contributed expertise in zooarchaeology and environmental archaeology — the recovery and analysis of animal remains and ecological proxies from archaeological contexts to reconstruct past human-environment relationships. They function as practitioner partners within academic-led research training networks, providing real-world field infrastructure, reference collections, and specialist mentorship that university departments alone cannot offer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

YAT's two H2020 projects span 2016 to 2023, and while the earlier project (ArchSci2020) carried no searchable keywords in the CORDIS record, its title signals a broad regional focus on northern European and circumpolar archaeology. The later project, SeaChanges, arrived with a sharper and more specialised profile: marine vertebrates, zooarchaeology, historical ecology, and economic archaeology. This shift suggests YAT is deepening its identity as a scientific rather than purely field-oriented organisation, moving toward quantitative environmental and ecological interpretations of archaeological assemblages. The trajectory points toward interdisciplinary work at the boundary of archaeology and environmental science.

YAT is moving from broad regional fieldwork participation toward specialist roles in quantitative environmental archaeology, particularly around past human exploitation of marine and animal resources — a direction with growing relevance to biodiversity baselines and long-term ecological research.

How they like to work

YAT has participated in both H2020 projects strictly as a third party rather than as a named consortium partner or coordinator, which typically indicates a supporting or training-host role within MSCA Innovative Training Networks — providing supervised research placements, access to collections, or specialist practitioner input. They have not led any H2020 projects, suggesting they are comfortable operating in a contributing rather than coordinating capacity. The 50 unique partners and 20 countries associated with their two projects reflect the large consortium structures of MSCA-ITN programmes, not necessarily YAT's own direct bilateral relationships.

YAT sits within networks spanning 50 unique partners across 20 countries, though this breadth is inherited from the large MSCA training consortia they joined rather than from YAT's own partnership-building. Their geographic connections likely extend beyond Europe into North America and the Nordic/circumpolar region given the thematic scope of ArchSci2020.

What sets them apart

Unlike university archaeology departments, YAT is an operational trust with active excavation programmes and curated physical collections — offering doctoral training networks something universities cannot easily replicate: hands-on exposure to real heritage projects and access to one of England's richest urban archaeological records. Their independent status as an NGO means they bring practitioner credibility and public engagement capacity alongside research expertise. For consortium builders, YAT fills the gap between academic knowledge production and ground-level archaeological practice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SeaChanges
  The most scientifically specific of YAT's H2020 involvements, this project targeted long-run shifts in human marine vertebrate exploitation — placing YAT's zooarchaeological expertise at the centre of a question with direct relevance to historical ecology and modern fisheries baselines.
• ArchSci2020
  An early training network with circumpolar scope, this project connected YAT to a broad northern European research community and established their presence in MSCA doctoral training as a host organisation.