The Archaeology of Manchester in 20 Digs

Manchester has always had the ability to reinvent itself. Evolving from a Roman fort, to Elizabethan linen market town and Georgian market center, it became the world’s largest cotton spinning town in the early 19th century. In the Victorian period it was a commercial, engineering, and port city. After industry declined in the mid-20th century, Manchester re-emerged as an education, music, and sports destination. The urban regeneration needed to revive Manchester was an archaeological opportunity to explore the city’s deep roots and its more recent radical past. More than 50 digs have been undertaken since 2000, changing the understanding of the city’s origins, which are prehistoric, Roman, and international. Archaeological remains from bricks and cobbles to pots and glass bottles have helped to bring to life the world’s first industrial city, with its pioneering canals and railways, filth, and poverty. Even the city’s newer history of live music has been rediscovered through modern archaeology.