As spring 2016 by Archaeology Scotland

www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk

ISSUE 25 SPRING 2016

Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design What’s new in Scottish Archaeology

Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh

Torwood Broch

Heritage Jam

CONTENTS Issue No 25 / Spring 2016 ISSN 2041-7039

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Published by Archaeology Scotland, Suite 1a, Stuart House, Eskmills, Station Road, Musselburgh EH21 7PB Tel: 0300 012 9878 Email: info@archaeologyscotland. org.uk Scottish Charity SC001723 Company No. 262056

The next issue will be an unthemed edition, so you are invited to submit articles on fieldwork or other projects. We also welcome articles on general topics, community projects, SAHF events and research projects, as well as members’ letters. Members are particularly encouraged to send letters, short articles, photos and opinions relating to Scottish archaeology at any time for inclusion in our ‘Members’ Section’.

editorial

community projects

04 From the Director

20 Torwood Broch Community Project 23 The MacKichan Trust 24 Stobs Camp

features

news

05 08 12 14

Year of Innovation, Architecture & Design Deciphering the Detail: Riddle’s Court The Heritage Jam Discovering Hidden Stories of Everyday Places 16 Monuments in the Hearts of Communities 18 The Cist on the Foreshore

Cover picture Greenlaw Town Hall, Scottish Borders, recently renovated and converted to office and public space by SHBT © SHBT

25 Redcoats, Rebels and Romance 26 Home Front Legacy; Heritage Heroes 28 60 Second Interview – Mark Thacker 29 Digital Resources; Heritage Angels Awards

If you plan to include something in the next issue, please contact the editor in advance to discuss requirements, as space is usually at a premium. We cannot guarantee to include a particular article in a particular issue, but we will do our very best to accommodate you!

books 30 Reviews – Scotland in Later Prehistoric Europe; An Inventory for the Nation

Editing and typesetting Sue Anderson, Spoilheap Archaeology sue@spoilheap.co.uk

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08 © Louise Mather

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SPRING 2016 – 3

editorial

features

From the Director

ow important are themes? Well, they help us to focus on different aspects of our culture and 2016 is the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. There is certainly much that will be of interest to our members including exhibitions and talks that cross the boundaries between archaeological research and survey, and history of landscapes and buildings as part of the programme of events. In developing our innovative approaches to reaching out to new audiences, the Community Heritage Conference last November had a range of talks which touched on other strands of our past, such as landscapes and perceptions of identity and the role of archaeology in determining the truth about the past. In an effort to reach even wider geographically, we are planning on two or three regional community conferences this year and a big gathering again in November 2017 as part of the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. We are delighted to say that, thanks to funding from Historic Environment Scotland, our partnership with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in the Dig It! initiative is continuing with the focus very much on the 2017 themed year. Talks are ongoing about what we would like to do during 2017 and how ideas might be funded, so suggestions for big ideas are welcome and if you or your group has any plans for 2017, please let us know.

Galashiels Station Hub © Andy Jepson

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Across the UK people are marking the 1914–18 Centenary by researching the impact of the Home Front on their local places. We have just hosted a training course in Invergordon on the Homefront Legacy project which is looking for people to get involved and you will see from the short article about this and about Stobs Camp, there’s plenty scope to join in World War I recording projects. Our next events for members are of course, Summer School and the Archaeological Research in Progress Conference – both in May. Summer School will be based at the Airth Castle Hotel and will have the usual action-packed weekend of site visits and talks, looking this year at rural Stirlingshire and the Trossachs. The ARP Conference will be in the Scottish Borders town of Galashiels this year and the talks will cover projects from Flodden, Northumberland, Wigtownshire and all across the Scottish Borders. I hope to see you there. Themes may be gimmicky and not to everyone’s liking so the next Archaeology Scotland magazine will be un-themed, giving you space to show off your photography skills by sending in images of sites, sharing stories of what you have been doing or publishing your letters about burning issues. Or, if you really like our themed editions, please let us know if you have an idea for something you’d like us to cover in future issues.

Looking down to visitors walking round the landform installation, ‘Ueda’ by Charles Jencks at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Belford Road, Edinburgh © VisitScotland

Year of InnovaƟon, Architecture and Design D iscover breathtaking architecture, bold design and incredible innovations during Scotland’s 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. Building on the success of previous themed years such as Homecoming Scotland 2014 and the Year of Natural Scotland in 2013, the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design will celebrate the richness of Scotland’s much-loved heritage, culture and environment, alongside the contemporary and cutting-edge designs of today. From textiles to technology, architecture to fashion and design, the year-long programme running until 31 December 2016 will shine the spotlight on Scotland’s greatest assets and icons, as well as some of its unique hidden gems. Scotland is world renowned for its rich, built and natural heritage – it has buildings that make

people look up, streets steeped in history and vibrant public spaces. Its unique architecture and places promote its distinctive identity all over the world. From Victorian tenements and baronial mansions right through to an impressive range of strong contemporary buildings such as Edinburgh’s Scottish Parliament and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow – there is a wonderful diversity of architecture on show. Scotland has also helped shape the modern world we live in with a long list of important scientific achievements and discoveries. Without Scotland, switching on the television, answering the telephone and donning your best raincoat might not be a part of everyday life today. Scotland’s contributions to the advancement of the modern world through invention, skill, ambition and ideas continue to shape the

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features Ideal Hut Show, a Pop-Up World Cities Expo and Adventures in Space – an exhibition exploring architecture and science fiction at Glasgow’s Lighthouse. Marking the official launch of Scotland’s Festival of Architecture in 2016, Hinterland will see Scotland’s greatest modernist ruin, St Peter’s Seminary, transformed by light and sound between 18–27 March. Fifty years on since the building opened, attendees at the event will be able to see this architectural masterpiece reanimated at night for the first time. So whether you want to discover the innovative structural design behind Andy Scott’s magnificent horse-head sculptures, the Kelpies, enjoy the splendour of a bygone era through the iconic designs of one of Scotland’s best known architects, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, or experience the creative inspiration behind some of Scotland’s artists and designers, there will be something for everyone in 2016. Chelsea Charles, VisitScotland

