Community Archaeology in Rural Environments - Meeting Societal Challenges (JPI Cultural Heritage in Changing Environments)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Lincoln
Department Name: School of History and Heritage
Abstract
See attached pdf (relevant text below extracted from pdf)
Community Archaeological in Rural Environments Meeting Social Challenges (CARE MSoC) aims to build capacity in the heritage sector to help meet social challenges that are particular to rural communities through exploring the impact of specific contextualized participatory practices. Rural populations everywhere are affected by urbanisation, migration and technological innovation, often while the local subaltern heritage is overlooked as development pressures encounter dwindling resources for heritage protection. Community Archaeology has a uniquely distinctive quality for social binding and the co-creation of localized narratives using methodologies from archaeology, historical geography, social psychology, digital humanities and medieval studies.
CARE MSoC involves local people working with archaeologists to make new discoveries about the village they live in, using finds from multiple one-metre square 'test pit' excavations they themselves plan and carry out throughout the village. These methods were pioneered in the UK where volunteers involved as co-producing partners in community test pit excavation programmes have gained new skills, interests, connections and aspirations. Simultaneously, the improved knowledge of buried tangible heritage helps protect heritage assets while the new historical narratives enhance empathetic heritage-based place-branding adding value to rural communities as places to inhabit and visit. These outcomes raise educational aspirations, improve social mobility and community self-esteem, strengthen social cohesion and increase opportunities for fulfilling locally-based post-work activity, mitigating the impact of public sector funding cuts while also protecting heritage. CARE-MSoC aims to explore the feasibility and impact of extending this programme to other European countries and disseminate its methodologies and outcomes transnationally, in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK with varying social issues, cultural differences and historical contexts.
CARE MSoC will take cultural heritage practice beyond the state of the art within a broad international setting, delivering knowledge exchange in a transdisciplinary context, supporting interactions and partnerships, maximizing the value of the research outcomes.
Community Archaeological in Rural Environments Meeting Social Challenges (CARE MSoC) aims to build capacity in the heritage sector to help meet social challenges that are particular to rural communities through exploring the impact of specific contextualized participatory practices. Rural populations everywhere are affected by urbanisation, migration and technological innovation, often while the local subaltern heritage is overlooked as development pressures encounter dwindling resources for heritage protection. Community Archaeology has a uniquely distinctive quality for social binding and the co-creation of localized narratives using methodologies from archaeology, historical geography, social psychology, digital humanities and medieval studies.
CARE MSoC involves local people working with archaeologists to make new discoveries about the village they live in, using finds from multiple one-metre square 'test pit' excavations they themselves plan and carry out throughout the village. These methods were pioneered in the UK where volunteers involved as co-producing partners in community test pit excavation programmes have gained new skills, interests, connections and aspirations. Simultaneously, the improved knowledge of buried tangible heritage helps protect heritage assets while the new historical narratives enhance empathetic heritage-based place-branding adding value to rural communities as places to inhabit and visit. These outcomes raise educational aspirations, improve social mobility and community self-esteem, strengthen social cohesion and increase opportunities for fulfilling locally-based post-work activity, mitigating the impact of public sector funding cuts while also protecting heritage. CARE-MSoC aims to explore the feasibility and impact of extending this programme to other European countries and disseminate its methodologies and outcomes transnationally, in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK with varying social issues, cultural differences and historical contexts.
CARE MSoC will take cultural heritage practice beyond the state of the art within a broad international setting, delivering knowledge exchange in a transdisciplinary context, supporting interactions and partnerships, maximizing the value of the research outcomes.
Planned Impact
See attached PDF of original JPICH proposal document submitted to EC.
