by Vindolanda, Northumberland
As the northwestern border of the Roman Empire, Northumberland is scattered with Roman sites, including many fortresses that housed the soldiers who defended these rugged borderlands. Many are still being excavated, including the fort of Vindolanda and Magna just south of Hadrian’s Wall. The first modern excavation at Magna began last spring, and the excavation season at both runs from April to September – visitors can watch the archaeologists at work from Monday to Friday (they take volunteers also, although 2024 is fully booked). One of Vindolanda’s most important treasures is the Vindolanda writing tablets (thin wooden handwritten notes on life there 2,000 years ago), which will be on display as part of the new exhibition Legion: Life in the Roman Army at the British Museum in London (until 23 June).
£12.50 adult, £6 childvindolanda.com
DIG: Archaeological Adventure, York
Eboracum for the Romans, Eoforwic for the Anglo-Saxons and Jorvik for the Vikings… Two millennia of York’s history are buried under its streets. Curious young archaeologists can discover it for themselves at DIG, which has four excavation pits – Roman, Viking, medieval and Victorian – each based on real excavations around the city. Armed with trowels, children can scrape back the (synthetic) soil to reveal replica finds, such as Latin inscriptions or pottery shards. It has been put together by York Archaeology, which also runs the nearby Jorvik Viking Centre, and this Easter the education charity is running Kids Dig York hands-on sessions for eight to 12-year-olds to join them on its digs at Willow House (25 March -6 April, £65 for one adult and one child).
£9 adult, £8.25 children, digyork.co.uk
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
The discovery of the Anglo-Saxon royal burial site at Sutton Hoo – described as England’s answer to the Valley of the Kings – in 1939 was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in British history. It was given the Hollywood treatment in the 2021 film The Dig, with Ralph Fiennes playing amateur archaeologist Basil Brown, who discovered a king’s treasures laid to rest in his ship under a series of muddy mounds in the Suffolk countryside. Most of those 1,400-year-old riches are now housed in the British Museum, but at Sutton Hoo visitors can walk around the burial mounds, see intricately carved replicas of the helmet and jeweled clasps, and learn more about Anglo-Saxon life with a costume. -Gruesome Graves making workshops and tours. You can also stay overnight in one of the apartments at Tranmer House, the former home of Edith Pretty, played by Carey Mulligan in the film.
£15 adult, £7.50 childnationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/sutton-hoo
Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire
Experimental archeology takes digging into the past one step further: learning about how people did things by trying to replicate the present. Butser Ancient Farm, in South Downs, began in 1972 as an experimental research site exploring prehistoric and Roman agriculture and building techniques. Today there are recreated houses to explore, spanning 10,000 years of history, all based on real archaeological finds nearby: an English hall inspired by one found at Church Down Chalton; a Bronze Age roundhouse based on remains found at Dunch Hill in Wiltshire. There are heritage crops and rare breed sheep as well as bronze casting workshops, English cookery classes and the sell-out Beltain Celtic Fire festival.
Open on public weekends and school holidays, £12.30 adult, £8.30 childaxerancientfarm.co.uk
Crannog Center of Scotland, Perthshire
About 2,500 years ago, called stilted wooden round houses trees lakes arose throughout Scotland, the water preserving their remains to this day. The Crannóg na Alban Center on the banks of Loch Tay offers an immersive insight into this ancient world. The grove at the original site on the south shore was sadly destroyed by fire in 2021, but next April the center opens a new Iron Age village at nearby Dalerb, with houses faithfully woven from hazel branches or built with dry stone walls. Work will begin this year on three trees that will eventually rise from the water. The open air museum will also showcase pottery making, yarn spinning and fire-starting demonstrations and the collection includes artefacts found here, including a wooden dish containing 2,500-year-old butter residue.
Reopening April, £15 adults, £10 children, crannog.co.uk
Archaeological Field School at Strata Florida, Ceredigion
This practical training teaches a range of archaeological skills, from trowelling and geophysical surveying to find processing, and aims to be the most comprehensive course in the UK, welcoming people with a range of physical and mental health needs. The one-week and four-week sessions, as well as one-day Digger Days, take place in the ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian monastery, which archaeologists are discovering – which was a center of Welsh culture and a resting place for several medieval . princes of Wales. Students camp out under the Cambrian mountains at nearby Pantyfedwen Hall, and this summer they will be helping out on a brand new pit, which is thought to house the remains of the Cistercian Infirmary and mill.