Shetland Jewellery’s designs are drawn from Scandinavian mythology, local wildlife, and traditional Celtic designs from other parts of Scotland and Ireland © VisitScotland world we live in today from the discovery of anaesthetics through to the construction of the Forth Rail Bridge, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As well as the vast selection of accommodation and visitor attractions celebrating the themed year, during 2016, there will also be an exciting programme of events across Scotland from festivals of light to festivals of architecture, luminous origami birds to Harris Tweed celebrations and

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a pop-up design exhibition at Edinburgh Airport. The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has created a county-wide Festival of Architecture which honors the richness and breadth

of Scotland’s architecture and the world quality of our built landscape. The festival will feature over 400 events across Scotland from touring exhibitions to workshops, and headline events including the

Find out more

For more information visit www.visitscotland.com/iad2016 Join the Conversation #IAD2016 Tickets on sale for Hinterland at www.hinterland.org

Hinterland Visualisation © James Johnson, courtesy of NVA

SPRING 2016 – 7

features

Deciphering the Detail The excavation of Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh

Double pitch roof scar revealed © Louise Mather

y the year 1587 the successful Edinburgh merchant and civic burgess Bailie John McMorran had acquired substantial accommodation on the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh – a stone’s throw from the castle and with a south-facing pleasure garden this was high status living par excellence. McMorran’s reconfiguration of existing buildings and the subsequent additions he made – effectively constructing an elegant courtyard house into the traditional north–south layout of this part of town – meant that his ‘great tenement’ project would provide the City of Edinburgh with one of the finest surviving burghal residences within the World Heritage Site today. All well and good, you might think, but McMorran’s interventions in the 16th century were only the first of a multiplicity of amendments and additions over the passing centuries, all of which have led to a massively complex restoration project for the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) who located to Riddle’s Court in 2011 and are now delivering the capital re-development project. Site renovation and

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repair works began in the summer of 2015. This refurbishment of Riddle’s Court begins another chapter in its long and fascinating history. The objective is to conserve the historic property, retaining all of the hidden gems within, but also to improve public access and facilities. The building is scheduled to re-open as the Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning in 2017, offering a programme of activities and events which tie in with Riddle’s Court’s history and heritage. SHBT’s track record in this area is profound with over 35 years’ experience of saving culturally and architecturally significant buildings for the nation by conserving their unique features whilst re-imagining them for contemporary and community use. SHBT Director, Una Richards, has remarked that “Riddle’s Court is one of the most exciting projects we’ve ever undertaken.” This excitement is being generated not only by the creation of an ambitious new venue in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town but by the discoveries and anomalies that the excavation is throwing up and the impact

removal of some twelve this is having on the design irregular floor levels, differing project. tonnes of rubble dumped into floor-to-ceiling heights and the chimney flue from the truncated staircases identified Prior to the renovation 20th-century interventions, in the historic building analysis works, SHBT commissioned uncovered a well-preserved report. CFA Archaeology to complete press for storing salt, a precious a comprehensive building The revelations, since site commodity in the 16th century. survey, documenting all the work began, testify to this This incredibly rare discovery architectural features from its complex legacy and have has led to debate as to whether 450-year history. These include challenged the preliminary food for the banquet attended a 16th-century painted tempera model of the building’s by James was prepared and beamed ceiling painted for evolution. The remains of a cooked here and, locally, real a grand banquet attended vast 16th-century fireplace excitement has been generated by King James VI and Anne in one of the ground floor around the find. of Denmark; a 17th-century rooms has proved one of the plaster ceiling dating from the most fascinating discoveries. Chancellorship of Alexander The 1881 census records Dr Cressey had identified Seton, a great patron of such the fireplace on one of the 247 persons residing within decorative endeavours; a building’s early plans but the labyrinthine building... heraldic ceiling commissioned the reality of the find defied by the reformer and town expectation. He explains that: Now, LDN Architects, who planner, Patrick Geddes, “Effectively, we have found a are leading the design phase of in 1897 and the radical big kitchen range from the 16th the re-development, are tasked interventions made to Riddle’s century, including the oven, with absorbing this significant Court during the 1960s when it which would have been lined find into their plans; at the was reconfigured by the City of with fire bricks.” moment the area is scheduled Edinburgh Council as a site for Further excavation of the to become part of the visitor adult and community education fireplace, which saw the facilities – destined, then, to be classes. Detailed examination of the building’s historical records relating to ownership, trade and repair carried out by Dr Alasdair Ross from Stirling University confirmed that many alterations had taken place from the mid-16th to 19th centuries. This multi-disciplinary approach to the project afforded CFA’s Dr Mike Cressey and the late Professor Charles McKean, to devise a phasedevelopment model for Riddle’s Court which combined a review of Dr Ross’ analysis alongside historical drawings and floor plans, and a survey of actual floor levels, wall thicknesses and other building fabric. As the occupancy of Riddle’s Court changed hands, so did the layout and physical development of the building. Bread oven revealed in 16th-century kitchen range © CFA Archaeology Ltd The legacy of this was the

