Abstract
Partnerships between the public and researchers in participatory research projects are shifting towards co-creational models. Within archaeology, traditional projects involve the public through artefact treatment and data handling and entry. In the project discussed herein, we aimed to fully engage participants (high school students and teachers) in the research process using advanced scientific methods. We introduce a novel co-creational framework, which actively involved high school students in archaeological research. In the initial phase, we collaborated with local museums and high school teachers to integrate archaeological expertise with educational objectives in our participatory project setup. High school teachers facilitated curriculum connections, while museums contributed valuable materials and local archaeological insights. In the final study programme, students participated in hands-on laboratory work, using both a morphological approach and Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to analyse archaeological leather samples. Standardised protocols were adapted to match student capabilities while maintaining scientific validity. A total of 3,319 high school students handled 917 different archaeological objects and analysed 3,900 samples. Based on the highest quality result with 3–5 replicates for each object, we achieved taxonomic identifications for 95% of the objects. Evaluation of participating students’ outcomes showed strong engagement in the scientific process, demonstrating the value of co-creational partnerships in enhancing both research and educational outcomes. Our model fosters interdisciplinary thinking and scientific skills among students while establishing one of the largest archaeological datasets globally. The project’s cross-disciplinary approach and robust validation methods ensure high-quality data for future archaeological research, highlighting the powerful potential of public involvement in scientific endeavours. Moving forward, expanding the range of materials analysed could broaden participation and further enrich both research and educational experiences.