They don’t get a penny in rewards or much mention in telly programmes yet they queue up all over the country to do their bit. All they seem to want is to do Archaeology right, just because it’s there. We mean of course the amateurs, the foot-soldiers of archaeology who are desperate to learn and who clamour for a role, no matter how humble in exchange for – well, absolutely nothing.
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This week there has been some good news for them. The Heritage Lottery Fund has just awarded the CBA £500,000 to provide a further 24 Community Archaeology Training Placements, thus equipping would-be community archaeologists with the skills to work with voluntary groups and hence have a big impact on the thousands of amateurs involved in archaeology. (More details about the scheme and a video of it in action here).
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CBA Director Mike Heyworth explained how it will have a good effect and will facilitate a new initiative relating to an issue of particular current relevance – getting young people interested in Archaeology: “This week’s decision means we are now able to more than double the number of bursary placements for the last two years of the project and also to introduce a youth-focus to the project in the additional bursaries we can now offer.”
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Volunteers at Kidderminster: “Hurrah for the givers!” (Maybe the CBA would care to pitch that title to ITV ?!)
The Heritage Journal 
52 comments
Comments feed for this article
24/10/2013 at 10:53
wombioli
Would half a million pounds be better spent on conserving what heritage we already have,rather than being spent to uncover more archaeology that we simply cannot afford to care for properly due to lack of funding?
24/10/2013 at 13:23
Judith P
Good to see the HLF money being put to good use in the community and perhaps it will encourage more people to get involved with real archaeology rather than dumbed down TV archaeology. Nothing beats hands on experience for reinforcing the messages of preservation and conservation.
24/10/2013 at 16:35
Muddyboots
Having seen first hand the damage that amateurs can do on a site, even when professionally supervised (It is impossible to oversee them all the time), I do worry about the concept of the public ‘Having a go’ at real archaeology. Yes they can be helpful, but like any tool, you need to be careful how you use it. Personally? keep them to the sidelines and on a close rein at all times until they can prove 100% that they know when to stop digging and seek the wisdom and guidance of the site professionals. The problem is that when they are 100% competent and trustworthy the dig is just about to end. Sad but true.
24/10/2013 at 19:38
wombioli
Maybe not such a good idea then. Would the public money be better spent on museums and conservation rather than amateur exploration? Archaeology is always best left undisturbed.
24/10/2013 at 22:46
Rob
Re Wombioli’s point, it’s worth stating that the £500k isn’t going on funding new excavations, it’s funding staff – archaeologists who’ll spend their time working with the public on all manner of projects, including conservation (eg Heritage at Risk Monitoring, monument surveys etc). None of that money goes to funding new excavations: it supports public involvement in digs but also in a whole range of other archaeological projects, including a lot of work with schoolchildren.
It sounds like Muddyboots has had some bad experiences of using volunteers on site! I sympathise – many archaeologists will have had similar experiences. But, having been involved in a few such projects, in my experience it can work brilliantly! Obviously it won’t be a suitable approach for every site, and needs a well-thought-out Project Design. I think the key is to have appropriate staffing-volunteer ratios, structured training and ideally archaeologists with experience of teaching volunteers – that’s where programmes like the CBA Training Placements come in.
Lastly, whilst I do agree that archaeology is best left undisturbed, in many cases it can be difficult to assess extent of, preservation of and potential threats to archaeological remains without some form of evaluation – this is where community projects can be valuable: targeted excavation can really enhance our understanding of a site & therefore how best to protect it.
25/10/2013 at 13:13
Kat
Who will decide where these placements will be geographically and what community projects should benefit from the money? I would like to see more engagement with multi cultural communities as Archaeology is a great way of introducing people to historical cultures and therefore bringing non nationals closer to the societies that they now live in. Archaeology can seem to be a bit too much like a White Middle Class activity so to spread it further down the social and cultural ladder would make a lot of sense and would be a good use of HLF money, as was intended by the HLF from the very beginning.
26/10/2013 at 12:52
Daryl K
I have to agree that archaeology doesn’t seem to attract a very ethnically diverse section of society so maybe projects in areas with a high ethnic diversity might help broaden the appeal of archaeology and local history in general?
26/10/2013 at 14:23
wombioli
The lack of black archaeologists aside, why don’t Professional archaeologists volunteer their time for free on community digs so that the money saved on their salaries could be better used at museums and for conservation as well as producing online records of local archaeological digs? There are plenty of digs but how do local people access the information written up after the dig???
26/10/2013 at 15:55
cardiffian4
Lots already volunteer their time. As for working for free to save public expense I hope that’s a joke!
26/10/2013 at 19:19
wombioli
Cardiffian, i am most certainly not joking. Why should. Unpaid volunteers work alongside others on a project for the community who are getting PAID!!! Where is the spirit of giving in all this? Why would you not want to work with the stakeholders of our common heritage on an egalitarian basis? Why should i give up my time to work unpaid on something i enjoy when you are doing something you enjoy but are making financial gains from?
26/10/2013 at 19:28
cardiffian4
I’m a bit confused. How many hours of unpaid work per week are you saying archaeologists should give?
27/10/2013 at 11:01
Rose
Who chooses the site for community digs? If he community itself says “we want to find out more about X in our community” then perhaps it would be right that there is payment. If however the archaeologists are deciding the site and then asking for the community to help them for free then it seems wrong that the archaeologists are getting paid and the public isn’t. It is like the modern phenomenon of Charity collectors (Chuggers) on high streets, stopping people and getting them to sign up for a DD payment to a charity. These ‘Chuggers’ re getting paid so why the hell should I donate to the charity. Where have the tin rattling members of the public helping the charity for free all gone? Perhaps this is symptomatic of the modern “what’s in it for me?”, the culture of want over give.
27/10/2013 at 11:12
cardiffian4
Amateur archaeologists absolutely don’t want payment and archaeologists do a lot for free. Why is something different being talked about???
27/10/2013 at 12:11
Pampera
Amateur = No financial reward
Professional = Financially rewarded
Hurrah for the footsoldiers
27/10/2013 at 12:20
Pat
Exactly!
(I think we’ve been visited by takers, anxious to make out givers should take too. It happens all the time).
27/10/2013 at 12:23
cardiffian4
Ah. All becomes clear!
27/10/2013 at 12:27
Pampera
The point I was making was that in these times of austerity and funding cuts, it makes sense to have more amateurs as they are less financially draining than the professionals that are the takers (financialy).
27/10/2013 at 12:40
Kenneth Potter
Speaking from experience, I’m more than happy to work alongside professional archaeologists on the couple of excavations I have had the pleasure and honour of being able to be involved with. Time is precious to all of us so why should they not be paid to be involved? If I had studied at degree level I would wholly expect my efforts to be rewarded financially as that is the whole reason of wanting to make a career out of what was once a hobby. I would agree with the comments that there are not many, if any, non Anglo Saxon archaeologists but perhaps with more community involvement we can see this addressed in the long term.
27/10/2013 at 12:53
Pat
“it makes sense to have more amateurs as they are less financially draining than the professionals that are the takers (financialy).”
Indeed. But for the avoidance of doubt, I don’t regard archaeologists as “takers” and it’s not them who keep coming here in disguise!
27/10/2013 at 12:54
Kenneth Potter
I think I should make it clear that my comments re Anglo Saxons is not in any way meant to be racist, just trying to point out that not many coloureds are involved in archaeology which is a shame because if they did get involved it would go a long way to help build cultural bridges in communities through the understanding of History.
27/10/2013 at 17:15
Convair
About time someone recognised the large army of volunteers out there who are interested in archaeology and who get little recognition. Thank you for highlighting this.
28/10/2013 at 09:47
Rob
To try to address some of the questions & assumptions here:
Firstly, @Wombioli, professional archaeologists do often put in a great deal of unpaid time into supporting community projects. I know it doesn’t happen everywhere, but in our case we make sure that all the results are put up online with accessible summaries as well as full publication reports, free and available to everyone.
The money doesn’t just go on archaeologists’ salaries – it also pays for all the post-excavation work: processing & storing finds, obtaining scientific dating & artefact analysis, producing a report to a professional standard (which is crucial because otherwise the results of the dig can’t be used as evidence to inform planning decisions), besides, crucially, putting time and resources into helping communities plan the excavations in the first place.
Pampera’s point that professional archaeologists are more ‘financially draining’ is misleading. In many cases, it would be cheaper, quicker and easier for professionals to dig a site themselves behind fencing with no community involvement whatsoever than to help a community to research, fund and investigate a site themselves. But no-one wants that – it serves no-body and is insulting to the knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm of the community.
