Do you love archaeology? Have you always wanted to try a bit of digging, but found it too difficult to figure out how to make it happen? Does the thought of a whole week of excavation feel like too much – or too little? Then DigVentures is for you!
DigVentures Ltd is committed to providing seed capital and building audiences for archaeology projects worldwide. We’re building a community with archaeology at its heart – and public participation in its DNA.
All of us here at DV mission control are archaeologists; we come from all aspects of the discipline, and have an international perspective on what’s working, and what isn’t. We’re passionate about what we do, and let’s be honest – the economy isn’t great, and for lots of reasons that means that archaeology is under threat.
DigVentures is a pioneering business at the forefront of culture, technology and entrepreneurship, and we’re putting archaeology squarely in front of worldwide trends that are helping to achieve sustainability in these challenging times.
Our successful 2012 project, Flag Fen Lives, stands as the world’s first crowdfunded and crowdsourced archaeological excavation, and it proved what we already knew: there is a world of people who want to share the excitement of archaeological discovery and research, and given the chance, they are – collectively – a very good pair of hands.
As a result of our work, the future is looking bright for Flag Fen, and we’ve added Leiston Abbey and the Thames foreshore to our list of projects for 2013…and the list is still growing. Our goal is to bring these opportunities to the public, get them funded, and send them an army of our Venturers: passionate, capable, and ready to learn.
Archaeology in your hands: how it works
A sunny trench full of DV’s crowdsourced diggers
There’s a lot of information out there about crowdfunding and crowdsourcing, and every project is different in its approach. For DigVentures, our Venturers are part of our DNA. Venturers fund the projects through buying benefits, and they are also the people who actually do the excavation work. They follow the digs on our online channel, comment on our news stories, talk to each other, and of course – come to the parties!
Our site teams are lead by DV staff, specialists, and professional archaeologists, and our trenches are full of crowdsourced diggers. Call us crazy, but we believe in the famous ‘wisdom of crowds’, and we also believe it is every person’s right to have the opportunity to be a part of something they find exciting.
With Flag Fen Lives, we began to build a worldwide community with archaeology at its heart, bringing in over 250 Venturers from 11 countries and six universities to support the project. We trained over 130 of our Venturers on site in archaeological field skills, and increased visitors to Flag Fen by over 30% from last year. We can’t wait to see this community grow through the 2013 Saints & Secrets project. The sky’s the limit.
It’s about archaeology. It’s about adventure. It’s DigVentures!
Got a site that needs digging? Let us know! info@digventures.com