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features one of the most historic conveniences the city has to offer! The sensitive approach to preserving historical detail whilst improving the functionality of the new venue is being challenged on an almost daily basis and is nowhere better illustrated in Riddle’s Court than in the inspection of timber beamed ceilings which proliferate throughout. An initial programme of dendrochronology dating, conducted during the building analysis phase in 2013, sought not only to verify the provenance of the timber used in the building but to establish whether McMorran would have sourced it from stockpiles relating to other buildings around Riddle’s Court when he was creating his state apartments. Child’s tin cup illustrated with nursery rhyme motif © SHBT Two areas were analysed and the results stair, reveals timber that was felled around confirmed the researchers’ thoughts. The inspection of timber found in a building off the 1534, some fifty years before the McMorran courtyard, known as the ‘pigsty’ revealed that the association. Thus he was indeed re-cycling much wood had been felled sometime between 1575 needed timber from other properties or from and 1589 in Norway – Scandinavia being the existing parts of the buildings which he amended. major source of wood for building in Scotland at The age and ring widths of the examined joists that time. McMorran had acquired the Riddle’s and beams show them to be from widely differing Court complex by 1587, the date is carved into a growing conditions and from across various lintel facing into the courtyard, and this shipment woodlands. Between 1550 and 1650 Edinburgh of wood dates from 1590. was undergoing something of a population explosion, its mercantile class expanding, and Interestingly, the dendrochronology from joists in the roof of the only surviving turnpike the boom in building that went alongside this

Tempera painted ceiling board recently discovered © SHBT

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Excavating the 16th-century fireplace © Louise Mather (above) and CFA Archaeology (right) correlates with how timber was re-used and recycled. Another area where the ceiling archaeology continues to influence the conservation design was uncovered between November and December 2015. The former state apartments contain a well-known and well-documented painted ceiling, colloquially known as the ‘Beam Room’ and understood to be the location of the royal banquet held in honour of James VI’s brother-in-law, the Duke of Holstein, in 1598. Following the removal of a plaster ceiling added during the 1960s in the adjacent room, an additional painted board and several wellpreserved beams have survived the rigours of time and will be cleaned by conservators and left on display to the public. It is now highly likely that the banquet took place in a grander room than first thought and that the ‘Beam Room’ was reserved for high status individuals only. Further painted beams have been discovered on the second floor of the south block and in the roof of the north block indicating that the highstatus rooms of the McMorran era were far more wide-ranging than was first understood. It is now highly anticipated that when roof works commence on the south block, in the section of Riddle’s Court which was essentially reconfigured to create the picturesquely curving Victoria Street in the 1830s, more re-used timber will be found which will have come from an

earlier roof at a much steeper pitch. In contrast to the magnificent and historically significant discoveries the Riddle’s Court project has thrown up so far, remarkably little ephemera relating to the building’s long residential phases and multiple occupancy has been found. The 1881 census records 247 persons residing within the labyrinthine building and yet few artefacts have turned up to reveal their stories. A child’s tin cup, vividly decorated with a nursery rhyme motif; a well-used, three-toed distemper brush and some odd bits of Victorian linoleum are the best of the scant remains which Riddle’s Court has given up. Excavation of this iconic building is set to continue well into 2016. The discoveries to date have fuelled the excitement that surrounds the project and we are gearing up to the challenges which will undoubtedly follow. Whatever these outcomes may be, The Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning and its education and activity programme will be explaining the stories and experiences of those involved in the building re-development project so that all visitors to Riddle’s Court may take part in this fascinating journey of discovery. Russell Clegg, Scottish Historic Buildings Trust

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features

he Heritage Jam is an annual one-to-twoday event, run and funded by the University of York’s Department of Archaeology, which challenges individuals and teams to create innovative, forward-thinking pieces of heritage visualisation around a given theme over a confined period of time. The Jam, which began in 2014, drew its inspiration from the computing and game industries, where hacka-thons and game-jams provide spaces for interested parties to experiment, collaborate and produce outcomes in ways which the normative industry workflows and practices often cannot facilitate. After experiencing such constraints in their daily approaches to heritage visualisation, York’s Heritage Jam co-ordinators (a mix of professionals, independent makers, researchers, students and lecturers) wondered what innovations would be possible if their practice was opened up to enable more imagination, experimentation and explorations around a broad theme, held in check only by a short time frame within which to produce a particular piece of work. The Jam runs as an online and in-person event, allowing for participation by individuals and pre-made teams, as well as by groups of people previously unacquainted with one another who are assigned to collaborate on the day by the Heritage Jam organisers. Though relatively new in its inception, the jam has seen contributions to both its in-person and online components from across the United Kingdom, America, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Turkey. Whilst many of the participants come from heritage

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or archaeological backgrounds, artists, gamedevelopers, computer-scientists and literature specialists have increasingly joined in. The international and interdisciplinary nature of the Jam has facilitated an unprecedented platform for innovation which allows participants to experiment with new methods of creating heritage visualisations and to develop new understandings and engagements with heritage as a whole. For example, in 2014, we structured the Jam around the theme of burial, which attracted a wide range of entries using a diverse set of technologies to visualise or express the theme, both in its literal, archaeological sense, and in more metaphorical senses such as the ‘burial’ of heritage as a town’s urban environment changes, or the burial of human agency. The winner of the Jam’s In-Person Team category, Voices Recognition (by a mixed group of heritage professionals, artists, students and archaeologists: Stuart Eve, Kerrie Hoffman, Colleen Morgan, Alexis Pantos and Sam KinchinSmith), was an app described by two of its makers as an effort “to create a cacophony in a cemetery — geolocated stories emanating from graves that would increase in intensity with the density of burials in different areas.” In 2015, the Jam pivoted around the theme of museums and collections, and here an equally inspiring range of entries grappled with the subject matter via watercolour paintings, videogames, auralizations of archaeological material, ‘olfactory’ apps, and even museum-inspired

‘Death (and Burial) by Chocolate,’ recipient of a personal commendation in the 2014 Heritage Jam © A.J. Bailey

“It seems we didn’t just make a cool app, we actually created a new way of experiencing and exploring…and it made me think about it in a different way”

