Scotland Digs Campaigns

From 2019 to 2025, our annual Scotland Digs awareness-raising campaigns showcased the archaeological fieldwork activities coordinated across the country each summer by community groups, charities, commercial units, universities and more.

The campaigns advertised free or low-cost (under £15) fieldwork events which were open to everyone with no experience required. This included archaeological excavations and other fieldwork activities (such as fieldwalking and geophysics workshops), site visits, tours and open days.

The campaigns also collated updates from fieldwork sites which were posted by archaeologists, volunteers and visitors. This includes sites that weren’t physically accessible to the public.

During these campaigns, the information could be found on the Scotland Digs pages on the Dig It! website. They were also made available on social media via a dedicated hashtag and in the monthly Dig It! Digest.

In addition to social media, website and e-newsletter coverage, the campaigns involved media releases, creative works produced by Scotland-based photographers, illustrators and more, podcast episodes, and free expert-led webinars for the sector on topics such as accessibility at fieldwork sites and communicating climate change through archaeology.

Campaign themes – including Scotland Digs Digital in 2020, Scotland Digs 2022: Climate Action Archaeology, Scotland Digs 2023: Free Days Out and Scotland Digs 2024: International Connections – were chosen to reflect contemporary issues. Two of these campaigns were recognised at national awards which provided another opportunity to showcase the work of the sector. Scotland Digs Digital was shortlisted for the Association for Heritage Interpretation’s 2021 Engaging People Awards in the Lockdown Response category and Scotland Digs 2022: Climate Action Archaeology was Highly Commended at the Archaeological Achievement Awards in the Public Dissemination or Presentation category.

Although the campaigns are no longer running, Dig It! still secures media coverage for the start of Scotland’s summer fieldwork season. If you want to find out more, please contact us.

Waggonway 1722 excavations during Scotland Digs 2021 (© Shahbaz Majeed 2021)