Community Archaeology Projects are often organised by local archaeology, history or heritage organisations, sometimes as part of larger landscape-wide initiatives. They encourage participation and provide varied opportunities. Most projects work with professional archaeologists who take overall responsibility for delivering the projects. Participation is typically free with funding drawn from organisations that seek to strengthen communities, facilitate skills development and training, and promote engagement with heritage. The following projects have both been active in our region and have generating Open Access online resources:
Discovering Dumfries and Galloway’s Past was a community archaeology project running from 2012-13 that used geophysics to explore the region’s past. The website explains the objectives of the project, explains geophysical surveys and hosts the Open Access reports from Castledykes Park, Innermessan, Corehead, Barwhill, Kelton Mains and Langholm Castle.
The ‘Can You Dig It’ Community Archaeology Programme was a four year Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership project run by Rathmell Archaeology Limited from 2019 to 2023. The programme provided engaging and educational archaeology activities for the community. These ranged from community digs and community driven research projects, to dual-language archaeology inspired poetry. The Glenkens Hub hosts the research reports, lectures and other resources from the project.
The Rhins Revealed Community Archaeology Project was a Solway Firth Partnership project run by AOC Archaeology Group from 2019. This project sets out to record, investigate and conserve some of the archaeological sites on the Rhins of Galloway. This included excavations at the Mull of Galloway earthworks to date then through Optically Stimulated Luminesence (OSL) dating. Solway Firth Partnership is currently working in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council to deliver a two-year programme of activities as part of the Rhins of Galloway Coast Path Project.
The Rhins Revealed Online Project continued the delivery of the project online which included a series of downloadable archaeology guides to the archaeology of the Rhins of Galloway as well as a series of lectures on research tools relevant to the project.