Exploring the impact of participative place-based community archaeology in rural Europe: Community archaeology in rural environments meeting societal challenges

This paper reviews the aims, context, approach and early outcomes of anew transnational participative archaeology project focussed on ruralvillage communities. ‘Community Archaeology in Rural EnvironmentsMeeting Societal Challenges’ (CARE-MSoC) includes three Europeancountries where participative community archaeology is new- the CzechRepublic, the Netherlands and Poland. CARE-MSoC aims to explore thefeasibility, value and impact of excavation by rural residents within theirhome communities by using a method which can be deployedanywhere and which in the UK has been shown to advance knowledgeof the past while also delivering a wide range of social and heritagebenefits: multiple test pit excavation within inhabited villages. Datapresented here from the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Polandshow the activity to be popular and effective here in benefitting peoplewhile also attracting, sustaining and growing local interest in heritageparticipation in all three countries.