DIG: An Archaeological Adventure
 DIG is located in the historic St Saviour's Church in York | |
 | |
| Established | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Location | St Saviourgate, York, England |
| Type | Interactive archaeology centre |
| Founder | York Archaeological Trust |
| Website | dig.yorkarchaeology.co.uk |
DIG: An Archaeological Adventure is an educational resource in York, England. Operated by the York Archaeology, the centre is housed in the former St Saviour's Church, a 15th-century building repurposed in the 1990s as an archaeological education centre. DIG offers an immersive learning environment where visitors engage in simulated excavations and artefact analysis across four historical periods: Roman, Viking, medieval and Victorian. Using excavation tools, participants explore replica and authentic artefacts, supported by multimedia displays that explain archaeological methods and historical contexts.
The site lies within a deeply stratified urban area of York, where well-preserved, waterlogged deposits have provided ideal conditions for preserving organic remains. These conditions have made the city centre a significant focus of urban archaeology in the UK. Excavations in the 20th century revealed layers of human activity, forming the foundation for both research and public engagement in archaeology.
DIG is fully accessible and incorporates multi-sensory elements and communication aids to support visitors with diverse needs. The centre provides family-friendly and educational resources and encourages repeat visits through an annual pass system. As part of York Archaeology's public archaeology programme, DIG forms a cultural network alongside other heritage sites such as the JORVIK Viking Centre and Barley Hall.
Site history – St Saviour's Church
[edit]DIG is located within the grounds of St Saviour's Church, which is a Grade II listed building and is classified as a 'great example of architectural and historic interest' and of great historical importance.
According to the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments (1981), the site of St Saviour's Church is documented as early as the 11th century, when it was identified as a gift from William II's father to St Mary's Abbey.[1] However, the existing structure reflects a largely 15th century Gothic architectural style, featuring large pointed arch windows, carved stonework and wooden roof trusses. For centuries, St Saviour's Church served as the local parish church for the community in the historic center of York.
According to an analysis of the 1851 religious census, the population of St Saviour's parish was over 2,800, including approximately 210 domestic servants, 1,045 children, and a variety of occupations such as shoemakers, innkeepers, cloth merchants, schoolmasters, and even Members of Parliament. It straddles the main city streets of Spurriergate, Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, Stonebow, and Walmgate, linking commercial and residential areas. In the mid-19th century, the parish was home to several pubs, schools, and places of employment, and was the center of local economic and social activity. The church served a diverse urban population, combining wealthy families with working-class communities.[2]
According to the York Historic Environment Record, by the mid-20th century, like many city churches in England, the church was abandoned and ceased to be used for religious purposes due to declining congregational numbers and changes in urban development. The York Archaeological Trust, an independent educational charity established in 1972 to promote local archaeological research and education, acquired the church in the 1970s.
Originally used as a repository for archaeological finds, in the early 1990s the York Archaeological Trust converted St Saviour's Church into the Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC), a pioneering educational facility focused on interactive, hands-on archaeology. The ARC aims to complement the more passive visual displays of the Jorvik Viking Centre by providing tactile engagement and participatory learning, responding to public demand for more interactive experiences in archaeology.[3] As described by Jones (2000), the ARC provides visitors with the opportunity to simulate real archaeological processes such as excavation, cultural analysis, and stratigraphic interpretation.[3] The design retains the structural features of the original church building, such as the tall nave and historic medieval masonry, while introducing educational spaces such as simulated excavation areas and interactive exhibition areas to support learning.[3]
The Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) closed in July 2005 and reopened in March 2006 as DIG: An Archaeological Adventure.[4]
Relationship to the York Archaeological Trust
[edit]
York Archaeological Trust (YAT) is one of the largest archaeological organizations in the UK. It was established in 1972 to respond to the potential damage to underground historical sites caused by the construction of the York City Ring Road.[5] The organization is responsible for the operation of DIG: An Archaeological Adventure and has also carried out a large number of groundbreaking urban archaeological work.
The most famous achievement is the large-scale archaeological excavation in the Coppergate area between 1976 and 1981, which discovered well-preserved Viking buildings and a large number of artifacts, totaling more than 40,000 items. The discovery of a large number of 10th-century Viking housing and craft workshops led to the establishment of the Jorvik Viking Centre.[5]
The predecessor of DIG, the Archaeological Resource Centre, and the Jorvik Centre together constitute an important part of YAT's promotion of public participation in archaeological education.
In addition to DIG and Jorvik, YAT operates other important cultural attractions such as Barley Hall (a restored medieval nobleman's house), Micklegate Bar (York's medieval city gate exhibition hall), and the annual JORVIK Viking Festival, one of the largest Viking-themed festivals in Europe. Together, these attractions form the educational ecosystem of YAT.
YAT also collaborates with academic and government institutions to conduct groundbreaking research in environmental archaeology. It has worked with the University of York's Environmental Archaeology Unit (funded by the Department for the Environment) to analyze sediment samples from archaeological sites including Roman sewer systems.[5] In addition to early Viking excavations, YAT is also known for investigating the remains of 19th-century working-class terraced houses and communal toilets in the Hungate community, a former Hungarian "ghetto". YAT now operates at a national level, with offices in cities such as Glasgow, Sheffield, and Nottingham.