Publications
Brizi A
(2023)
Psychological outcomes of local heritage engagement: Participation in community archeological excavations increases well-being, self-efficacy, and perceived community support
in Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Lewis C
(2022)
Exploring the impact of participative place-based community archaeology in rural Europe: Community archaeology in rural environments meeting societal challenges
in Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage
Lewis C
(2022)
TEST PIT EXCAVATION WITHIN CURRENTLY OCCUPIED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, NETHERLANDS, POLAND AND UNITED KINGDOM - RESULTS OF THE CARE PROJECT 2021
in Medieval Settlement Research
Lewis, C
(2021)
TEST PIT EXCAVATION WITHIN CURRENTLY OCCUPIED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, NETHERLANDS, POLAND AND UNITED KINGDOM - RESULTS OF THE CARE PROJECT 2020
in Medieval Settlement Research
Lewis, C.
(2023)
'Test pit excavation within currently occupied rural settlements in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK - Results of the CARE project 2022'
in Medieval Settlement Research
Lewis, C.
(2023)
'Psychological wellbeing and heritage: new insights into the relationships between wellbeing and participation'
in The Archaeologist
Lewis, C.
(2020)
Test pit excavation within currently occupied rural settlements in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK - Results of the CARE project 2019'
in Medieval Settlement Research
| Description | (1) The test pit excavation technique has been shown to be effective for advancing knowledge knowledge of historic settlement development in three European countries where this has not been used before. The test pit excavations have been able to reach deposits with a substantial number of artefacts including a good complement of pre-modern material. Archaeologists in these countries now have an additional technique with proven effectiveness available to them. (2) The CARE-MSoC project aimed to involve members of the public in excavating archaeological test pits within historic rural settlements in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK. It ran from 2019-2023. The project faced many, many obstacles, restrictions and delays. We had expected those caused by the inevitable challenges of introducing a type of archaeological activity (public participatory research excavation) which was entirely new to the non-UK states, but we did not anticipate the extreme and unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid19 pandemic which repeatedly made fieldwork impossible for months on end in all four states. In spite of these challenges, 298 test pits were excavated by c. 1,200 members of the public, most of whom were residents of the settlements in which the excavations took place. The number of pits excavated (at the time of writing) was 99% of the planned target (300), and the number of settlements investigated (15) significantly exceeded the target of 12. Analysis of the archaeological data was ongoing in summer 2023 (when some additional test pits may be excavated), and plans are in hand for a synthesising comparative overview of the results for publication, which will include an assessment of the new insights into medieval settlement development gained from the archaeological discoveries, as well as an analysis of the social impact of the project of individuals, communities and the wider heritage sector. In the meantime, the outcomes of the test pit excavations in 2019-23, are summarised very briefly in the synthesis below of provisional 'thumbnail' sketches of the key new insights and evidence for the development of rural medieval settlements from the test pit excavations published in MSR each year, in order to bring together insights and offer a flavour of what has been achieved, in advance of final more detailed publication. In the Czech Republic, test pitting explored five villages. In Drválovice (reported in MSR vol 37), a hamlet naer Vanovice where more extensive test-pitting took place, just two test pits were excavated which, while revealing a large assemblage of middle Bronze Age pottery produced none relating to medieval occupation which is documented from 1256, leaving open the question of its medieval origins and development. In Merboltice (reported in MSR vols 37 and 38) by contrast, excavation of 25 test pits not only revealed baroque church destroyed during the communist era, but also showed the village to have originated in the thirteenth/fourteenth or fifteenth century, when it extended along the entire length of the stream valley it presently occupies, with the present layout developing by infilling between a series of medieval farms originally separated by greater distances. In Myslinka (reported in MSR vols 35 and 36) test pit data showed that the currently occupied settlement was established on a new, previously unoccupied site in the later 18th century, after the medieval settlement, whose location remains unproven, was abandoned during the religious wars of the sixteenth/seventeenth century . At Predhradí-Rychmburk (reported in MSR vols 36 and 37) test pitting of an area of settlement within the fourteenth/fifteenth century fortified castle bailey produced no finds early than the sixteenth century, but showed how extensively this area has been modified in recent times, a possible factor in the lack of recovered finds of earlier date including removal of earlier deposits or re-deposited material impeding access to earlier deposits. In Vanovice (reported in MSR vols 