Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network, known by its abbreviation CITiZAN, is a community archaeology project working in areas of England's coastline documenting coastal and intertidal history before it is washed away by tidal forces.

History

Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network was launched in 2015 and is a community archaeology project working the north, south east, and south west of England. The project's main host is the

Museum of London Archaeology MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) is an archaeology and built heritage practice and independent charitable company registered with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), providing a wide range of professional archaeological servic ...

with project partners the

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and futu ...

and the

Nautical Archaeology Society The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...

. The project is sponsored by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

The National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

The Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

, and

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

. The project is currently led by

Gustav Milne Gustav Milne is a British Archaeologist, writer and TV contributor who is the current project lead for Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network (CITiZAN) and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. History Gustav Mi ...

, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the

UCL Institute of Archaeology UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one o ...

. The team, as of October 2018, consisted of nine with all additional support to archaeology projects being provided by volunteers. In 2018 they won the Arts, Culture, and Heritage prize at the Charity Awards 2018 – the Civil Society Media's annual awards programme to recognise organisations for their commendable charitable work and were granted further backing by the Heritage Lottery Fund beyond their initial three year funding cycle. In addition to archaeological digs arranged by CITiZAN, the organisation arranges open days at historical locations to inform people of their work and methods in archaeology. In 2018 CITiZAN team members joined the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

program

Britain at Low Tide ''Britain at Low Tide'' (also known as ''Shoreline Detectives'') is an archaeology and social history television programme that debuted on Channel 4 in 2016, with further series in 2018 and 2019. It was originally co-hosted by former ''Time Team' ...

for its second series. In 2022, CITiZAN ran a project at

Mersea Island Mersea Island is an island in Essex, England, in the Blackwater and Colne estuaries to the south-east of Colchester. Its name comes from the Old English word ''meresig'', meaning "island of the pool" and thus is tautological. The island is s ...

to record 60 years of peoples memories and documenting past industries damage that had led to the island's erosion.

References

{{reflist Archaeological organizations Archaeology of England Museum of London Group