Learn to Survey an Archaeological Site at Polmaddy

The ‘Can You Dig It’ team are offering people the chance to take part in an archaeological survey over two days at the deserted settlement of Polmaddy. We will be on site on the 17^th and 18^th of July, from 10am – 3pm each day. These days are free to attend and open to anyone who is interested in learning archaeological survey and site assessment skills.

These days follow a series of successful events over recent months which have introduced archaeology to a whole new set of people. Feedback from previous events has been very positive, with each attendee coming away with new skills and a feeling of being more personally engaged with the heritage around them. They have left better able to interpret today’s landscape, deciphering what has been left by generations before us.

The events are led by professional archaeologists from Rathmell Archaeology, working on the Can You Dig It programme, which forms part of the Galloway Glens Scheme. Booking is required to allow numbers to be planned. If you would like to attend either day (or both), please email [email protected] to confirm your place.

Thomas Rees, from Rathmell Archaeology, talking about the events next week, said:

These events are pitched at anyone who has either had an interest in archaeology previously or who are totally new to the subject. We’ll be using the Polmaddy site to illustrate simple, non-intrusive archaeological techniques in a fun and engaging way. This will allow attendees to see beyond the ruins themselves and start to imagine the lives of the people who stayed there, their daily activities, where they slept and even where they sat to have a beer at the end of a long day.

Speaking about the Polmaddy site, just off the A713 between Carsphairn and Dalry, Thomas added:

We are lucky in this part of the world to have so many sites of interest to practice these skills on – and Polmaddy is a great example of a Galloway site which has some fame locally and nationally. This settlement, with connections to the ‘Pack Road’ pilgrim route and even Robert the Bruce, was deserted in the early 1800s and provides a great insight into how settlements developed over time.