Many of you will have seen archaeologists locally, or on the television, on programmes such as Time Team, and wondered how you can have a go yourself. This page is designed to tell you how, if you live in Sussex that is. Digs are attended by a wide variety of people, of ages anywhere from sixteen onwards, with quite a few retired people getting involved. The insurance at digs doesn't usually cover those under sixteen, but younger people can get involved by joining their local branch of the Young Archaeologists Club, who do get involved with fieldwork throughout the year. You usually don't have to pay anything to go on a volunteer dig, but societies do like you to become a member for insurance purposes, though the cost is usually fairly low. Please also make sure that your tetanus jabs are up to date.

What You Will Need

You will need to bring some items along to the dig, some are essential, and some are optional, the essential items are :

• A Four Inch Pointing Trowel - From a DIY store. To get digging, you will need a trowel. Make sure it is cast in a single piece rather than riveted, or it will fall apart fairly quickly.
• A Kneeling Mat - Found in any garden centre. To save your knees from being shredded by sharp flint. Some people prefer pads that can be strapped to the knees instead.
• Food and Water - Rather unsurprisingly, there are no restaurant facilities at most digs, so bring enough to eat and drink for the day. On a hot day, you can get through litres of liquid.
• A Hat - To keep the sun off, and the hair out of your face.
• Sunblock - Sensible clothes that will stop you from burning and sunblock are essential in hot weather.
• Waterproofs - Even on a hot day. You will always remember the day you were caught out.
• Sensible Footwear - No townie shoes in the middle of a field, a good pair of waterproof walking boots are favourite.

The optional items are :

• Gloves - If you have girly soft hands like me, gloves will stop you getting blisters and keep you warm if you join one of the mad groups that dig until the ground freezes solid.
• Camera - So you can show all your friends the big hole you dug last weekend.
• Sense of Humour - Actually this is essential.

Digs Available In 2002

Rocky Clump - Run by Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society

Rocky Clump, near the village of Stanmer, which is just to the north of Brighton, is the site of a Romano-British farmstead, which has been under excavation for several years. BHAS dig at weekends, both Saturday and Sunday, usually starting at 10am. There is no cost as this is a volunteer dig run by the society, and there is plenty of scope for training. If you would like to get involved, contact the society through their website. The BHAS group are actually quite mad, and will cheerfully continue digging until either the ground freezes over or they cannot feel their feet, though it tends to be only a hardcore of diggers left at the end of the season. Various other activities undertaken by the group include Geophysics and fieldwalking, and they will also be undertaking a small evaluation excavation at Ovingdean this year.

Barcombe Roman Villa - Run by UCL Field Unit and the Mid Sussex Field Archaeology Team

Barcombe Roman Villa, just north of Lewes, will be in its second season of excavation this year. There are two options if you would like to dig at Barcombe Roman Villa. The first is Week and Weekend courses on Excavation, Surveying and other subjects run by the UCL Field Unit, which have to be payed for. The courses run from late june to early august, and course details and how to book can be found at the Field Unit web site at http://www.archaeologyse.co.uk/courses.html. The second option is to join the Mid Sussex Field Archaeology Team. MSFAT will be running the dig at the weekend, from Mid-April to October, when you can come as a volunteer, but you will need to join MSFAT, which costs £8 for a year. The MSFAT Director, Chris Butler, is a flint expert, and will occasionally run digs on prehistoric sites, especially Mesolithic. He can be contacted by email at chris@reltub.fsbusiness.co.uk.

Herstmonceux - Run by Jenny Compton and Herstmonceux Castle

Jenny Compton will be running the final year of excavation of some Post-Medieval outbuildings at Herstmonceux Castle this year. The dig will run from the 9th of July to mid/end August, with work being carried out Tuesday to Saturday. More details of the specific dates will be forthcoming. There is a £25 charge to join the dig for a 5 day week, and an additional £25 per week if you want to camp. Shower facilities and evening meals are also available if necessary, though there will be an additional charge for these. The dig is run by Jenny Compton, who is currently living in Portugal. Her email address is jenny@11bja.netlineuk.net. You can still join this dig by contacting Herstmonceux Castle on 01323 834400.

Fishbourne Roman Palace - Run by the Sussex Archaeological Society

The county society have been digging at this site near Chichester for several years now and will be digging again this year from July 15th to the end of August. The volunteer places available to society members are now full, but it may be worth contacting Betina Blake (adminfish@sussexpast.co.uk) at the Palace to see if there are any cancellations. Failing that, you can go and see the results of the dig at an open day on August 26th.

Bishopstone - Run by the Sussex Archaeological Society

Gabor Thomas (research@sussexpast.co.uk) of the Sussex Archaeological Society will be conducting a second year of excavations at Bishopstone. Last years excavations revealed a series of Medieval and Iron-Age features. Excavations this year will take place during the week from August 5th to September 12th. As well as excavation, there will be opportunities to gain experience in geophysics, finds-processing and enviromental sampling. If you want to get involved, email Gabor Thomas at the above email address, or call him on 01273 405736.

Horsham - Run by Southern Counties Archaeology

SCA will be excavating a Medieval site near Barnes Green, just south-west of Horsham from the end of April and another near Itchingfield, also to the south-west of Horsham. They dig 9.30am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday, though not on all weekends, and is suitable for complete beginners. They take any volunteers from 16 upwards, though they also take people aged 14-15 if accompanied by an adult. If you are interested in this or any other of their digs, email Mark Phillips at sca@kiasu.worldonline.co.uk or phone him on (01903) 725831.

Hadlow Down - Wealden Iron Research Group

Though the Wealden Iron Research Group is not excavating this year, they are doing some fieldwalking at Hadlow Down and Warbleton on March 16th. If you would like more details, contact Jeremy Hodgkinson at Jeremy.Hodgkinson@ukgateway.net.

Slindon? - Worthing Archaeological Society

Worthing Archaeological Society Field Unit will be performing a range of archaeological activities from March to August this year, though you do need to be a member to take part. Details are available from their website at http://www.worthingpast.co.uk/field_unit.htm.