PerspectivesArchaeologyEducational archaeologist Kirsty Whittall and a young volunteer30 | May 2013
Do you dig it?Dig Greater Manchester is a major community archaeology programmeled by <strong>Salford</strong>’s Centre for Applied Archaeology and is the largestproject <strong>of</strong> its kind in EnglandThe project, which began in 2011 and isfunded by the Association <strong>of</strong> GreaterManchester Authorities (AGMA) and theborough <strong>of</strong> Blackburn with Darwen, isbeing led by staff from the Centre forApplied Archaeology and managed by members <strong>of</strong> allproject partners. The overall aim is to involve thousands<strong>of</strong> people from local communities in the investigation<strong>of</strong> their local history under the theme <strong>of</strong>: 'Accessing,Exploring and Celebrating your Heritage.'Over the course <strong>of</strong> the project to date more than6,000 people across Greater Manchester, ranging fromabsolute beginners and schoolchildren to experiencedarchaeology volunteers, have become involved in theirown history and heritage through taking part in anarchaeological excavation.This choice would be based on the most successfulevaluation results in terms <strong>of</strong> archaeological findings,schools participation and volunteer numbers.”Adding value through community cohesionFrom the outset, Dig Greater Manchester had to beabout far more than simply increasing numbers involvedin archaeological work; it had to have real, tangiblecommunity benefits.In October 2009 the Department <strong>of</strong> Communitiesand Local Government published its Building CohesiveCommunities: what frontline activities need to knowreport, which called on volunteer, charity and localgovernment bodies to ‘develop a shared story <strong>of</strong> placethat takes into account the history <strong>of</strong> the locality andits communities’......................................To find out more about theDig Greater Manchesterproject or to volunteer, contactSenior Archaeologist, BrianGrimsditch on 0161 2953821 or email b.grimsditch@salford.ac.ukAll <strong>of</strong> this contributes to the project’s three overarchingresearch aims, which are to examine the significance<strong>of</strong> community archaeology, the practice <strong>of</strong> communityarchaeology and the archaeology <strong>of</strong> industrialisation inthe Manchester city region.“We finalised the detailed project design for DigGreater Manchester in March 2011,” explains DrMichael Nevell, Head <strong>of</strong> Archaeology at CfAA, the onlyuniversity-based archaeology organisation which isalso located within a School <strong>of</strong> the Built Environment.“This contained all <strong>of</strong> the detailed project activities,delivery outputs, milestones and added value for thewhole five-year project. Based on the initial pilot studylist <strong>of</strong> suitable archaeological sites we decided thateach local authority should have one evaluation <strong>of</strong>three weeks’ duration during the first three years andthen two flagship large-scale, five-week archaeologicalexcavations would be chosen for the final two years.It was with this inspiration to view the exploration<strong>of</strong> the past as an endless and significant quest whichempowers people that the project was founded, and anumber <strong>of</strong> themes and key target groups were adopted.At its heart the project aims to improve communitycohesion, increase youth participation, reduceworklessness, promote healthy living and increaselearning outside <strong>of</strong> the classroom. This is achievedthrough targeting volunteer archaeologists, local groupsand associations, local communities, schools, people notin employment and those with disabilities to becomeinvolved. Volunteers receive in-depth training in variousnon-intrusive archaeological techniques such as historicalresearch, geophysical surveys, archaeological buildingsurveys, graveyard surveys and finds processing.May 2013 | 31
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