Two of the winners of the Jam’s 2014 In-Person Team category, Alexis Pantos (left) and Sam Kinchin-Smith (right), preparing content for their submission, ‘Voices Recognition’. CC BY 2.0, Colleen Morgan baking recipes. The winner of the Jam’s Online Group category, The Völund Stones (by cartoonist and educator Hannah Sackett and archaeology professor Howard Williams), adopted the comic strip format to retell the story of Weland the Smith, drawing on a collection of early medieval artefacts and carvings to convey the complexity of Weland’s identity. Whilst the Jam runs as a competition, many of our participants have reported that the most valuable part of the event has been the ability to engage with heritage with a diverse group of like-minded people. To this end, whilst many of the outcomes of the Jam are innovative and valuable in their own right, it is the experience of collaboration on the day that provides long lasting impact on participants’ approaches to heritage. The Heritage Jam will run once again in 2016 and we encourage everyone to participate and create with us. More information about previous iterations of the Heritage Jam and information regarding how you can get involved can be found at www.heritagejam.org. Tara Copplestone and Sara Perry, University of York

One frame from the comic strip ‘The Völund Stones’, the winner of the Jam’s 2015 Online Group category. © award recipients Hannah Sackett and Howard Williams

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features

Discovering Hidden Stories of Everyday Places

Redefining heritage through community leadership Become an urban detective with SUP! Town centres, historic buildings, the street you work in, past and present stories – what is it that makes the urban environment unique and important to you? © Scotland’s Urban Past for HES

“We were delighted to be able to give visitors who couldn’t get up the tower, the link to our film. There are many who arrive, and feel it’s too high, too dark or that they are unable because of mobility problems. It was good to be able to say, ‘well, you can see it online!’” Friends of St. John’s Tower

ncreasing accessibility to heritage is at the heart of Scotland’s Urban Past (SUP), a Historic Environment Scotland initiative supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and led by community groups in the nation’s towns and cities. SUP challenges the concepts of community engagement and urban heritage, and aims to take them to a new level. The scheme is all about the discovery of the places that matter to people, through their ideas and interpretation. We never know which ideas will be put forward by community groups, and what heritage they are interested in recording and celebrating. A key element is taking a step back to allow the community to redefine preconceptions and understandings of heritage. Is a skatepark heritage? The young people at the Knightsridge Adventure Project in Livingston thought so,

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having campaigned hard to see their space to skate turn from a dream to a reality. Since its construction in 2011, the skatepark has become the core of their community, a very important place for them, and therefore seen as an integral part of their heritage. Thanks to their project with SUP, the site is now the first skatepark to be recorded in Canmore, the national record of Scotland’s archaeology, buildings, industrial and maritime heritage, and recognised as part of the nation’s built environment that should be recorded for future generations. Internationally, we also seem to be moving towards a more holistic notion of heritage. Rather, our sector is codifying what many of us have been doing for years (and in some indigenous cultures, for millennia) – looking at heritage as a mix of tangible and intangible values. As stated in the Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscape (UNESCO, 2011), urban landscapes extend ‘...beyond the notion of ‘historic centre’ or ‘ensemble’ to include the broader urban context and its geographical setting. This wider context includes notably the site’s topography, geomorphology, hydrology and natural features, its built environment, both historic and contemporary... It also includes social and cultural practices and values,

economic processes and the intangible dimensions of heritage as related to diversity and identity.’ But tackling this issue about tangible and intangible is not just about the importance of acknowledging different value systems. It is about ensuring that this system of values – this heritage – is interpreted, Skateboarding heritage: the young skaters at the Knightsridge Adventure Project celebrated explored and preserved by their film premiere with Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and local communities. And that External Affairs © Historic Environment Scotland can only be done by the people themselves, by them taking the and the intangible aspects to tower with the production of lead in identifying, recording celebrate this landmark. The a film. The Friends group was and celebrating their special film was entirely produced by established to address social places. the Friends, thanks to the help issues in the area and use the of the SUP team, who provided tower as a catalyst to instil SUP enables local training in architectural community pride and sense of communities around research and filming. place, and thus reduce antiScotland to gain the skills social behaviour. By adding and confidence to do exactly Chiara Ronchini, Scotland’s social history in their script, the that. In one community-led Urban Past, Historic Friends wanted to – in their own project, the Friends of St. Environment Scotland words – ‘give a voice to the John’s Tower celebrated and tower’, including both tangible shared their Cromwellian

Take part

“It was nice to challenge my interests and nice to know that even later in life you can get involved in things that you didn’t think you could do.” Friends of St. John’s Tower

The Friends of St. John’s Tower, Ayr, presented their SUP project on STV Glasgow to inspire other community groups to take the lead and tell the hidden stories of their local places © Scotland’s Urban Past for HES

SUP have already begun celebrating 2016’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design and are holding events all over Scotland to get community groups involved in sharing their heritage. Upcoming training events will guide participants through the process of researching, understanding and telling the stories of their towns and cities – learning how to become ‘Urban Detectives’. Members of the public are encouraged to share their findings, memories and images of Scotland’s built environment and architecture through a new online platform which will help define this wider interpretation of ‘heritage’ on Canmore when it is launched on the SUP website in the early Spring. Get involved! For further information and events: www.scotlandsurbanpast.org.uk

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features

Monuments in the Hearts of Communities 2

015 saw the designation of two very different but equally fascinating scheduled monuments in Argyll and Bute in recognition of their national importance – the Tinkers’ Heart and the slate quarries on Easdale Island. The Tinkers’ Heart is a heart-shaped setting of quartz stones near Cairndow. Oral tradition suggests that the setting was created to commemorate individuals from the Traveller community who took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. More recently, it has served as a traditional site for wedding celebrations amongst the Traveller community. When first looking at it, we were unsure of its significance and we needed to think about different ways of researching this type of site, including using social media. By seeking the

views of the Traveller community, local people and other interested parties we were able to much better understand the site’s cultural significance. Thanks to a great public response to our consultation, we now know that it is a very rare example of a physical monument to Scottish Travellers and it gives us a greater understanding of their traditions and heritage. It also plays a very significant part in the consciousness of Gypsy/Travellers and the people of Argyll. Easdale, known as ‘the island that roofed the world’, produced slate that was exported internationally. Commercial slate production ceased in 1911 leaving behind a landscape shaped by the extraction of slate over centuries. It is a key part of the story of Scotland’s industrial heritage. The

considerable and extensive remains of waste material highlight the sheer scale of the quarrying and processing work that took place here. Along with the listed workers’ cottages and the museum on the island, the importance and interest of Easdale is now fully recognised. And, of course, the new scheduled status of the quarries will not interfere with the famous World Stone Skimming Championships which take place at the quarries every year! Allan Rutherford, Historic Environment Scotland

