A young person wearing a high-vis vest and gloves kneels in an archaeological trench on a dig and scrapes the soil with a trowel.

Mersey and Dee YAC

Mersey and Dee YAC is open to everyone aged 8-16 years. At our club you will be able to come along and learn about different periods of history, visit and investigate local archaeological sites (and take part in excavations!) and historic places, try out traditional crafts, and so much more!

We are based at the Museum of Liverpool on the iconic Liverpool Pier Head and, usually meet once a month on Saturday mornings. To get an idea about what we have to offer in our sessions, check out our What’s On section further down the page. Our club is run by the Museum of Liverpool’s Regional Archaeology Curator, Learning and Participation team, and a team of dedicated YAC volunteers. If you’d like to know more about how we recruit our volunteers, please have a look at our FAQs.

Contact: Vanessa Oakden

Tel: 0151 478 4260

Email: madyac@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Our membership costs £30 for the year and which includes our weekend (running from 10am to 11:30 am) and occasional weekend or holiday day sessions. 

Our club is divided into two groups – our Viking group members are 8 to 12 years old and our Roman group are 12 to 16 years old.

Our club is currently full and our waiting list is closed, however we will update this page should the waiting list reduce enough to reopen. In the meantime, you can find out more about regional archaeology here.

A young person stood at a table outside washing an archaeological find in a washing-up bowl with a toothbrush.
Cleaning finds
Two adults dressed as ancient Roman soldiers helping a young person wearing a Roman tunic hold a chain-mail shirt. Other young people watch.
Dressing as a Roman
A group of young people carrying replica Roman shields in a formation that covers their heads and bodies.
Roman Testudo (Tortoise)
Two young people and one adult crouch in a wooden structure outside.
Experimental archaeology at Earth at Ness
A young person points at an inscription in a large rock.
Field visit to Calderstones
Six young people and one adult crouch in an enclosure of trees.
Field visit to Calderstones
A young person sits in a shallow rectangular trench on an archaeological dig.
Our branch winner of Dig-It! at Bamburgh
An abstract banana-shaped animal stature decorated with a handprint and the YAC logo and other archaeological illustrations such as pottery pieces and shells. The statue is in a city centre.
Super-YAC-lambanana
A group of young people wearing gloves stand around a table covered in newspaper to take part in a craft activity.
Wool dyeing
Two young people hold a large flat rectangular sieve of a small archaeological finds over a wheel barrow of soil in a field.
Soil sieving at a prehistoric ring ditch
Three young people and one adult using a large professional camera on a stand in modern exhibition room.
Film making

What’s on at Mersey and Dee YAC

2025 – 2026 Programme – Please see further down the page for YAC Romans (age 11/12-16)

YAC Vikings (aged 8-11/12)

27 September Discover Archaeology! Learn more about archaeology in this hand on introductory session. 10-11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA2.

18 October Prehistoric Merseyside Join us at Lunt Meadows with the Wildlife Trust to discover life in prehistory, meet the animals and excavate an owl pellet. YAC Roman and Viking group combined. Time TBC, meet at Lunt Meadows https://www.lancswt.org.uk/nature-reserves/lunt-meadows. 

22 November Getting crafty for Christmas! Join us for some early Christmas crafts as we learn about traditional celebrations. 10-11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA2.

24 January Photogrammetry with Coasts in Mind Discovery more about the Formby Footprints in this session, how they were recorded in the past and how we might record them today. 10-11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA2.

14 February Treasure: History Unearthed From Bronze Age gold and Viking silver to hoards of coins, discover Treasure unearthed in this new exhibition with a curator led tour. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2.

14 March Archaeology & Palaeontology a fun session about fossils and dinosaurs. Find out what archaeologists and palaeontologists have in common and what is different. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2.

18 April Vikings and Anglo-Saxons learn more about the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons in this fun session from the NML learning team. Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2. 10am – 11.30am.

23 May Forts and Castles! Learn about forts and castles over time in this fun session led by one of our older YAC members and then make your own! Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2. 10am – 11.30am.

20 June Fieldtrip – TBC

18 July Sefton Coast Fieldtrip Explore the archaeology of the Sefton Coast including the prehistoric forest at Hightown with Coasts in Mind. YAC Roman and Viking group combined. Location & time TBC

YAC Romans (aged 11/12-16)

27 September Forts and Castles! Learn about forts and castles over time in this fun session led by one of our YAC members. 10-11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA3.

18 October Prehistoric Merseyside Join us at Lunt Meadows with the Wildlife Trust to discover life in prehistory, meet the animals and excavate an owl pellet. YAC Roman and Viking group combined. Time TBC, meet at Lunt Meadows https://www.lancswt.org.uk/nature-reserves/lunt-meadows. 

22 November Thinking about Careers Find out about different careers in archaeology and museums from digging, conservation and curation to design and mount making discover how we care for the past. Q&A opportunity. 10-11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA3.

24 January Treasure: History Unearthed From Bronze Age gold and Viking silver to hoards of coins, discover Treasure unearthed in this new exhibition with a curator led tour. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2.

14 February Ancient Greek writing and pottery Learn about Ancient Greek writing and pottery in this fun session. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA3.

14 March Prehistoric Gold Learn about Bronze Age and Iron age torcs with a crafty create your own tasty torc session and get to know the Mold Cape 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA3.

18 April History of Hogbacks Learn all about Early Medieval hogbacks, a type of sculpture dating from the Viking period. Discover the Bidston Hogback & create your own. Supported by the Society for Museum Archaeology. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, EA3.

23 May Myths and Legends in Archaeology Design a mythical creature, make dragon puppets. 10am – 11.30am, Museum of Liverpool, meet in EA2. YAC Roman group

20 June Fieldtrip – TBC

18 July Sefton Coast Fieldtrip Explore the archaeology of the Sefton Coast including the prehistoric forest at Hightown with Coasts in Mind. YAC Roman and Viking group combined. Location & time TBC

Latest blog posts

Group of young people sat and stood in front of a SuperYAClambanana with ciuty scape in background

SuperYAClambanana!

Back in June the Mersey & Dee YAC group met for a special half-term day session looking at the archaeology of Liverpool’s waterfront. Members discovered plans for the future through the Waterfront Transformation Project and got hands on with finds from waterfront excavations at Manchester Dock (below the footprint of the Museum of Liverpool) and Piermaster’s Green where the Mersey & Dee YAC got to dig in 2021 and 2022. Taking a walk around the historic waterfront to explore their landscape, the group met some of the city’s Superlambananas.