Dig Diaries 2026 – Ballynahatty

July 2026

This summer, members of the YAC have been joining excavations across the UK as part of our annual Dig It! competition. Our first Dig It! day took place at the exciting prehistoric site of Ballynhatty, Co. Down Northern Ireland, in partnership with Queens University Belfast.

Let’s find out what the competition winners got up to…

Lennox, 9, from Colchester YAC told us:

“This was my first time applying for Dig It, and I was excited because no one from Colchester had ever won before. I have been at YAC for only a few months, but have been ‘digging’ for a long time. I was excited when I turned 8 and could finally join. Even better is when I won Dig It! I applied for the one in Northern Ireland because I love the Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle and the history of Sperrin and Derry. I was very excited to go to Belfast and ‘dig’. 

We arrived a day early and went on a hike all along the Giant’s Causeway and used our National Trust cards to go around to different sites. It was so nice to learn more history and see what the archaeologists have found at Dunluce Castle. They unearthed the first drop toilet, so my mum and I stopped and took funny pictures. 

On the day of the dig at Ballynahatty we left super early because I could not wait, and we arrived early to visit the Giant’s Ring which is a burial site like Stonehenge, but smaller. We then met Brian who told us all about the site and showed us the most interesting finds they found there. He also said that he thinks the field we were digging in was closer to the Ring of Brodgar, not Stonehenge. I am big on stone rings and Neolithic things. 

Brian showed me and the other winner how to dig properly and what the plan was. We both had our Archaeology kits and were ready to use our tools. We dug almost the whole day. We found some AMAZING things, I found mostly pottery, but it was very pretty and I found a teacup that was almost a side of one. I measured everything with the magnifying glass and checked for rendering on the flint, and recorded everything in my journal. Everything in my archaeology bag was very useful. The best and most significant find of the day was a flint arrowhead and a knife tip, from neolithic times. Brian was jealous because one of his students from the university found one, but he has not found one yet. 

In the afternoon the local YAC came to join us and dug with us.  I got distracted and wanted to show our finds. One boy I was digging with found a coin from Victorian times. 

I am really happy I got to come here and dig in a new place. I hope I win another Dig It if they have one in Orkney or Shetland or Scotland or Sutton Hoo. I am lucky because we have lots of archaeology in Colchester, maybe there can be a Dig It in Colchester!!! I cannot wait to go on more digs, they are my favourite part of YAC.” 

Ronan, 13, from Belfast YAC, told us:

I had a pretty good day today! I got up, and put on some clothes that would suit an active day, Mum, Dad and I took the car to the Giant’s Ring area at about 9:30 in the morning.

We arrived and parked in a cattle pen and then met Lennox from Colchester who had entered the archeology competition and like me had won the raffle too.

We were introduced to Brian Sloane from Queens University who had been working at the site for a few weeks and had found some interesting things on the first hill that made him think that the area once had standing stones. 

Brian showed us where to dig and explained that we were looking for items that might suggest a burial had taken place. He informed us of the types of soil we were working with and showed us how to use a scrapping tool to clear dirt and taught how to identify flint. Then it was time to get stuck into digging. 

I found some flint scraps, some pottery (most likely from the 19th century) and Lennox’s mum found an almost intact arrowhead. 

We were very proud of the amount of digging we got done in hours until the rest of the archeology club arrived. We all continued to dig. 

I really enjoyed my day, especially the digging part and hanging out with Lennox. I would recommend anyone enters the competition and give being an archeologist a go.