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Have you ever wondered what archaeologists really get up to? Is it all just digging or is there a lot more to it?
The Day of Archaeology project aimed to provide a window into the daily lives of archaeologists from all over the world. The project asked people working, studying or volunteering in the archaeological world to participate in a “Day of Archaeology” each year by recording their day and sharing it through text, images or video on the Day of Archaeology blog.
The project asked anyone with a personal, professional or voluntary interest in archaeology to get involved, and help highlight the reasons why archaeology is vital to protect the past and inform our futures. The resulting Day of Archaeology project archive demonstrates the wide variety of work the archaeological profession undertakes day-to-day across the globe, and helps to raise public awareness of the relevance and importance of archaeology to the modern world.
The first ever Day of Archaeology was held in 2011 and, since then, the project had thousands of archaeologists take part in the event, from those working in the field through to specialists working in laboratories and behind computers. The last Day of Archaeology was on Friday 28th July 2017.
The project was run by a team of volunteers, all professional archaeologists, and taking part in the project was completely free. The whole Day of Archaeology relied upon goodwill and a passion for public engagement!
An article exploring the history of the Day of Archaeology and the practicalities of running a large-scale, collaborative blogging project with an assessment of the impact of the project can be found in Internet Archaeology.