Not just for dons': the citizen archaeologists unearthing treasures

They were moving forward in a line across the trench, volunteer excavators elbow to elbow with academics, and Joe Fitzpatrick was at the far edge.

- Libby Brooks

He was digging around the hearth of a building, about 60cm (2ft) below surface level, when he hit the earth twice with his mattock and out it popped - a rare bronze spear butt, a metal fitting placed over the end of a wooden shaft to counterbalance the spear head.

Covered in Pictish inscriptions, it had lain buried for one-and-a-half millennia, and was one of the most groundbreaking archaeological discoveries of 2024 in Scotland.

"The hair stands up on the back of your neck and you tingle," said Fitzpatrick of the moment he realised the significance of the find. "It is special."

Fitzpatrick, who has always had a passion for history, got involved with the regular community dig at the site of the East Lomond hillfort, beside the village of Falkland in Fife, as a retirement activity.