The Dig Manchester Project, 2005-2009 : Redefining community archaeology?

The Dig Manchester project was a community archaeology scheme within the city of Manchester, UK, that ran from 2005 to 2009. This paper provides an overview of that project, the precursor to which began life under the banner of ‘Dig Moston’ in 2003 and developed in 2005 into ‘Dig Manchester’, finishing in 2009 with the publication of two popular booklets. Throughout its life the project consciously attempted to engage local communities, groups and individuals who would not normally take part in archaeological activity. Reaching out to these communities was seen by some as interfering with the ‘traditional’ voluntary approaches to archaeological fieldwork and drew criticism for such engagement. The project also deliberately collated data on the public and volunteer response to the process or activity of uncovering the past.