Jacqui Mulville

Dr Jacqui Mulville talks about the positive effect public engagement has on her work.

I never wanted to be an archaeologist. In fact, my first degree was in biology.

My route into archaeology was through doing, not thinking, when I worked on a dig as a student one summer. I can still remember being amazed that buildings, tools, pots and people were preserved under our feet.

Digging turned out to be fabulous fun; working with great people, uncovering the past, experiencing the excitement of finding things and then trying to work out what it meant. I went on to build a career as an archaeologist and later as a university lecturer. The excitement has never diminished and this is what I want to share with people.

Archaeology is highly democratic; the everyday items of regular people are just as valuable as the treasure of rich folk. It provides a window on lives not regularly reported in history. I want people to get involved in these different pasts, to experience archaeology by doing, by joining in and helping to make sense of what we find.

Archaeology is always an interpretation, and I believe that by involving the public we can co-create a human story that reflects the diversity of the past.