They were moving forward in a line across the 10-square-metre trench, the volunteer prospectors arm-in-arm with the academics, Joe Fitzpatrick on the far edge.
He was digging around a building’s hearth, about 60 cm (2 ft) below the ground, when he hit the ground twice with his pick and it exploded – a rare bronze spear snag, a metal fixture placed over the end of a wooden pole. To balance the spear head. Covered in pictorial carvings, it had remained buried for more than a thousand and a half years, and was one of the most groundbreaking archaeological discoveries of 2024 in Scotland.
“The hairs stand up on the back of your neck, and it tingles,” says Fitzpatrick, the moment he realized the significance of the discovery. “It’s special.”
Fitzpatrick, who has always had a passion for history, became involved in regular community excavations at the East Lomond Hillfort site, next to the Falkland village in Fife, as a retirement activity.
He worked next to Professor Gordon Noble, head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, who was leading the dig: “We just looked at each other,” Fitzpatrick recalls. “Two men with their jaws open in astonishment.”
He helped discover the artefact in July, during excavations organized by the Falkland Stewardship Trust and the University of Aberdeen, which brings together members of the public and students to help uncover the remains of settlements dating from around the second or third century AD to around 700 AD.
He is one of a growing group of citizen archaeologists, passionate volunteers who support projects across the country even as volunteerism overall declines.
“A lot of people retiring are more aware of the importance of staying active outdoors, but we also have young people working out what to do after their studies, and the media has broadened the appeal of archeology through programs such as Time Team and Digging for Britain,” says Fitzpatrick. . – This is not limited to Oxford University students only.
An “extremely rare” find, like the butt of a spear, boosts the team’s morale, Noble says, and “helps volunteers understand why they engage in this ‘extreme gardening’.”
“Community engagement has really increased in the last 10 years,” he says. “There is the thrill of uncovering the past on your doorstep. These volunteers come from all walks of life, and you meet some wonderfully educated people.
Although Volunteers Scotland warned that results from last year’s Scottish Household Survey “suggest a crisis in volunteering”, figures for those involved in culture and heritage remain flat, compared with an 18% decline elsewhere.
Geoff Sanders, head of outreach for the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, says the cost of living crisis has affected individuals and their ability to get involved, but also organizations and their ability to offer things to volunteers. “But the good news is that the numbers are holding steady for heritage.”
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In addition to the funding challenges, Sanders says there is a drive to diversify volunteering — volunteers are often retirees with more disposable income.
Sanders also works on the Make Your Mark campaign, which worked with the Scottish Refugee Council over the summer to co-design monument tasting sessions to attract people who would not normally engage in volunteering.
This “continuous upward trend” in community engagement prompted Emily Johnston to map the citizen archaeologist phenomenon as part of her doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh. I have launched a database of community archeology activities across Scotland, Outreach in Scottish Archaeology (OScA).
“There is a sense of wonder and excitement in the excavation,” Johnston says. “A lot of the volunteers have been really interested in archaeology from a young age. It’s about creating a link to your past and giving people a sense of identity.