Rescue archaeology for the Facebook generation: Volunteers fight to preserve disappearing coastal heritage online

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Archaeological sites across England being mapped by Museum of London Archaeology project to preserve more than 70,000 sites

A growing army of volunteers is surveying and monitoring England’s vulnerable coastal archaeological sites in an effort to preserve them for posterity.

Spread across 5,600 miles of coastline and 500 miles of tidal foreshore, the volunteers of the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network are using tape measures, buckets and mobile phones to create standardised records of exposed archaeological sites before they disappear forever.

Their data is being fed into a web-based recording system and app to create a crowd-sourced database and interactive map of the sites. This will allow them to be researched long after the sea has claimed them.

“We can't just sit back and let our coastal heritage wash away, unseen and unloved,” says Gustav Milne, who is leading the project.

“Even if we can't save them, we must record the features before they disappear. At the very least they deserve a photo from a mobile phone, using our CITiZAN app. It’s old-fashioned 'Rescue Archaeology', but for the Facebook generation.”

More than 70,000 archaeological sites, stretching from Lindisfarne to Land’s End and including everything from prehistoric forests to First World War coastal defences, are being destroyed by erosion.

Global warming is hastening this process through rising sea levels and increased flooding, already resulting in the loss of significant sites such as the First World War coastal battery at Morecambe Bay and prehistoric burial mounds at Low Hauxley, Northumberland.

“Our coastlines are an enormous hidden repository of the remains of war defences, industry and ancient settlements, providing a fascinating insight into the history of this island nation,” says Ben Greener, the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Historic Environment Advisor.

“It’s a huge job to record thousands of these sites before they are lost for good and the Heritage Lottery Fund is encouraging as many people as possible to don their boots and join CITiZAN at their nearest site.”

The three-year project is being hosted by the Museum of London Archaeology and run from three regional centres – MoLA in London, the Council for British Archaeology in York and the Nautical Archaeology Society in Portsmouth.

It has received £1.4 million in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, enhanced by the National Trust and The Crown Estate with support from Historic England.

England's disappearing coastal archaeology

• According to the National Record for the Historic Environment, more than 70,000 are archaeological sites at risk of being destroyed by erosion along England’s coastline and foreshores
  
  
• Sea levels rose at a rate of around three millimetres per year between 1993 and 2010 as a result of global warming. The rise is accelerating coastal erosion and increasing flooding
  
  
• There are more than 1,500 abandoned boats, barges and ships along England’s coastline and foreshores
  
  
• As a result of floods in recent years a number of archaeological sites have been exposed, including a ship wreck at Newquay harbour, which is now subject to erosion on a daily basis

See the interactive map and found out more about volunteering by visiting the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network.

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Three places to discover coastal heritage in:

Coastal Communities Museum, North Berwick
This volunteer-run museum aims to bring to life the history of the towns and villages of the coastal ward. There is a varied programme of exhibitions and events throughout the year in a building shared with a library.

GeoMôn - Anglesey Geopark
Take a tour along the Anglesey coastine, nationally recognised as an area of outstanding beauty. The prestigous coastal path allows access to 90% of the area's geological highlights.

Maritime Archaeology Trust, Southampton
Hear about the unfortunate ships that have been claimed by the treacherous seas around the Empress Dock andl earn about how maritime archaeologists do their job in current exhibition The Maritime Trust's Sunken Secrets: Shipwrecks and Submerged Settlements. Until October 31 2015.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art533762-rescue-archaeology-for-facebook-generation-volunteers-fight-preserve-disappearing-coastal-heritage-online