17 June – 15 July£650 for one week’s residence or £495 non-resident (bursaries available), strataflorida.org.uk/archaeology-field-school
Ness of Brodgar, Orkney
Off the north coast of Scotland, the Orkney Islands are a treasure trove of ancient structures, from the exceptionally well-preserved village of Skara Brae, built around 3180BC, to the ceremonial stone circle tomb of Maeshowe to the vast Neolithic complex of Ness of Brodgar. This is the last summer of excavations there, and visitors can go on daily tours during the week between 26 June and 16 August (11am, 1pm and 3pm) – with open days on 14 July and 4 August. At the end of this year’s excavation, the trenches will be filled in and the thin strip of land between the two lakes will be returned to the green field. Dig It Scotland lists other archaeological digs around the country that volunteers can sign up for.
26 June – 16 Augustfree nessofbrodgar.co.uk
Archaeological experience days, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest hides a wealth of secrets: Saxon battles and Viking meeting places, medieval royal hunting grounds and Roman villas. Mercian Archaeological Services aims to record the whole through its community Sherwood Forest Archaeological Project, excavating the past in the village of Edwinstowe (where, according to legend, the outlaw Maid Marian was married). He also offers an introduction to archaeological days at his excavations at King John’s Palace in the heart of ancient woodland, as well as more in-depth training to drill core site skills alongside professional archaeologists.
15-April 25, £75 per person, mercian-as.co.uk/intro_days
Coastal archaeological guided walks, London
Twice a day at low tide, the Thames turns into the country’s longest archaeological site, and over the years the mudflats have pulled everything from bronze heads to Tudor shoes from the foreshore. You can go DIY mudslides, but you need permission from the Port of London authority (applications for new ones are now on hold, such is the popularity) and all finds of interest should be reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It’s much easier to join one of the Thames Discovery Programme’s archaeologist-led foreshore walks along parts of the river.
The next walks take place on February 25 and 10 and 30 March, £20 adults, £10 concessionsmola.org.uk/get-involved/events
Center & Dunnauhamh, Co. Armagh
This gentle hill outside Armagh, the capital of Ulster, was the site of Emain Macha (Nauva Castle), which is believed to have brought Saint Patrick to the area. Archaeologists found evidence last year that the site may have been in use as early as the fourth century BC, but in Irish mythology it was the site of the demigod Cú Chulainn and the Knights of the Red Branch. At the Cave Center the Celtic warriors want to dress up and try throwing spears and wielding swords while listening to the stories of the ancient kings and queens who lived here. Also look out for special events celebrating the Celtic solstice festivals of Imbolc and Lughnasadh.
£11 adult, £7.50 childvisitarmagh.com/navan
DigVentures, various places
DigVentures launched its first crowdfunded and crowdsourced archaeological dig at Century Fen near Peterborough in 2012, a solution to academic funding cuts and to make the work more accessible to the public. Since then, he has connected enthusiastic diggers with community-supported archaeological projects across the country. Currently on its website is a lost medieval village at Sudeley Castle and early Roman history to be found at Elmswell Farm in East Yorkshire. They also run DigCamps (for children aged six to 12) and DigClub (12-16), searching for clues from the past at the likes of the Earth Trust in Oxfordshire or Lindisfarne in Northumberland.
Various dates, one adult and one child for DigCamp from £75digventures.com
Related: Paths to the past: ‘We must keep our ancient tracks alive as they walk’
Festival of ArchaeologyAll over the country
The annual celebration by the Council for British Archeology consists of many in-person and online events aimed at everyone from serious historians to budding young diggers. This year’s edition will begin at the Scottish Crannog Center in Perthshire exploring the iron age, and close two weeks later at Hardwick Elizabethan Hall in Derbyshire. Meanwhile, there will be behind-the-scenes tours, discovery handling, children’s sandpit digs and experiential displays of ancient life at locations across the country, as well as online discussions and #AskAnArchaeologist Day hosted on X ( formerly Twitter).
13-28 Julymany events free, archaeologyuk.org/festival
