Engaging people with Star Carr#
Nicky Milner, University of York#
 |
While Star Carr is famous within the global archaeological community, research in the
local area over a three-year period (2009–2011) has demonstrated that less
than 9% of the public had heard of the Mesolithic and less than 8% had heard of
Star Carr. Consequently, the University of York POSTGLACIAL project has been aiming to
improve public knowledge and engagement with the site. This has included setting up
a free ‘Friends’ group with opportunities to volunteer on excavations at the nearby site
of Flixton Island, primary school visits to the excavation which included digging and sieving,
holding a ‘Star Carr Festival’ in Scarborough in collaboration with Scarborough Museums
Trust, Young Archaeologists’ Club and York Archaeological Trust, talks to more than 30 local
societies over the past four years, engagement with local artists including an exhibition in the York City Art Gallery, publication of a booklet, news coverage, involvement in television
documentaries, an on-line ADS database of all the artefacts now housed in museums from Clark’s excavations (DOI: 10.5284/1019856
), and a website which provides information and news updates (www.starcarr.com).
Most recently, collaboration with The Yorkshire Museum resulted in a year-long exhibition on
Star Carr from May 2013. This included exhibits of artefacts, a digital fly-through of the Mesolithic landscape (http://vimeo.com/66913559), a 40-minute Mesolithic ‘soundscape’ with a storyline, and the publication by the Council of British Archaeology of a book Star Carr: Life in Britain after the Ice Age aimed at a non-specialist audience (Milner et al 2013).
The feedback from all of these activities has been overwhelmingly positive and the engagement has grown, as evidenced through larger numbers at talks, open days, volunteers on site, the number of ‘Friends’, and numbers attending the exhibitions. This example, as well as other projects which have also engaged the public such as Howick and Low Hauxley, demonstrates the huge potential for expanding public interest in the Mesolithic period.