36 and 37) test pitting revealed widespread Bronze Age and Iron Age activity and indicated the early medieval settlement consisted of several small, dispersed hamlets, which became concentrated around the parish church in the twelfth to early thirteenth century and only later acquired a regular planned layout. In the Netherlands, seven settlement territories were involved in the CARE test pitting programme, although in several of these the pandemic prevented many test pits from being excavated. In Aarle (reported in MSR vol 35) just four pits were excavated, with medieval finds limited to later (fifteenth century) pottery from only one pit. However, the test pitting did usefully demonstrate the potential of deposits at greater depth for producing earlier material, although post-pandemic social changes made it impossible to return as planned to investigate these. At Boxtel (reported in MSR vol 38) nine test pits usefully ground-truthed prior theories about the development of the settlement, dating the central part of the town to the high medieval period and showing that the nearby Strijpt area was used as arable land in the eleventh and twelfth centuries before the market was founded. In Esch (reported in MSR vol 38) the excavation of just three test pits raised the possibility that the documented fifteenth/early sixteenth-century farmstead may not have been in the same place as the 1604 manor, highlighting the need for further work to test this inference. In Gemonde (reported in MSR vols 35 and 38), test pitting demonstrated the presence of a Roman villa which continued into the seventh century, and showed medieval habitation took the form of a number of dispersed farms and small settlement clusters, with some farms of medieval origin and others apparently later. In Liempde (reported in MSR vols 35, 37 and 38), test pitting showed the nucleated village developed from an agglomeration of hamlets, which originated as dispersed farms set amidst their arable fields but suggested no direct link between the medieval settlement and the late Roman or Merovingian period, although Iron Age and Roman finds have previously been made at various sites in the surrounding open fields. In Schijndel (reported in MSR vol 38) excavation of 21 pits showed the late medieval settlement to have been arranged along the main road which may date as early as the Carolingian period (eighth or ninth century AD), possibly with roots in land-use in the Roman and even Iron Age periods. In Woensel (reported in MSR vol 35) six test pits in what appears at first glance to be an entirely modern suburb showed habitation in the centre of the present settlement to date back to the Carolingian period, with a single sherd of Merovingian pottery from a different test pit hinting at the possibility that this resulted from settlement shift between the Merovingian and Carolingian periods; in contrast, habitation at an outlying historic farmhouse was dated back to at least the sixteenth century. In Poland, in Biadki excavation of 15 test pits in three different parts of the current settlement produced no pottery predating the seventeenth century, usefully indicating which parts of the settlement first documented in the sixteenth century might be the earliest, but raising the possibility that the historic settlement was not founded on a medieval predecessor. In Chycina (reported in MSR vol 35) excavation of 12 test pits in the central square or green revealed extensive Bronze Age use of landscape and showed the village green, hitherto presumed to have always been open, was intensively used from the thirteenth century onwards, possibly initially for habitation and then in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries for rubbish pits. In Slawsko (reported in MSR vol 36), excavation of 13 test pits produced a relatively large assemblage of Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery and showed the medieval settlement may have existed in AD 1300-1600 as a nucleus near the church and then developed after 1600 by extending along a central street running up the valley. In the UK, where many medieval settlements have benefitted from test pit excavation before the CARE project began (eg MSR vols 20-34) and where the CARE excavations were carried out primarily to provide social impact data, the test pit excavations nonetheless provided new insights. At Old Dalby (reported in MSR vols 35 and 38) 24 pits indicated that the settlement developed from one or more small pre-Noman nuclei into two or three small nodes in the high medieval period and bucked national trends by expanding after the demographic collapse of the fourteenth century, probably helped by the presence of a preceptory whose sixteenth century demise heralded severe contraction and replanning of the village. At Riseholme (reported in MSR vols 37 and 38) 33 test pits provided the first evidence from this well-known deserted settlement excavated in the 1950s for medieval activity predating the thirteenth century from and hints of pre-Norman settlement. The paragraphs above point to the emergence of wider cross-cutting themes, within and across different nation states. These include new evidence for pre-medieval settlement and land-use; the impact of pre-medieval activity on the development of settlement and land-use in the medieval period; the origins and development of the nucleated village; the origins and development of dispersed patterns of settlement and farms; the ways in which one form of settlement develops into another; the impact of landscape, agricultural