A Glasgow University archaeologist is looking at whether getting Falklands War veterans to return to the site of the conflict to carry out archaeological survey work would act as a form of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Dr Tony Pollard, director of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University, is organising a workshop at King's College London tomorrow which will bring together historians, archaeologists, veterans and mental health professionals to examine how to take the idea forward.

Dr Pollard, who visited the Falkland Islands last year, is currently developing plans for an archaeological survey of the British and Argentinian positions and battlefield debris that remain there, 31 years after the war ended.

He stressed that, if a project went ahead, the former soldiers would not be digging, but mapping positions on the surface as part of a heritage survey.

Though some material has been removed, items still lying open to the elements include shoes, batteries, communications cables, ration tins and makeshift cooking equipment left behind by Argentinian forces, as well as larger items such as the remains of a mortar. Two stretchers made in 1917 were found among the Argentine artefacts.

Work done in the United States engaging Vietnam veterans, both in the classroom and on the ground where they fought, had been shown to be beneficial for the former soldiers, said Dr Pollard. "I don't pretend what we are doing is revolutionary. But there is the potential, in reconnecting people with places of conflict, in allowing them to come to terms with the past."

He said, however, that, unless properly managed, with veterans having access to expert psychological support, a return to the battlefield might have a detrimental rather than positive effect.

The workshop would, therefore, be an opportunity to share experiences and explore ways of ensuring the experience was safe and rewarding.

Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, a former head of defence clinical psychology for the Ministry of Defence, who is launching a new Military and Veteran Mental Health MSc at Anglia Ruskin University in September, is hoping to collaborate with Dr Pollard on the project.

He said: "When someone experiences a trauma, it's a bit like having a jigsaw in a box hurled at your head. The pieces scatter everywhere. It's fragmented memory. The task of therapy is to find all the pieces, then finally the jigsaw can be put back together. The person puts the puzzle back in the box; if they want to look at it, they can, but they don't have to.

"You can never take away a trauma that has happened to someone, but you can get them hopefully to the stage where they are free to talk or not talk about it. That's where taking them back to the battlefields can help: it helps them to correct cognitive distortions and put things in context."

Dr Pollard said the scheme would not be suitable for everyone but he knew of several veterans who would like to be involved.

Among them is Dr Kevin Harris, now a sociologist, who served in the Falklands as a Royal Marine with 45 Commando.

Dr Harris, 51, who has also served in seven other conflicts, said he had never returned to the Falklands but would be very interested in doing so as part of a heritage survey team.

He said: "Peace of mind is an elusive goal. I think this would help give me peace of mind.

"This is a form of expression, it's a form of letting out what's unspeakable. By visiting, by sharing, by engaging, these are all things that lay the demons to rest."

Though on one level the prospect terrified him, he said: "It's something I want to do and don't want to do, but in this safe environment, I can't think of any better way to do it.

"I'm very very proud to be part of this and hope it goes ahead in the way we imagine."

Dr Pollard said the next step would be to put in a grant application. He said: "I want to do a survey while there is still material there to work with.

"That will hopefully allow for a heritage management plan to be put in place. My aspiration is that the movement of material stops and it is left where it is, almost as a memorialisation of the 1982 conflict."