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Irish Archaeological Research Issue 2 Feb 2012 Here’s to five more years! Naomi Carver examines the benefits of the Young Archaeologists' Club and highlights the importance of this outlet for archaeological learning. The Belfast Branch of the Young Archaeologists’ Club celebrated its fifth birthday in June 2011. The club now has nearly 70 registered members between the ages of 8 and 16, with an average of 40 attending regularly. The children enjoy being able to explore the past as well as making new friends. The Young Archaeologists' Club (YAC) is a UK‐wide organisation for young people up to the age of seventeen who have, or want to, develop an interest in archaeology, history and their heritage. The YAC has its roots in 1972 when Kate Pretty and Mike Corbishley set up an archaeology club in England known as the ‘Young Rescue’. The club became so popular it outgrew its humble beginnings and was soon passed to the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) for safekeeping. The CBA administers, and supports, the network of local YAC Branches run by volunteer leaders from all walks of life. The aim of the organisation is to promote participation in archaeological research, education and the conservation of the built, buried, landscape and townscape heritage. The YAC provides an opportunity for young people to share in this experience and to discover just how much fun it can be to learn about the past. The club takes two forms: YAC UK which is a magazine‐based subscription package for young people up to the age of 17, and the YAC Branch network which comprises local YAC branches of which there are around 70 spread throughout the UK. Most branches meet once a month and are run by teams of volunteers. The Belfast YAC Branch is one of two branches of the Young Archaeologists' Club in Northern Ireland; the second is based in Down County Museum, Downpatrick, Co. Down. The Belfast Branch at Queen’s was launched on 17 th June 2006 and is run by a team of staff and students from the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast, as well as outside volunteers. The club’s first session was a taster session held at Queen’s University which was a great success and was soon followed by a family field‐walking venture in Comber, County Down. The children and their parents had lots of fun, collecting and identifying hundreds of pieces of flint dating from the Mesolithic and Neolithic. 3 Belfast YAC members with Dr. Emily Murray of Queens University
Activities The club has flourished in the five years since its launch. One of its main strengths is that, as the club is university‐based, it can draw upon a range of expertise in diverse subject areas, as well as having access to the university’s facilities. In the last year the club has also forged links with the Ulster Museum and several sessions have been held at the museum under the leadership of their Education Officer Fiona Baird. The Belfast YAC meets once a month at the state‐of‐the‐art Archaeology and Palaeoecology building at Queen’s University for sessions on a wide range of topics, exploring not only archaeology but also history, geography, geology, palaeoecology and anthropology. A few of the best meetings have been on prehistoric pottery‐making and a celebration of the Mexican Days of the Dead, which we hope to repeat next year. More recently the club’s members have learnt about the ancient temples of Malta and visited the Ulster Museum to learn about the Spanish Armada and ‘body modification’ through the ages. As well as in‐house sessions we also head out on fieldtrips. The Giant’s Ring, Belfast, Navan Fort, Co. Armagh, Carrickfergus Castle, Co. Antrim, Newgrange, Co. Meath and Audleystown tower‐house, Co. Down are among those which have been enjoyed through the years, as well as some spooky Halloween visits to Friar’s Bush and Clifton Street cemeteries. Belfast YAC plans for 2012 The Belfast Branch has an exciting schedule lined up for the next six months. The January session will focus on the Vikings, while in February Professor Audrey Horning (QUB) will be exploring the history and material culture of Virginia Indians in a quest to find out the real story of Pocahontas. This will be followed in March with a session on Bronze Age fibulae led by Dr Dirk Brandherm (QUB). In April the club will host a special session to commemorate the 100 th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, while in May there will be a fieldtrip to Lisburn Castle Gardens, the importance of which was first uncovered during excavations led by Ruairí Ó Baoill in 2003, and which has since been restored to its former glory. The final session planned for the next six months is on the Belfast Blitz in June 2012. Irish Archaeological Research Issue 2 Jan 2012 Above, Right & Left: Belfast YAC members displaying the masks they created during one of their meetings. 4
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