Following careful consideration of the current course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently making changes to our upcoming community archaeology programme.
In brief, we have decided to postpone any digs, talks or workshops that were due to take place before 01 June 2020. All being well, we intend to re-schedule them for Autumn 2020.
For now, we intend to continue with our other digs as planned. We are of course monitoring the ongoing situation, and will update our plans if we need to.
In the meantime, we will also be announcing some exciting new ways to do archaeology online!
To us, community is everything and we want to keep you well-supplied with archaeology over the coming months. If we stick together, we can continue to make great archaeology happen – from home! Make sure you subscribe to our email list if you fancy a bit of online archaeology to enjoy at home.
For now this is where you can find the latest information about changes to our upcoming programme:
🛑 St Mary’s Windows to the World, County Durham (from March 2020) – postponed
We are currently postponing all of our upcoming talks and workshops at St Mary’s Parish Church in Barnard Castle. If you want to be notified when the events are re-scheduled, please make sure you are subscribed to our email list. All being well, we will re-schedule events for Autumn 2020.
🛑 Earth Trust, Oxfordshire (March 2020) – postponed
We are currently postponing our upcoming dig at Earth Trust. If you booked a DigCamp or Dig Experience, the Earth Trust team have already emailed you so please check your inbox for more information. All being well, we will re-schedule the dig for Autumn 2020.
🛑 Romans of Sedgefield (Brightwater), County Durham (April 2020) – postponed
We are currently postponing our upcoming dig at Sedgefield. If you booked to join the Dig Team, we have already emailed you about your place. All being well, we will re-schedule the dig for Autumn 2020.
🛑 Soulton Hall, Shropshire (May 2020) – postponed
We are currently postponing our upcoming dig at Soulton Hall until October 2020. If you are booked in to join the Dig Team or Finds Team, we will automatically transfer your booking to our new dig dates and we will email you as soon as they are confirmed. We know that you are super keen to get out and do some archaeology, so if you cannot attend the new dig dates when they are announced, we will be happy to transfer your booking to another dig in future.
🛑 Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire (June 2020) – postponed
Following consultation with the good folk at Sudeley Castle (which is currently closed to the public indefinitely), we have decided to postpone our upcoming dig in the castle grounds. If you are booked in to join the Dig Team or Finds Team, we will automatically transfer your booking to our new dig dates and we will email you as soon as they are confirmed. We know that you are super keen to get out and do some archaeology, so if you cannot attend the new dig dates when they are announced, we will be happy to transfer your booking to another dig in future. All being well, we will re-schedule the dig for Summer 2021
🔶 DigNation Festival, Gloucestershire (June 2020) – NEW Virtual Festival!
The fact that Sudeley Castle remains indefinitely closed to the public means we have had to take the very difficult decision to postpone the physical part of DigNation in the castle grounds. We have also decided to save all of our Tudor-tastic speakers and special activities for when we are able to return to Sudeley Castle. Instead, we will be hosting a brand new, Virtual Festival with an timely new theme: Big Dig Energy! We’ll be hearing from top archaeologists all over the world who aren’t able to dig this year because of the pandemic, but who still want to share their amazing work. So, DigNation 2020 is still happening, but instead of Tudors, it’s going to be all about Big Dig Energy: big sites, big ideas, big news! If you are a ticketholder, you will receive an email about your options.
✅ Romans of East Yorkshire, Yorkshire (August 2020) – proceeding as planned
We currently aim to proceed with this dig as planned. If you are booked in to join the Dig Team, Finds Team, DigCamp or DigClub, you don’t need to do anything for now – your booking still holds. We will of course be monitoring the situation carefully and if further changes do need to be made, we will be in touch with more information about your options.
✅ Lindisfarne, Northumberland (September 2020) – proceeding as planned
We currently aim to proceed with this dig as planned. If you are booked in to join the Dig Team, Finds Team, DigCamp or DigClub, you don’t need to do anything for now – your booking still holds. We will of course be monitoring the situation carefully and if further changes do need to be made, we will be in touch with more information about your options.
🛑 Digging the Danube, Croatia (September 2020) – postponed
Although this dig is scheduled for September, it relies on the completion of other fieldwork in the coming months. After discussion with our Croatian colleagues, this dig will be postponed until 2021.
Got questions?
Our top priority is to ensure that everyone stays safe and healthy. Together with our many project partners (which include universities, councils and other organisations), and in line with travel advice and restrictions for our Venturers around the world, we will continue to monitor the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and to adjust our programme accordingly.
We know that you are all super keen to get out into the field to do archaeology, and to help us continue sharing our discoveries with the world. With your support, we will do our best to make sure we keep doing that, and that you get your time in the dirt with our team!
If you are unable to attend a dig, we are usually happy to transfer your place to another dig in future, but please bear with us while we adjust our plans.
If you will be traveling from overseas to join us on a dig later in the year, we do (as always) strongly recommend taking out a good quality travel insurance policy to protect yourself in the event of cancelled transportation.
If you have any more questions about your intended dig, please email us.
Finally…
In the meantime, we’d like to send our love and big (virtual) archaeology hugs to all of our Venturers, and to everyone who supports our archaeological efforts. We wish everyone good health, and we hope to see you online or on site later this year.