The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme is pleased to announce the start of their 2019 / 2020 Community Archaeology project, ‘Can You Dig It’.
The project is supported by Historic Environment Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Galloway Glens scheme and will be delivered by Rathmell Archaeology. It will consist of various digs and archaeological surveys across the Galloway Glens area, all of which will be available for community and voluntary involvement. The exact programme is currently out for consultation, but is hoped to include work around Moat Brae in Kirkcudbright, work on the Roman encampment at Glenlochar and work on Raiders Road settlements in the Glenkens, as well as more unusual work including dendrochronology – of dating tree growth rings in some of our ancient woodlands.
The project is being launched by a series of events next week across the Galloway Glens. These are:
- Monday 25th Feb, 7:30 – 9pm: Gordon Memorial Hall, Castle Douglas
- Wednesday 27th Feb, 7:30 – 9pm, CatStrand, New Galloway
- Thursday 28th Feb, 7:30 – 9pm, Kirkcudbright Parish Church Hall
All events are free and will start with drinks and nibbles. There will then be a talk by Rathmell Archaeology on our understanding of the local archaeological landscape, with specific reference to archaeological finds and research in the Galloway Glens area, as well as providing an overview of the Can You Dig It programme aims and events.
To book into any of these free events, email Helen on [email protected]. If you can’t make an event but would like to be kept up to date with project details, email Helen or follow the ‘Can You Dig It’ pages on Facebook and Twitter.
Helen Keron, Galloway Glens Education and Community Engagement Officer, said
“This Community Archaeology project will directly connect interested volunteers with the fascinating and varied history of the Galloway Glens area and it’s great to see it getting underway with these launch events and programme consultation. Thanks to support from Historic Environment Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund, with assistance from Dumfries & Galloway Council, we can expect to see an exciting programme of community archaeology activities happening across the area and starting very soon.”
Thomas Rees, Director of Rathmell Archaeology, said
“This project is for everyone who has ever asked themselves, ‘How did people live in Galloway in the past?’ We’ll be supporting volunteers to develop the archaeological skills necessary to answer this question. We will deliver workshops to do this, as well as organising different types of surveys and excavations to explore archaeological sites around the area. Please come to the one of the launch events for the project next week or follow ‘Can You Dig It’ on social media to find out more – we can’t promise that you’ll find another Galloway Hoard, but you will reveal the past!”
Notes:
For more details, see https://www.gallowayglens.org/projects/community-archaeology-programme-can-you-dig-it/.
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