Competitions
Every year we run different competitions, including our annual YAC Dig It!, which offers members across the UK the opportunity to spend the day with archaeologists onsite, from medieval Bamburgh Castle to the Roman town of Irchester.
We also run competitions for a whole variety of fun prizes and opportunities. In the past we’ve teamed up with famous archaeologists, such as CBA President, Raksha Dave and presenter Mary Anne Ochota for book giveaways and meet the author events. We have also worked with Time Team developing ideas for the latest archaeological innovation and created our own pieces of art for exhibitions.
We’ll share news of the competitions with your YAC branch but it’s also worth checking back here regularly to see what we are running throughout the year.
If you would like to offer a prize or partner on a competition, please contact yac@yac-uk.org.
YAC Dig It! Competition 2026
The YAC Dig It! Competition runs annually across the UK with sites across the four home nations provided by partner organisations. We launch new sites throughout summer and autumn.
Each of our winners is also provided with a travel bursary donated by The Marsh Charitable Trust and a satchel of archaeological tools and equipment provided by our friends at Past Horizons.
In this section you can find out more about the competitions and read Dig Diaries from past winners.
YAC Dig It! Competition 2026Current Competitions
Win your very own Junior Archaeologist Kit with Archaeodiscovery
We’ve partnered up with our friends at Archaeodiscovery to offer our YAC members the chance to win a Junior Archaeologist Kit!!
The kit has been designed by professional archaeologists and has everything a budding archaeologist will need to get started, including a trowel, compass and field notebook.
Runners-up will receive a Paleolithihc Colouring bundle packed with hand-drawn art, a folder to keep them in and a lovely Archaeodiscovery pendant.
Find out how to enter