Easdale from the harbour © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

Find out more See our new portal website for information about our designation decisions: http://portal.historic-scotland.gov.uk/

Tinkers’ Heart, Cairndow © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland

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Aerial view of Easdale © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

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features

The Cist on the Foreshore

The inhumation fully excavated © ARO

nalysis of finds from the archaeological excavation of a cist burial located on the foreshore at Lopness on Sanday in Orkney have revealed new evidence for Bronze Age burial practices. The cist, which was in danger of being eroded by the sea, was excavated in September 2000 as part of

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Historic Scotland’s Human Remains Call Off Contract by Orkney Archaeological Trust and on behalf of the then Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD). The cist was constructed from large beach flags and contained the skeleton of a middleaged to elderly woman. The osteological evidence

points to a woman who led a physically demanding life, which involved repetitive actions over time and who at the time of her death was suffering from the crippling effects of osteoarthritis. During her working life she may have spent much of her time at a loom, but other activities, such as net fishing may have contributed to her osteological profile. The radiocarbon data, taking into account the marine reservoir effect, indicates that the woman was buried probably between 1890 and 1520 BC. The cist also contained a relatively large amount of animal bone as well as fragments of shell, lobster/ crab, sea urchin/starfish, and fish bone. This is not a common phenomenon and the vast majority of this material is likely to have been ‘incidental’. Lithic material and pottery were also found overlying the skeletal remains. The lithic material was predominantly knapping debris, which suggests it derived from elsewhere. Lithic artefacts recovered from prehistoric funerary contexts are commonly ‘prestige goods’ such as flint knives and scrapers and are not normally the waste from the manufacture of such objects. The Lopness lithic artefacts are thought to date to the early to middle Bronze Age. At least two pottery vessels were identified but it is unlikely, given the small number of sherds, that whole vessels

were ever present. Stylistically the assemblage ranges from the mid to late second millennium BC. Botanical evidence, comprising carbonised barley cereal grains was also recovered from the cist deposits. These remains, together with the lithic artefacts and pottery are indicative of waste or midden material forming the upper fills of the cist. The cist prior to excavation © ARO The most likely sequence males. One of the cremation of events involves the burial burials was contained within of a deceased female in a a Food Vessel Urn while cist without surviving grave the other formed a discrete goods in the early to middle pile in the centre of the Bronze Age. Accumulations cist. The radiocarbon dates of midden material, possibly from Sand Fiold suggest from a slight mound capping longevity of use of this burial the burial, subsequently fell place with cremation and into the cist with the collapse of its lid. The cist had become inhumation rites taking place during the same period. damaged and the burial was The sub-adult inhumation disturbed, and it is likely that within the Sand Fiold cist is the situation may have been of comparable date to the rectified by the deliberate introduction of offerings (lamb Lopness inhumation and together they bear testament bones and limpets) into the grave. There does not appear to the continued use of inhumation into the Bronze to have been any attempt Age on Orkney, despite made to repair the cist lid, even though the cist was likely the adoption of cremation. They also suggest the to have been recognised broadly contemporary use as a grave. However, the of two very different types subsequent collapse of of funerary rite, sometimes midden into the cist brought even within the same burial with it the pottery and the as at Sand Fiold or at the lithic artefacts. middle Bronze Age barrow There are few parallels cemetery at Linga Fiold on for the Lopness cist burial the Orkney Mainland. There in Orkney. At Sand Fiold, are considerable differences a rock-cut burial chamber between cremation and in Sandwick, Orkney, inhumation rituals and use of contained the remains of two one rite over another strongly inhumations (foetal and subsuggests that quite different adult) and two cremated adult

attitudes to the dead were involved. The full results of this research, ARO19: The Cist on the Foreshore at Lopness, Sanday, Orkney by Lorna Innes, has just been published and is now freely available to download from the ARO website - http:// archaeologyreportsonline. com/publications.html Beverley Ballin Smith, Editor, Archaeology Reports Online

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community projects

A Fresh Look at the Brochs and Duns of the Forth Valley Torwood was first excavated in 1864 and then again in 1948 and no Roman finds were observed. The 19thcentury excavation indicated that the broch had burnt down, a feature common to contemporary sites in the area (eg Leckie, Fairy Knowe, Keir Hill of Gargunnock and Mote Hill). Additionally, the excavation revealed four pieces of reused cup-and-ring marked stones, one of which survives upside down in the wall of the broch staircase. In 2014 Matt Ritchie of Forestry Commission Scotland proposed that Coldoch and Torwood be re-surveyed as part of a case study to explore management of woodland and Scheduled Monuments. This work was undertaken by Archaeology Scotland’s Adopta-Monument Scheme, AOC

Archaeology, Falkirk Museums Trust and Stirling Council with the help of numerous volunteers including the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society. The resulting report is available from Stirling Council’s Sites and Monuments Record. AOC Archaeology resurveyed both Coldoch and Torwood by laser scan, but here we focus on the latter. At Torwood a previously unrecorded third external bank, which had been identified by Geoff Bailey, was sampled by excavation. The excavation identified lumps of birch charcoal and a mortar. The charcoal was dated to 4351 ± 28 BP (SUERC-57504) which when calibrated to two sigma gives a range 3026–2902 cal BC, indicating the bank was constructed of older material.

