Archdiggers

When I started the Archdiggers site it was an attempt to reduce the anonymity of diggers who all you would see was the odd back of the head shot in site photographs. While much of the public can name members of the time Team or other media celebrities and some have even read popular tomes on the subject, the bulk of the skilled teams of diggers who work in all conditions remain blurred figures in the background. Unfortunately we have lost one of our colleagues Nick Plunkett who although not a media star should be celebrated, he was one of the most skilled flint Knapper’s I have ever come across and always had time to share his skill and knowledge, most of the Wessex diggers had their own examples of Nicks work copies of prehistoric flint made as jewellery. It was not just Nicks skill with flint but that he always had time to explain things, share his knowledge, work out problems on site, he was just one of the nicest guys you could work with on site. Nick’s knowledge and love for archaeology that he shared with others will hopefully be passed on and remembered by those who worked with him, he will be missed by all his colleagues at Wessex and by his friends and family, my condolences to all who knew him.

Comment from Alan Graham

“I was moved by your concept of the ‘anonymity of diggers’ expressed in your tribute to Nick Plunkett. I began digging in 1970 and have only recently put away my trowel after a two year stint on a large excavation near Crewkerne in Somerset. I have long felt that the skill and hard work of excavation teams, in all weathers and conditions, has been unacknowledged and under-appreciated.

This photograph of the Trowbridge Team, from late winter 1988, with Nick at the centre of it, was to have been Plate 9 of the published report (Wessex Archaeology Report No 2) but at some late editorial stage was replaced with one of the finished shopping centre development. The Wrecking Crew, as we were known, was one of the finest teams of diggers I have ever been a part of and Nick was a valued part of it, not simply for his excavation skills but for being a good companion. Working, living and socializing together, it was a close-knit team and that companionship was invaluable.

Let’s face it, conditions on excavations can at times be grim and mutual support essential. So here is to remembering old diggers, para boots and army moleskin trousers and all.”

Alan Graham 11^th May 2026

Trowbridge Wrecking Crew 1988

Nick and rest of team at Rock Common 1997

Just an update the construction of the site and new galleries is progressing fairly smoothly with just the occasional glitch – mainly PHP errors, if the site doesn’t load at first just hit reload and it should work. I’ve added several galleries, at present they are only partialy completed as I intend to add more text etc, the site should be seen as work in progress.

After quite some time I’ve finally managed to add some galleries of images from the Archdiggers project, it’s taken a while to replace the early ASP.net site that had galleries but recent updates of the site to current versions of PHP and WordPress have enabled me to finally attach the galleries (see sidebar links) hopefully I will be adding more in future on a regular basis. The first new gallery 1993 Essendon

Anybody remember these “Para” boots from the 80’s 90’s they were almost standard foootwear on archaeological excavations until the widespread implementation of H&S and the requirement of steel toecaps led to their demise – any memories I’m looking for more quotes forthe page –Para Boots

Portraits from 2004-2016 from various sites in the Addenbrookes area – report on excavations “Cattle, community and place: the archaeology of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus” at https://repository.cam.ac.uk/collections/53d9b001-264d-44c1-9f90-143ecaea19e0 – more pics on facebook Archdiggers page at https://facebook.com/Archdiggers

More images from Addenbrookes on the Gallery page Addenbrookes 2004-2016

After twenty two years with the CAU (Cambridge Archaeology Unit) and a lot longer with various other units and museums I’ve finally got round to retiring. Although this means I won’t have as many opportunities to continue the “Archdiggers” project I still have a large backlog in the archives to deal with. The do What Next

The Onset of the Covid epedemic brought a lot of changes to the usual working practises although compared to many working enviroments the outdoor enviroment offered fewer restrictions. Visits to sites has been greatly reduced during this period and diggers have had to put up with all sorts of restrictions particularly at the start of the crisis. Diggers in Time of Covid

Whilst being fully in favour of anything that makes our working enviroment safer I have to admit orange PPE (Personal Protective Equipment ) drives me to despair, its not the fact that it reduces you to a bright orange blob on site but its the tonal qualities of the material used and how they reproduce in black and white (my preferred medium) – have a look at the following example.

If you followed the link from the Must Farm diary page these are a few of the Must Farm “Archdiggers” images from the 2015-16 season of excavation, I’ll add a few images in the following days, there are also further images on Facebook and on Flickr – I’m still hoping to get the Archdiggers page re-launched but there are still problems in web design to iron out and a lack of time available.

https://www.facebook.com/Archdiggers/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivewebb/albums/72157691411933733

Introduction statement from first the ArchDiggers site

“My aim was to provide an alternative view of diggers to the back of the head normally reproduced in most archaeological texts. I should say at once that there are many good archaeological photographers out there and sometimes you do have to photograph the backs of peoples heads however this project is my attempt to redress the balance and show some of the ‘faces’ involved in archaeology.”

Full “Manifesto” at ArchDiggers Manifesto