Dig Diaries 2026 – Bedrule Castle

This summer, members of the YAC have been joining excavations across the UK as part of our annual Dig It! competition. In August three lucky winners spent the day at Bedrule Castle in the Scottish Borders. Winners were hosted by the team at HARP Archaeology and investigated the site of a medieval castle that played a vital role in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 16th century!

Ask the Archaeologist special with Raksha Dave

YAC has teamed up with super-duper archaeologist, award-winning children’s author, and Honorary President of the Council for British Archaeology, Raksha Dave, to run a new competition for our members.

To celebrate her brand new book The Archaeologist’s Discoveries, Raksha will be launching the competition via a special video message for YAC members in which she will also answer questions from YAC members!

YAC Impact Study 2025/26

We are delighted to share the results and final report from the 2025/26 Impact Study! Working with a sample of seven YAC branches across different regions of England, the report explores the difference that YAC makes to the lives of young people…

Dig Diaries 2026 – Cookham

This summer, members of the YAC have been joining excavations across the UK as part of our annual Dig It! competition. In July three lucky winners spent the day Cookham near Maidenhead, East Berkshire. Winners were hosted by the team at the University of Reading and explored the site of an Anglo-Saxon monastery! Let’s find out what the competition winners Florence and Luca got up to…

Voyage of the Vikings: a new D&D resource for YAC

As part of this year’s Festival of Archaeology, CBA Youth Advisory Board member Kenny Xie was challenged with designing an engaging new resource for young people. Inspired by Tynemouth Priory, the setting for our recent Youth Activity Day, and utilising his own skills at role-playing games, Kenny has created a fantastic Game Master’s Manual to help young people explore the fascinating history of Viking-age trade through D&D-style role-playing.

Introducing our newest YAC: York!

We’re delighted to introduce the newest YAC to join the YAC network: York YAC! Branch leader Sarah tells us about their vision for the new club and what they’ve been up to in their pilot sessions this summer, preparing for their launch in September.

From Festival makers to award winners: Gloucestershire YAC’s remarkable summer

Gloucestershire YAC has had a busy summer! Inspired by the Festival of Archaeology theme of Archaeology and Nature, young archaeologists created their own ‘Nature Through Time’ trail and recreated historic recipes. The club’s hard work was recognised at their first ever awards event! In our latest blog post branch leader Amelie, Learning Officer at Gloucester Cathedral, tells us more…

‘Our Transcapes’ – YAC leader training and resource pack

In June 2026 a cohort of YAC volunteers headed to Ecclesall Woods just outside Sheffield for a fascinating and inspiring training day hosted by creative facilitator, researcher and poet S.K. Marley. In this blog we share what we got up to on this training day and launch the fantastic new ‘Our Transcapes’ resource pack!

Martha reflects on 15 years of volunteering with YAC

In our latest blog we hear from Martha who leads the Peak District YAC branch, based at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery. After 15 years of volunteering with YAC, Martha reflects on her experiences and shares her highlights from being involved with the club, from historic graffiti to reconstructed coprolites!