It is of course obvious that any new boundary requires quarrying of existing material to construct it, and the radiocarbon date together with the aforementioned cup-and-ring marked stones certainly suggest that there was some form of Neolithic activity in the area. However, it is unclear if this older material was deliberately included in the bank to represent links to older communities and thus reinforce the legitimacy of the then contemporary community. Certainly, the presence of a cup-marked stone, upside down in the stairway, represents a secret and one which would have to be revealed – perhaps the stone had some significance for contemporary rituals? However, it is also clear that other decorated stones were included in the broch

The Interior of Torwood being surveyed © AOC Archaeology Ltd

cross the Forth Valley there is a series of Late Iron Age and Roman Period elite native sites including brochs, duns, homesteads and hillforts. It is argued that many of these structures were exploiting trade links across the restricted series of crossing points over the River Forth. This wider geographical setting was of course famously utilised to great effect by William Wallace and Andrew de Moray in The Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Many of these sites – like Leckie, Fairy Knowe, Castlehill and Keir Hill of Gargunnock, respectively two brochs a dun and small hillfort – contain Roman objects and are assumed to have been trading with the Romans to the south. However, others like Coldoch and Torwood do not have any Roman objects at all. It is not clear if this is connected with chronology or some other reason, perhaps status or function. Previous reviews of the Forth Valley’s settlement patterns have focussed on specific architectural

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types like brochs or duns, to the exclusion of other forms such as hillforts and homesteads. Stirling Council’s Archaeologist, Murray Cook is currently reviewing the evidence via a series of small scale re-surveys and excavations of them to establish how they interacted with each other. To date Coldoch broch, Mote Hill and Dumyat have all been re-surveyed, with radiocarbon dates recovered from Mote Hill. A key element of this project was a programme of vegetation clearance, survey and excavation at Torwood broch, Falkirk, one of the most impressive brochs in Scotland though frequently overlooked. The site comprises a broch tower surrounded by three sets of enclosing works, and lies immediately to the north of the Roman road from Camelon fort to Doune fort. Brochs are of course more frequently associated with the north and west of Scotland and their presence in the south is often argued to represent local elites asserting their power and influence by building unusual and exotic architectural forms.

A laser scan of the cup-marked stone in Torwood’s staircase © AOC Archaeology Ltd

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Laser scan of Torwood © AOC Archaeology Ltd simply as building material, so this aspect should not be overplayed. To place the survey and excavation of Torwood in a more detailed context it was proposed to review the 36 existing artefact assemblage from the previous excavations and this was undertaken by the National Museums of Scotland with a generous grant from this Society. This review confirmed the absence of Roman material and offered a fascinating insight into daily life within a broch: including crafts such as yarn spinning (spindle whorl), non-ferrous metalworking

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(burnisher) and skin processing (hide-rubbers), along with everyday activities like grain processing (rotary querns). Some atypical stone finds point to the inhabitants as people of some substance, with unusual decorated items (a pendant and a whorl), exotic materials (soapstone) and evidence of leisure time (gaming counter). While the generic nature of the assemblage precludes any tighter dating than Late Iron Age, there are clear hints in the surviving assemblage of some status to the site’s inhabitants, however. The presence of two decorated items (the pendant and whorl) among the stone

finds is unusual, as is the presence of imported stone in the form of soapstone. The fact that this was a gaming counter is also unusual, as gaming seems to have been a restricted practice. Taken along with the evidence for sheet metalworking, there are clear signs in the small assemblage that this was something above the norm of an Iron Age settlement. Given the destruction by fire of Torwood and indeed other contemporary sites, it is not clear if these assemblages represent the everyday material used in them, frozen in time by the sites’ destruction either by accident or by deliberately by enemy action, or if this material represents ritual enrichment of the site prior to its deliberate destruction by its inhabitants, a very conspicuous act of consumption. Similar debates have surrounded the use and destruction of vitrified forts and indeed similar process have been observed in the so-called ‘souterrain abandonment horizon’ of the early centuries AD. The presence or absence of both Roman finds and particular forms of architecture within the Forth Valley’s settlement assemblage has tended to bias debate to the relation of the sites to the Romans or otherwise. However, it is clear that settlement at these locations existed before the Romans and that exotic architecture, Neolithic material and Roman finds played a role in the expression of identify and power. Quite how all these factors interplayed with each other is unclear but the debate must be predicated on more accurate information from new survey, excavation, and reviews of archival material and finds.

With this in mind the next stage of the project will focus on Christian MacLagan’s important work around Stirling and the sites at Keir Hill of Gargunnock and Livilands. Murray Cook, Fiona Isobel Watson, Gemma Cruickshanks and Graeme Cavers The authors would like to thank Matt Ritchie for setting the project up and supporting it, Geoff Bailey, Cara Jones, Phil Richardson and EAFS for their help during the project as well as the landowners for allowing us on their land. The project was funded by The Forestry Commission Scotland, The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, The MacKichan Trust and Archaeology Scotland.

More information on some of the key sites in the Forth Valley can be found online in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (PSAS) at http://archaeologydataservice. ac.uk/archives/view/psas/:

Dundas, J. 1868 ‘Notes on the excavation of an ancient building at Tapock in the Torwood, Parish of Dunipace, County of Stirling’, PSAS 6, 259–65 Feachem, R W. 1959 ‘Castlehill Wood dun, Stirlingshire’, PSAS 90, 24–51 Graham, A. 1951 ‘Notes on some brochs and forts visited in 1949’, PSAS 83, 12–24 Hunter, D.M. 1951 ‘Excavations at Broch of Tappoch, Tor Wood, Stirlingshire’, PSAS 83, 232–5 Macinnes, L. 1985 ‘Brochs and the Roman occupation of Lowland Scotland’, PSAS 114, 235–49 MacLagan, C. 1872 ‘On round castles and ancient dwellings of the Valley of the Forth, and its tributary the Teith’, PSAS 9, 29–44 MacLaren, A. 1960 ‘Excavations at Keir Hill, Gargunnock’, PSAS 91, 78–83 Main, L. 1998 ‘Excavation of a timber round-house and broch at the Fairy Knowe, Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire, 1975–8’, PSAS 128, 293–417

Do you need support with your research? How the MacKichan Trust can help you!

raditionally archaeological research was undertaken by volunteers, and while the professionalisation of archaeology saw fewer opportunities for Citizen Science until recently, this is no longer the case and private researchers and volunteers make an incredible contribution to archaeological research. In my own patch Stirling, volunteer archaeologists have undertaken work to the value of £160,000 over the last five years. However, there is always something that volunteers can’t quite cover, be it equipment hire, radiocarbon dates, printing fees, etc. This is where small research trusts come into their own and I am very grateful for the support the MacKichan Trust and other similar Trusts have given me over the years with illustrations and radiocarbon dates.