regime and catastrophe (pandemics, warfare, climate change); the development of village greens and plot frontages; the role of communication, industrialisation and political factors on settlements; the archaeological potential of currently occupied rural settlements; and the impact of modern (since AD 1900) development on the archaeological resource. These themes will be amongst those explored in more detail along with site-by-site analyses, in the final publication. (3) The social impact of the excavations on local communities has been recorded and has been shown to boost skills, knowledge and wellbeing. Surveys completed by participants in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK have shown public participation in community test pit excavation to be popular and effective in benefitting people while also attracting, sustaining and growing local interest in heritage participation in all three countries. 77% of CARE participants taking part in surveys agreed/strongly agreed that the experience had increased their knowledge of local archaeology and history; 70% that they felt more engaged with this than before; 55% said they would be more interested in local archaeology and history, and 57% in archaeology and history generally. In addition, responses showed the experience supports all five NEF pillars of psychological wellbeing (connecting with others; being physically active; learning something new; mindfulness; and giving back as well as positively. Participation has also been shown to impact positively on identity, self-esteem and place attachment. (4) The value of archaeological finds (material culture) for reconstructing the past development of currently occupied rural settlements, and the capacity of test pit excavation to generate archaeological material which can do this has been made evident to heritage professionals and to community residents. |
| Exploitation Route | (1) Cultural heritage resource managers and academic researchers have new techniques (test pit excavation) to investigate the development of historic rural settlements (2) Community groups/health workers can support participation by local people in community archaeological excavations to improve wellbeing and develop skills and aspirations (3) Cultural resource managers will be better able to protect and curate the buried tangible heritage of currently inhabited rural villages as the extent and value of this material is better known and understood. (4) Local residents and visitors including tourists will be better able to connect with and appreciate the historic 'stories' of rural settlements. (5) Local communities/rural tourist agencies will be better able to present the history of the settlements to visitors. (6) Teachers will have new ways of teaching pupils about their local history. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Environment Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://archaeologyeurope.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/ |
| Description | 1. Excavations have taken place in 17 communities (five in Czech Republic, seven in Netherlands, three in Poland and two in UK. o Czech Republic: ? 168 members of the public gained new knowledge, skills and improved psychological wellbeing from participating in 125 test pit excavations in five communities ? GIS being used to connect old maps/aerial photos with today and with archaeology - finds from TPs are effective in giving physical connection ? National Heritage Agency are happy they will find out more about village archaeology because no-one normally informs them about development. ? Local people in some places are suspicious, not least because of WW2 forced migration and communist state ? Huge media interest, including from Czech National TV. o Netherlands: ? 606 members of the public gained new knowledge, skills and improved psychological wellbeing from participating in 83 test pit excavations in seven communities ? Finds have included pottery, coins and a musket ball/grape shot for the 80 Years War. ? The concept of participative archaeology exploring local communities has really taken off in LN, helped by an existing network of local history societies. ? The project has also managed to attract small amounts of additional funding. ? The national heritage agency has funded some spin-off programmes, public participative archaeology now part of national heritage strategy. o Poland: ? 151 members of the public gained new knowledge, skills and improved psychological wellbeing from participating in 40 test pit excavations in seven communities ? Negotiating local heritage bureaucracy has been the main difficulty o UK ? 111 members of the public and university students gained new knowledge, skills and improved psychological wellbeing from participating in 57 test pit excavations in seven communities ? Three University of Lincoln psychology students worked with Leicestershire Fieldworkers Group volunteers to collect 'before and after' survey data from participants and a control group of village residents who did not participate in the excavations. 