In response to Rose’s point, most good community projects will start with a question from the community itself. Sometimes it can be more ‘top-down’, ie there will be funding available for a community dig & the archaeologists decide where to site it based on research questions. In this case there are very strict guidelines – if it is a developer-funded dig (the bread-and-butter of archaeological units’ work) then IfA guidelines guard against using ‘free labour’ to enable units to get a job done ‘on the cheap’ – if unpaid volunteers are to be used, a project should genuinely be directed for their benefit.
As the original article rightly celebrates, volunteers are true ‘givers’ and contribute a huge amount to archaeological research in the UK. They really are the ‘unpaid heroes’. And many amateur archaeologists have a level of experience, expertise and passion that would put some professionals to shame. But there is a need for professional involvement, if only to advise and guide and provide the technical support and specialist equipment to support amateur groups. And without payment, there would be no professional units to provide such support.
In the spirit of the article, I should lastly say that without the interest and support of the amateurs who are the backbone of British Archaeology and passionate about their heritage, the professional sector would not exist!
28/10/2013 at 11:31
Bakerman
Why not introduce a lower pay rate for community diggers to reflect the fact that without them, ‘the professional sector would not exist’ to quote Rob. I can’t think of many paid activities that operate in this way of being supported by and existing by the selflessness of others that are unpaid. It would broaden and encourage the participation of the public in Archaeology and that can’t be a bad thing.
28/10/2013 at 11:54
Pat
I can’t think of anything worse. Amateur volunteers do it purely for what they can put into it. You can’t get better people than that. And why even think of paying them when they none of them want to be paid and there’s already a glut of people wanting to be involved on that basis.
(Oh, and, archaeology is skint, didn’t you know?!)
28/10/2013 at 12:17
Rob
Sorry Bakerman, I should have been more specific. Archaeology in its current form wouldn’t exist without local people being passionate about their heritage, applying the pressure which led to archaeology being incorporated into the planning system, and by continuing to act as tireless advocates for the value of archaeology.
I didn’t mean to suggest that we rely on using community diggers to sustain ourselves professionally – as I stated, for the majority of our work we’re strictly and rightly prohibited from using ‘free labour’ to bring our costs down. If people are doing a job as part of a commercial process, of course they should be paid, and paid at a rate that reflects their qualifications & experience. I know of archaeologists who’ve started out as amateurs and joined the ranks of professional diggers, and they are paid as professionals. No question.
But, that’s quite different to people doing archaeology in their local area for the love of it, funding their work through small charity/community/HLF grants. That sort of work is equally valuable, as it often addresses research questions that otherwise wouldn’t be answered by the developer-funded process. But, as the original article highlights, the beauty of such work is that it is undertaken by people who do it to fulfill a passion and for enjoyment, for whom the contribution to archaeological knowledge is its own reward – the true spirit of the amateur.
28/10/2013 at 18:32
For the love of;
A thought provoking thread. The pot of money supporting archaeology is not very big and as a profession Archaeology is probably one of, it not the lowest paid of professional occupations that I know of. You never hear the term “he made his money in archaeology” so the driver for people to pursue this career path must be a pure interest and love of the subject matter. If the professionals wont be paid much then there is hard any chance of the helpers being paid more than a cup of tea and a biscuit.
“why even think of paying them when they none of them want to be paid” – The simple answer is that more people would be involved if there was some financial reward and digs could be accomplished faster and more thoroughly if there was a larger workforce, incentivised by a financial reward. That said, there simply isn’t the money in the archaeological pot to pay them so we have to rely on volunteers of varying abilities and aptitudes to the discipline. Not ideal but that’s the way things are in reality.
It would be good for archaeology in general if it could start to receive more commercial sponsorship of certain high profile digs. As an ethical profession, there is no reason why ethical companies would not want to support a local community dig in a town that the company operates in. Imagine Waitrose sponsoring a dig in a Waitrose town. Now that would be class leading in terms of getting money into the discipline and Waitrose being seen as a supplier of the highest ethics and also public focussed. Commercial archaeology needs to reach out beyond being developer funded and being truly commercial archaeology through strategic partnerships. Then we really could see archaeology getting a high profile.
28/10/2013 at 21:09
wombioli
Lets hope the half million gets put to good uses and gets the
the intended results for the communities it engages with but i still think it could be put to better use though.
29/10/2013 at 06:14
Pat
What better use?