Because of this help I was only too happy to give something back and I am the current Chair of MacKichan Trust which was set up in 1990 in the memory of Catherine Mackichan. She had a deep interest in Scottish history and was studying for a history degree at St. Andrews University when diagnosed as suffering from a malignant melanoma. Throughout her illness she continued with her studies at Newcastle University and was awarded an aegrotat degree at her bedside the day before she died. The Trust will support research into any historical aspect relating to Scotland, especially North and West Scotland, but including historical links with Ireland, England and Scandinavia. The grants are small and usually have a value of between £200

Am faod flos fhithich a ‘bith aca and £500 but greater sums may be available. Applications should be submitted between 1 January and 16 April and are usually reviewed and considered by 30 June. For more information please contact david.mackichan@ sky.com or look at our website www.mackichantrust.co.uk Over the last 25 years the MacKichan Trust has granted just under £45,000. How can we help your project? Dr Murray Cook, Stirling Council’s Archaeologist and Chair of the MacKichan Trust

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itting among the rolling pasture lands just south of Hawick is a squat, solidary building; only its blackened walls hinting at its chequered past. The 100-year-old hut is all that remains of as many as 200 buildings which once made up Stobs Camp, an internationally important First World War site which was used primarily as a training ground prior to the war, and then as a POW camp for the duration. Despite the fact only one structure still stands among the grazing sheep, what is unique about Stobs is that so much archaeology remains. The site as been a local curiosity since its creation in 1905, while research work undertaken by a local group in the 1980s, Hawick Archaeological Society (HAS), and more recently by experts from Historic Environment Scotland and a researcher from the University of Aston, piqued the interest of the archaeologically-minded. Despite its obvious importance, Stobs is not widely known and this provides the stimulus for the current project (funded by HLF First World War: then and now and HES) and a subsequent larger one when further funding is sourced. This project will bring together many local groups who have an interest: Scottish Borders Archaeology Service, HAS to update their reports; a railway club (there are remnants of private rail line on site); a photography club; the local museum staff and volunteers (one museum has a small collection of artefacts pertinent to the period); the wonderful website http://stobs-camp.bizhat. com/, Hawick High School (who previously visited under our Heritage Heroes Project); Berwickshire Family History Society (interest in the families of

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volunteer soldiers and prisoners); Polish History Group; Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and researchers from the Universities of Aston and Liverpool. The project will have links further afield too with a comparison to the POW camp on the Isle of Man and work that Dr Stefan Manz (Aston University) is doing to make links to the places and families the German soldiers incarcerated there came from. Dr Gordon Barclay of HES has undertaken research which identified the gaps in current knowledge. This project will inform the local groups about which sources have still to be investigated and we will provide training workshops to help people, young and older, undertake their own research. We will also train groups in basic surveying for two mini-sites within the larger site as the most urgent, and poignant, to explore: the remaining hut and the remains of the German POW cemetery. Under expert supervision all groups will be given the opportunity to participate and contribute in a meaningful and productive way. All findings will be collated by Archaeology Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland and displayed on our websites and in the Home Front Legacy project. The long-term aim on completion of the larger project will be to publish a complete history of the site during FWW. If you, or your group would like to become involved in the project then please contact Dianne on 0300 012 9878 or development@ archaeologyscotland.org.uk

ur Jacobites in Stirling project has sadly come to an end but we can say it was great fun for all the children and volunteers who were involved and the Project Officer, Andy Jepson. The project, which was HLF-funded, focussed on two sites, Allanbank House in Dunblane and St Ninian’s Kirk in Stirling, both of which had a role to play in the story of the Jacobite uprisings. The focus was to highlight the importance of the two locations to pupils from the local primary schools and their families. Allanbank House has long since disappeared below a play-park in Dunblane but it was the location where the Duke of Cumberland stayed in 1746. St Ninian’s Kirk had been used by the Jacobites as a

repository for gunpowder which ignited and blew up the church in the same year. Here is how Andy enumerated the project, “I drove 958 miles during the two weeks. We were visited by 314 eager children and ran 34 archaeology sessions, 34 metal-detecting sessions and 34 story-telling sessions. We were joined by 12 classes across 6 days from 4 different schools. We opened 4 trenches, found 3 coins, 2 cannonballs and had 2 open days. And at the end there was 1 very happy man...” The children were very excited by finds such as a piece of sculptured lead, late medieval pottery, fragments of clay pipes, coins and cannonballs. They loved having a go at metal-detecting and testing their acting skills in the storytelling. We asked the children what they had learned, Callum and Joseph (aged 9) said “we learnt that the deeper down, the further into history we go” and Xander and Oliver (aged 9) learned that “Bonnie Prince Charlie got dressed up as a girl” which, of course, led to Katie, Madie and Amy (aged 10) saying the thing they liked best was “when Ruairidh dressed up as a girl” but Stephanie (aged 9) thought the best thing was when she was metal detecting and “[I] found a button with a crown on it” (Perthshire constabulary button). We look forward to the next project.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND NEWS

