Dig It! – The Future is Archaeology
2019 is going to be awesome! As are the next few years. I’m an archaeologist and have been the Project Manager for Dig It! since it first made an appearance in 2015.
We have a lot of exciting plans in place at Dig It! and I’m looking forward to getting to continue to work with some amazing partners, as well as making new friends and exploring new projects. The scale of what we want to do is a bit daunting, but also very exciting.
We are planning to work with a host of new organisations, demonstrating how archaeology – and the stories we discover – can inspire and inform their work. I can’t give too much away at this point, but future work will involve computer games, peat, Wikipedia and volcanoes.
For the first time, we’ll be looking beyond Scotland’s shores and developing some international links – keep an eye out for a Chinese-Scottish project we have in the mix. We’re also looking to unleash ArchaeoGolf on the world, exploring the stories currently hidden beneath golfers’ feet. Both of these projects are seriously out of my comfort zone, but it is fascinating to see how other people view the past.
We’ll continue to promote all of the wonderful things happening in Scottish archaeology, and this summer’s dig season is set to be an exciting one. I’m hoping to actually get out and dig for the first time in a geological age, as most of my free time recently has been exploring archaeology in the digital world. We’re also planning much more in the way of exciting stories of discovery, so keep your eyes on the website.
And there is so much more happening! We’re hoping to team up with Glasgow Women’s Library later this year to develop an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plan, we will soon launch our Gaelic Language Policy – and I haven’t even mentioned our plans for Dig It! TV. We’re also working with Immersive Minds to develop Crafting the Past, combining the worlds of gaming and archaeology. We’ll be launching a new website packed with resources at the Edinburgh Science Festival later this month.
In short, there’s a lot to look forward to!
By Dr Jeff Sanders, Dig It! Project Manager
Photo credits: Stuart Vance and Immersive Minds
