Excavating the Past and (Re)Finding Myself: Exploring Veterans’ and Providers’ Experiences of Wellbeing Archaeology

Participation in heritage and archaeology is increasingly offered in the community to support mental health and wellbeing, particularly to groups experiencing mental health challenges. One group is military veterans, who experience higher rates of mental health challenges but are less help-seeking than the general population. Since 2011, archaeological projects have been offered to veterans to support transition, mental health, and wellbeing. Consequently, provision has increasingly become framed as an intervention, with evaluation focused on mental health and wellbeing outcomes. However, there is little understanding of how archaeology has a positive impact. Adopting an interpretative qualitative approach, this study explored veterans’ and providers’ perceptions of how and why archaeology supports mental health and wellbeing. Interviews with five UK veterans and four providers of UK projects were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were developed, each with three subthemes. Major themes concerned 1.) Connection and belonging, 2.) Authenticity and purpose, 3.) Meaning-making through the past. Findings support the assumption that archaeology is a powerful non-clinical intervention for veterans but suggest that while wellbeing may improve, mental health may not. Furthermore, potential mechanisms are suggested that must be explored further to improve practice in this area.