Message #264289

[Alexander]

One of SCAPE’s projects builds on work started almost 20 years ago by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the government agency charged with safeguarding the nation’s past. While new sites like Meur and the Shetland Island broch appear thanks to storms, environmental changes also mean that the states of known archaeological sites are constantly in flux—waves deposit a heap of stones on top of a ruin; a cliff crumbles and drops an old farm building into the sea. Dawson and his colleagues loaded more than 12,000 of the coastal sites HES had identified over the years—from caves to Second World War buildings—into an interactive mobile app, and they’re asking the public to help SCAPE keep the site information current.

Anyone out for a stroll near the ocean can use the app to find a nearby archaeological site and then upload a photo and answer a few questions about its condition. Assuming the site is still there, that is. Dawson says enough citizen scientists are using the app that they’ve already updated the information for most of the high-priority sites.

The app is one way to engage Scots who are eager to help preserve their country’s history. SCAPE found another way to channel this energy in 2012, when it asked local communities to nominate coastal sites that deserved attention from archaeologists. By asking the public for input, the organization hoped to get people more involved in their cultural heritage and to find projects that communities were passionate about.