Your only proposal has been to pay people and if you work it out the £500,000 would be used up very quickly. Education is surely the best investment?
29/10/2013 at 10:07
Rob
To put ‘For the love of’s first point in perspective, an archaeologist, qualified to degree/masters level or above and with membership of the professional Institute can expect to earn £16.3k a year. A ‘Project Officer’ (senior archaeologist with responsibility for running sites) can expect to earn £20k. That’s why archaeologists get a little frustrated when people suggest they should take a pay cut or work for free on some types of sites.
I do think there’s a dangerous conflation here between the sort of work archaeologists carry out to fulfill planning conditions and the sort of ‘bottom-up’ community-led projects celebrated by the original post. Archaeologists do not rely on volunteers to do the former. As I stated previously, we’re rightly prohibited from doing so. I am an advocate of greater community involvement in a wider range of commercial projects, but this should not replace the use of professional staff paid accordingly. It’s worth re-iterating my earlier point that digs that are led by or involve the community don’t necessarily save time or money – a well-run community excavation supported by a professional unit can be lengthier and costlier than using purely professional staff, as the training element has to be built in.
Many community/research projects have successfully made use of high-profile corporate sponsors and strategic partnerships, and it’s something we’re likely to see more of in the future. Commercial units are doing likewise. But I should stress that for projects undertaken as part of the planning process, the principle is that ‘the polluter pays’, so such investigations have to be funded by the developer. That said, many developers are aware of the value of good publicity and local interest so are happy to pay more than they need to in order to ensure greater community involvement in the archaeological process.
This is a complex issue and a bit of a minefield, but it’s good to see it being debated!
29/10/2013 at 12:03
Ricky
£16.5k pa is exactly the reason I stopped being a circuit digger after 6 years as I could not make ends meet and had no sense of job security. As said before, there is just no money in archaeology to make it a viable occupation but it’s still a fantastically interesting pastime 😦
29/10/2013 at 17:17
Jeps
My god I knew archaeology wasn’t the best paid job in the world but never knew it was just a £16,000 per year job. Why on earth would anyone want to pay university fees and then go into a profession that pays less than a Tescos shelf stacker?
The line between volunteers and professionals is a very thin one for sure. Does the fact there are so many volunteers lead to the devaluing of the actual profession I wonder? Supply and demand tell me there must be more archaeologists than there is demand, hence such low pay rates. Truly stunned by the pay.
29/10/2013 at 17:27
samarkeolog
There seems to be some confusion. I am an archaeologist (at least technically – it’s on my jobseeker’s agreement…), and my archaeologist friends and I all support genuine and properly-done community archaeology.
Professional archaeology is complemented and amplified by community archaeology, and (good) community archaeology is dependent upon professional archaeology.
That said, archaeology is a profession; even if you think that’s a bit grandiose, it is at least a job. Archaeologists can and do do lots of unpaid work, but they cannot work entirely without pay. They have rent to pay like everybody else. (Very few get paid enough to have a mortgage.)
29/10/2013 at 18:08
samarkeolog
Commercial digs have strict guidelines, so volunteer involvement in community digs shouldn’t affect commercial diggers’ wages. But you do make a very good point. More so now than ever, archaeologists may never earn enough to pay off their student loans, so they may never escape basic economic insecurity.
Are poor and insecure archaeologists now expected to work for free on their weekends as well, or are they expected to (somehow inexplicably) work without pay during the week?
However, in museum archaeology, or cultural heritage, or whatever you want to call it, volunteers do threaten – or, more precisely, volunteers are being used to threaten and undermine – professionals’ wages.
And that’s another problem with the simple assumption that voluntary work – unpaid labour – is a win-win-win situation. I don’t blame people for believing it, it sounds very nice (and the alternative sounds horrible); but it isn’t true (and the reality is horrible).
Volunteers (and interns) are being used deliberately and systematically in order to drive down professionals’ wages or completely replace professionals and whole institutions.
29/10/2013 at 18:27
samarkeolog
‘Why not introduce a lower pay rate for community diggers?’
I am an enthusiastic supporter of waged training (whether it’s an “internship” or a traineeship or an apprenticeship). But if community diggers are paid, they are workers (and therefore professionals, not volunteers).
I am very happy for them to become workers, but then (and regardless) they should support their colleagues’ struggle for secure work and decent pay. If they do professional work for lower wages, they will only undermine the profession (and their own low wage).