Visitor experience
[edit]Visitors begin their experience in a recreated excavation area consisting of four simulated excavation pits. Each pit corresponds to a specific period in York's past: Roman, Viking, Medieval, and Victorian.[6] The excavation area uses layers of colored rubber granules to simulate archaeological strata. Visitors can use trowels and brushes to excavate real and replica artifacts embedded in the layers, such as Roman plaster, ballista balls, Viking slag and tools, ear scoops, medieval burial materials, and Victorian household items.[6]
After completing the excavation activities, visitors will enter a series of themed environments that show how different types of archaeologists use a variety of techniques to identify the nature, age, origin, and purpose of the unearthed artifacts. Activities are usually held in venues such as the "Field Tent", "Cultural Heritage Laboratory", and "Research Library", and provide hands-on projects, using computer technology, simple tactile sensations, auditory and visual stimulation, displays of holographic images of archaeologists, and image information panels, with an emphasis on image presentation.[6]
In addition to the interactive lab, visitors can further touch real artifacts, operate exhibits themselves, interact with "archaeologist" characters, and obtain more information with the help of computer databases. The last area of the exhibition is called "York Revealed", which uses 3D modeling technology to reconstruct the York relics found during the DIG excavation, providing visitors with an immersive historical restoration experience. Holographic archaeologists "appear" in different excavation areas to introduce unearthed artifacts and their background; hydraulic lifting platforms display historical building models reconstructed based on archaeological evidence; at the same time, virtual images of Romans, Vikings, medieval monks, and Victorian characters are introduced into various scenes to present their activities at the time.[6]
The upper floor of the exhibition hall has a multi-functional space for children's education and thematic workshops. There is also a resource room for teachers to plan courses and individual researchers.
The overall experience of DIG is designed to attract a diverse public group and form a complementary exhibition with JORVIK Center, showing visitors the whole process from archaeological discovery to historical reconstruction.
Archaeological conditions and preservation
[edit]
York, a city with over two thousand years of continuous human occupation, possesses exceptionally rich and well-preserved archaeological stratigraphy. DIG: An Archaeological Adventure is situated in the heart of this historically layered urban environment. Since the 1970s, extensive excavations have been carried out in the area by York Archaeological Trust and its environmental archaeology team, revealing uninterrupted cultural layers ranging from the Roman to the medieval periods.[7]
According to Addyman, archaeological sites within the city, particularly those near the River Foss and River Ouse, feature stratified deposits reaching up to ten metres in depth.[7] These deep, waterlogged, and anaerobic conditions have fostered the rare preservation of organic materials. Finds such as medieval wood, leather, seeds, insect remains, and other organic matter provide invaluable evidence for reconstructing past urban ecologies and climatic conditions.
These accumulations are attributed not only to natural processes but largely to prolonged human activity. The continuous disposal of domestic waste, building debris, road foundations, and industrial by-products during the Roman, Anglo-Scandinavian, and medieval periods progressively raised the ground level. This in turn altered the water table and contributed to the sealing and preservation of archaeological layers, forming the basis for later excavation and research.[7]
In addition to large-scale stratigraphic analysis, archaeological research in York has embraced micro-analytical techniques. These include pollen analysis, entomological studies, sediment analysis, and artefact examination. As Addyman notes, such methods enable archaeologists to infer local microclimates, vegetation patterns, and the environmental impact of human activity.[7] For example, the discovery of beetle species in early medieval layers—species now absent from the York region—suggests that the area once experienced higher humidity or differing climatic conditions.
Fluvial changes in the York area also serve as archaeological indicators of environmental transformation. While Roman layers show little evidence of flood-borne sediments, later medieval strata frequently contain silty deposits. Addyman et al. suggest this reflects a series of flood events during the 13th and 14th centuries.[7] Research indicates these were likely caused not solely by climate shifts, but also by factors such as intensive agriculture, deforestation, and deterioration of drainage systems.[7]
These urban archaeological deposits have provided a crucial foundation for environmental archaeology in York and underpin the city's public archaeology initiatives. Although DIG presents a simulated excavation experience, the scenarios and materials on display are based largely on actual excavation findings, reflecting York's unique preservation conditions and stratigraphic characteristics.[citation needed]
Operations
[edit]DIG is operated by York Archaeology, an educational charity. Revenue generated from ticket sales directly supports the organisation's broader mission of public education and heritage preservation. This includes school outreach programmes, archaeological research, conservation of historic sites, and the day-to-day running of other visitor attractions. This operational model aligns commercial activity with the organisation's not-for-profit educational objectives.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "Parish Church of St. Saviour | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ "Interim Volume 17 Number 4 · York Archaeology Online Collections · Collections". collections.yorkarchaeologicaltrust.co.uk. p. 6-14. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ a b c Stone, Peter; Planel, Philippe G.; World Archaeological Congressg(3rd, 1994, New Delhi, India), eds. (1999). The constructed past: experimental archaeology, education, and the public. One world archaeology. London New York: Routledge. p. 262, 258-268. ISBN 978-0-203-20582-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link) - ^ "Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) · York Archaeology Online Collections · Collections". www.collections.yorkarchaeologicaltrust.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ a b c Yellowhorn, Eldon (2020), Smith, Claire (ed.), "Canadian Archaeological Association (CAA)", Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1747–1748, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_1817, ISBN 978-3-030-30018-0, retrieved 9 May 2025
- ^ a b c d "Yorkshire Archaeology Today 10 · York Archaeology Online Collections · Collections". collections.yorkarchaeologicaltrust.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Addyman, P. V.; Hood, J. S. R.; Kenward, H. K.; MacGregor, A.; Williams, D. (1976). "Palaeoclimate in Urban Environmental Archaeology at York, England: Problems and Potential". World Archaeology. 8 (2): 229, 220–233. ISSN 0043-8243.