2. Psychological impact evaluation: o Evaluating the impact of participation in community archaeology and advancing understanding of the nature and processes by which positive benefits are achieved is a key aim of CARE o The Dutch and UK teams have been working with the University of Exeter on the quantitative evaluation of the psychological impact, developing a questionnaire drawing on social identity theory. o Outcomes: the dataset (which includes responses from the Netherlands and Old Dalby) is still quite small, but analysis shows significant psychological benefits to be observable among participants which are not present on the control group. These relate specifically to increased levels of community connection, place attachment, life satisfaction, self-efficacy as well as a range of positive emotions. o This is the first time that the specific psychological benefits of community archaeology have been identified using rigorous scientific testing. o The Dutch team have been developing a qualitative evaluation methodology (to complement the quantitative approach) using grounded theory. o The Polish and Czech teams will be running the quantitative survey in their projects in summer 2020, complemented by the qual survey carried out when time permits, with a simple feedback post-event survey completed by participants not covered by either of these. The Dutch team will use the post-event survey for all participants complemented by the qual survey for selected participants. 3. Dissemination: o Locally, the projects has been promoted via local news (online and broadcast) as well as personal networks including local history groups. o Nationally through social media, website, radio, TV, awards o In the Netherlands ? A TV company has made a programme about the excavations (for a program called 'Goud van Brabant' (Gold from Brabant). ? The project has been featured in 'Parole' magazine; ? In national radio interview(s) and ? Performed on stage in a local carnival. ? The project was shortlisted for a national archaeology award (add name) o A paper about CARE was given at EAA 2019 (Bern) and will be published in a special edition of the Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage. o The project has also been included in presentations at international symposia/conferences in Moscow and Lecce, and in public lectures in Ghent and Best. o Two papers on CARE will be given to the 2020 EAA conference (Budapest), one to be published. o A paper about CARE has been accepted for the prestigious EASP (European Association of Social Psychology) Conference in June 2020 in Wroclaw, Poland. o Local and national heritage agencies have been made aware of the project aims and progress by project leads in each country. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | CARE in Netherlands |
| Organisation | Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan |
| Country | Poland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am PI for the project within which this collaboration take place; we provide advice, templates and resources to enable their test pit excavation to take place; I am lead author on most project publications |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Universities of Amsterdam, West Bohemia and Poznan plan, organise, oversee and report on community archaeological excavations using our participative test pit excavation model |
| Impact | Conference papers, published articles, enhanced wellbeing to local commuities |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CARE in Netherlands |
| Organisation | University of Amsterdam |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am PI for the project within which this collaboration take place; we provide advice, templates and resources to enable their test pit excavation to take place; I am lead author on most project publications |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Universities of Amsterdam, West Bohemia and Poznan plan, organise, oversee and report on community archaeological excavations using our participative test pit excavation model |
| Impact | Conference papers, published articles, enhanced wellbeing to local commuities |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CARE in Netherlands |
| Organisation | University of West Bohemia |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am PI for the project within which this collaboration take place; we provide advice, templates and resources to enable their test pit excavation to take place; I am lead author on most project publications |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Universities of Amsterdam, West Bohemia and Poznan plan, organise, oversee and report on community archaeological excavations using our participative test pit excavation model |
| Impact | Conference papers, published articles, enhanced wellbeing to local commuities |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Community Archaeology |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | c. 60 local residents attended a talk about the potential of participative local archaeological excavation for rural communities, with lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Digging Old Dalby - new archaeological discoveries from a historic village |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An illustrated talk given online as part of Museum's lunchtime talks series, streamed on 28th Sept 2020 and available to watch online since. Stimulated lively questions from online audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/exhibitions-and-events/view/lunchtime-talk-professor-carenza-lew... |
| Description | Old Dalby - community Archaeological test pit excavations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | c. 80 local residents attended a talk on the excavation outcomes, which sparked lively questions afterwards and an agreed commitment to carry out further excavations in the future (not yet possible due to covid-19 restrictions) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |