Unmarginalising participation in the past and enabling engagement in community archaeology – Dig Greater Manchester, a case study

Dig Greater Manchester (DGM) was a large archaeological community engagement project operating within Britain during the years 2011 to 2016. Its scope and scale were designed to assess the impact of enabling local communities and individuals to acquire and enhance heritage skills and awareness of heritage-based practices, whilst also contributing to the exploration of the city region's experience of industrialisation. This paper looks at the ways in which the Dig Greater Manchester community archaeology project set about recording the impact of the project, especially individuals with learning disabilities. The community impact data was captured through specifically designed feedback questionnaires, one-to-one interviews with adult volunteers, one-to-one interviews with disability volunteers, and the input of psychology researchers from the University of Salford. The results provide data on how archaeology engagement activities can help to build communities and break down barriers, but also highlight areas where the project could have been improved