Digging deep into the past preserves jobs

Dig a spade's depth in Yorkshire and you'll find humdrum and valuable objects left by our ancestors.

Developers have to carry out detailed archaeological surveys before work can start on many regeneration and road schemes.

CFA Archaeology, which has just opened an office in Yorkshire, hopes to create jobs by helping to preserve our heritage.

Mr Lightfoot, the company's regional manager, believes the economic revival will provide work for archaeologists who were among the unexpected casualties of the credit crunch.

Many large building projects were halted owing to the recession. As a result, there were fewer excavations to ensure new developments weren't wrecking treasures under the ground.

Mr Lightfoot said: "As archaeological projects rely on commercial development, the recession has hit archaeology as a profession very hard. There are companies that have gone out of business and archaeologists who have lost their jobs. A profession which even at the best of times was poorly paid, with uncertain contracts, has got a great deal harder."

However, as the property market starts to recover, CFA Archaeology hopes to gain more work at its new Yorkshire office, which is based in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

Over the years, Mr Lightfoot has uncovered everything from Roman coins to Victorian children's shoes.

He's also painstakingly studied the remains of Iron-Age round houses, a medieval farm building, and Anglo-Saxon graves.

All this work helps build up a picture of the past, Mr Lightfoot said.

"Yorkshire is one of the key areas of the country for the excavation, recording and interpretation of archaeological remains ahead of development," he added.

There's also a stronger awareness of the potential to use Yorkshire's heritage for leisure and tourism.

Mr Lightfoot added: "The company has a turnover of about 1m to 1.5m and current staff of about 24, which is medium-sized for an archaeological company, although we are recruiting.

"The main office is in Scotland. My remit is to build up the business here in Yorkshire. I am recruiting staff and I am trying to procure work. Most archaeological work undertaken nowadays is dependent on commercial developments which impact on archaeological remains."

So far, most of CFA Archaeology's work in Yorkshire has been desk-based, but Mr Lightfoot hopes to secure significant contracts soon.

In recent years, Mr Lightfoot has made discoveries about our ancestors by working on projects such as the Normanton industrial estate and Glasshoughton bypass in West Yorkshire and the Cudworth bypass in South Yorkshire.

Mr Lightfoot said: "Large-scale archaeological excavations took place on these road schemes and commercial developments and important information was recorded about the people who lived in Yorkshire from relatively recently to thousands of years ago."

Mr Lightfoot is a passionate believer in the economic and social benefits of investing in archaeology.

He said: "It takes a great deal of study to become an archaeologist or an expert in the large number of sub-specialisms."

If archaeologists are forced to leave Yorkshire due to redundancy, all that experience and knowledge leaves with them, he said.

He added: "At the same time it is all the harder for graduates to get established in the profession as competition for jobs increases.

"Archaeology in Yorkshire will, nevertheless, recover, and eventually prosper, as people care about the heritage of this historic county and want to learn more about it. There is a great deal still to be discovered."

SPECIALISTS WHO ASSIST DEVELOPERS

CFA Archaeology, which has opened an office in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, helps developers by surveying sites to find archaeological remains.

It provides a range of services, including fieldwork, planning and consultancy work and geophysical surveys.

The company, which is based in Musselburgh, East Lothian, recently carried out a coastal zone assessment survey on the remote Scottish island of North Uist.

Around 730 sites were recorded. Most of these related to the crofting landscape of the 18th century including jetties, slipways, buildings, cairns and field walls.