29/10/2013 at 18:28
heritageaction
“Volunteers (and interns) are being used deliberately and systematically in order to drive down professionals’ wages or completely replace professionals and whole institutions.”
Yes, that’s the danger (and intent) of The Big Society. The puzzle is how to frustrate that agenda while retaining the best elements of the voluntary sector.
I think most people understand the value of archaeologists very well. Some of the Comments here are from people that have their own agenda. I wouldn’t worry about them.
29/10/2013 at 18:30
Jeps
It sounds like it would be better if archaeological courses were more limited in numbers instead of churning out ever more archaeologists with poor job and income prospects. Limit the supply and up the demand and in turn the pay. Commercial archaeology aside, would it not be better to treat archaeology as a hobby and have a full time job with proper pay rates to keep the wolf from the door and then to enjoy digs at the weekend.
29/10/2013 at 18:33
samarkeolog
Yes! I was a bit wary of saying it on here then toddling off, but some of the comments do seem beyond the innocent perception of a misled volunteer, in the realm of deliberate misdirection.
29/10/2013 at 19:09
heritageaction
Well, if someone wants to talk down both professional and amateur archaeology it’s not hard to work out where they’re coming from.
29/10/2013 at 19:28
Ricky
I don’t think people are talking down archaeology. People seemed really surprised at the poor pay in what is a highly professional career choice. Perhaps by highlighting the poor pay, something can be done about it finally. Suffering in silence is very frustrating.
29/10/2013 at 19:48
heritageaction
The talking down of archaeologists is the suggestion they ought to work partly for free and the talking down of amateurs is suggesting they would want to be paid.
29/10/2013 at 20:05
Ricky
Some people do hold their own slightly unusual opinions but that’s not talking down. It’s good to have the discussion and see others differing viewpoints. Me?, personally?, well I would love to see archaeology get the profile and the PAY it deserves and if there was enough money to go around, to be able to pay a nominal sum to attract the very best amateur archaeologists to assist and then to be able to attract those amateurs into the profession.
29/10/2013 at 21:07
Susanne Altwood
Thank you for taking time to mention the volunteers out there doing their bit, in whatever way they can.
30/10/2013 at 15:40
Oroset
It would be a good idea to publish a list of local amateur archeological societies on here and run articles on their activities from time to time to hopefully encourage more people to get involved.
30/10/2013 at 15:47
Alan S.
This is something we’ve done in the past, see https://heritageaction.wordpress.com/?s=Archaeology+Societies
But of course, we’re always happy to give space to any community archaeology projects that want the publicity…
31/10/2013 at 23:01
Judith P
This is so lovely to see how much positivity there is towards volunteering. Maybe there should be more focus on voluntary and amateur archeology on here as this sector does lack a voice.
01/11/2013 at 12:35
astral
Having had the pleasure of helping on a couple of excavations i can recommend it as a great way to get some fresh air and make new friends.
01/11/2013 at 13:38
Wilt
Call centre workers get paid more than archaeologists!!
01/11/2013 at 16:58
dotty
This topic is one close to my heart any we like to do our bit no matter how small and for free. What we lack in skills is made up for in abundant enthusiasm. I may not have fund much but golly do i enjoy it
02/11/2013 at 15:56
Tiff
All I want is a cup of tea now and then and a dip into the dig cookie jar and then i’m as happy as can be (except for when it rains and the site becomes muddy 😦 )
It is a very rewarding pastime, even though evidently not a vey financially rewarding occupation.
03/11/2013 at 18:37
Ed Bannister
I have but one ask and it is a simple one. It frustrates me that after the dig and the site is cleared up and everyone has gone home and the professionals are writing up the dig formally with their findings, why can’t they ensure that ALL the participants get sent a copy via email. It’s a simple thing to do and shows the thanks that we deserve. All too often, I am left in the dark as the formal findings of the dig and have to chase up the site director or other person in charge to find out what happened and that’s not right in my book. More ‘After Dig’ information please.
04/11/2013 at 19:09
Balenim46
I’m going to get a T shirt made up for digs that says “i’m an unpaid hero of Heritage” on it. About time we got recognised for what we do. I might see if I can sell some of the T shirts to raise awareness out there. Well done for taking the time to highlight the army of amateurs out there.
05/11/2013 at 19:06
Milly
We discussed this article at our group meeting last night and it went down a storm! More heroes needed at groups throughout the country.