A 天美传媒 PhD student from the department of Archaeology and Anthropology聽is working collaboratively with the Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre on a public engagement project to engage local people with the archaeology of the region through practical activities.
The project, Performing the Past, aims to engage local people in the crafts and materials used by their ancestors who lived on Hengistbury Head. The project聽uses experimental archaeology to replicate the methods that ancient people used to shape the world around them, with the aim of educating the public聽about the heritage and culture of the area.
The generations of ancient people who lived on Hengistbury Head over the last 12,000 years practised a wide variety of crafts to survive and thrive on the headland.
The project is about 鈥榣earning by doing鈥� and encourages local people to join in with demonstrations and hands-on workshops about different ancient crafts.
It gives visitors the opportunity to experience what their ancestors experienced in the past, while also meeting new people, being outdoors and bringing the past alive again.
The BU project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and is in collaboration with Hengistbury Head and BCP Council.
BU PhD student Hayden Scott-Pratt, said, 鈥淭his project is an amazing opportunity to delve into the past and educate people about our heritage in a fun and tangible way. We want the local people to be the legacy of this project and ambassadors for the brilliant archaeology of Hengistbury Head.
鈥淲e want local communities to pass on this knowledge to the next generation of visitors and become the link with the past, by performing the past.鈥�
Mark Holloway, the BCP Council鈥檚 Parks Policy and Funding Manager added, 鈥淲e opened the Visitor Centre in 2013 to show the amazing archaeology, however, now is the time to bring this all to life and actually walk in the footsteps of our prehistoric ancestors.鈥�
For more information about Hengistbury Head and the Performing the Past project, visit