Redcoats, Rebels & Romance

STOBS CAMP

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news

HERITAGE HERO AWARDS

P   Recording First World War sites in the UK Reused mine and Home Front Legacy training © Archaeology Scotland

istoric Environment Scotland has been carrying out an audit of World War I sites in Scotland which feature hundreds of modern and historical photographs now available to view online on RCAHMS’ Canmore database. (www.rcahms.gov.uk/firstworldwar) There’s plenty to record, including army camps, drill halls, trenches, defences, cinemas, wireless stations, hospitals, artwork, factories, campsites and much more. Historic Environment Scotland are particularly interested in your help in adding detail and depth to the 900 plus sites identified in their audit. They are keen to know more about the best examples for future listing and scheduling. Scotland has a longer section of intact WW1 trench than Belgium for example, so it’s important that we understand the significance of what remains. Archaeology Scotland is working with CBA, Historic Environment Scotland and the Sites and Monuments Forum to deliver training events as part of the CBA’s Home Front Legacy 1914–18 project which is supporting community groups researching local places associated with the Great War with an online toolkit and guidance for recording the remains of surviving sites,

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structures and buildings around Britain. On the Home Front Legacy website www. homefrontlegacy.org.uk/wp/ you will find tools, guidance and resources for carrying out archaeological recording and submitting data to the local Sites and Monuments or Historic Environment Record service and the national database, CANMORE. Invergordon is an interesting place as many buildings were taken over by the military in WW1 and it had a US Naval presence in the area, while its deep harbour provided a repair base and fuel depot for the British Fleet. Our recent training weekend based in Invergordon Museum was about finding out how to use the recording toolkit and having a look at what has already been recorded by the local group, supported by Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH), seeing their WW1 leaflet and taking the opportunity to walk part of their town trail. We had a site visit to Dalmore on the Sunday, where there are still many remains to be seen, and the group was able to add a record to the Homefront Legacy website while we were there. We would like to thank Historic Environment Scotland for funding this training.

upils from Longstone Primary School in Edinburgh got to grips with their local history and, in the process, became the first Archaeology Scotland Heritage Hero Award winners this February. Children from the school’s P4 and P5 classes were the first group to complete the Heritage Hero Explorer programme after they studied the history of the Union Canal which runs nearby Longstone. The project is the first of several ongoing and upcoming events developed by Archaeology Scotland as part of the Heritage Hero Awards programme. The awards offer a framework to support young people, and anyone working with young people, to engage with the past in a meaningful way. Over the previous two months the pupils worked with teachers, representatives of Archaeology Scotland, and the Scottish Waterways Trust, who co-ordinated this project to explore the history of the Union Canal, and they were awarded for their work at a ceremony at their school.

Unearthing the past in advance of the future

www.guard-archaeology.co.uk

The projectt was part of the Scottish Waterways Trust’s cultural heritage programme, funded by Historic Environment Scotland. Working with the teachers, Gemma Wild, Canal Officer for Cultural Heritage with the Trust, designed a series of workshops in the classroom and outdoors, exploring the history of the Union Canal through maps, historic photographs and canal-related artefacts. Students kept up the good work in the classroom, creating maps of the canal, poems and leaflets encouraging visitors to the historic waterway. Gemma said, “The P4/5 students at Longstone Primary School have really engaged with the history of the Union Canal over the last few weeks and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to team up with Archaeology Scotland to offer them a Heritage Heroes Award to recognise their achievements.” The awards revolve around five key sections: planning a project, investigating your heritage, engaging with it, using what you have discovered to inspire others, then reflecting on achievements and what you’ve learned. Archaeology Scotland offer support, advice, resources and expertise to help all groups develop heritage-based projects, whatever their knowledge and experience. Kate Fowler, Heritage Training Officer at Archaeology Scotland, said: “Scotland has a fantastically rich and diverse past. At Archaeology Scotland we are passionate about it, and about ensuring that everyone can discover, explore and enjoy it. That is why we have developed this award scheme, the Heritage Hero Awards, and we are really pleased to see the first recipients receive recognition for all their hard work.” Later this year will see the outcomes of more projects in the pilot phase of the scheme. Dianne Laing, Archaeology Scotland

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news 60-second Interview

Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage – Digital Resources

Mark Thacker, University of Edinburgh We heard you were involved in researching mortar in old castles. Is this right? Tell me about your project. That’s right. The project is called the Scottish Medieval Castles and Chapels C14 Project and is funded by Historic Environment Scotland. We are examining medieval building materials, especially mortars, to work out where they were sourced from, how they were made and whether we can date them. We have often had real issues dating medieval buildings in Scotland – and it’s still early days – but this research is beginning to get good results. How did you get involved? The work grew out of my doctoral research, recording medieval buildings in the north and west and comparing them to castles and churches in Ireland and Scandinavia. Working out how building traditions moved around North Atlantic Europe.

geology such as XRD, thinsection petrography and scanning electron microscopy - and applying them in an archaeological way. So what do the different mortars tell you? What do they consist of? Many, many different things. Medieval builders were very resourceful and very good with pyrotechnology. Oysters, marble, corals… It’s this variation in the masonry of different periods which allows us to work out how buildings developed and, increasingly now, who built them. Can you see any other uses for your methodology? No – I’m hoping to put my feet up after this! Honestly though, there is some fantastic materials analysis expertise in Scotland, our medieval buildings archaeology is very rich, and these monuments are really important to local communities

and academics alike. alike We would really just like to get this right and develop reliable techniques which can be applied as widely as possible. Generally, how technical do you think archaeology is likely to get? (will that be useful, will too much technology mean we stop digging or any other comments you might like to make). There’s a long way to go yet. The Medieval Castles and Chapels project reminds us just how precious and finite these material remains of the past are, and if the technology allows archaeologists to look closer, look differently and look longer, with less loss of material, then that’s got to be good.

What would you say was innovative about it? The innovation in the new project is largely down to taking methods very well known in environmental archaeology and geosciences, and applying them to materials in buildings which are still standing. Upstanding buildings are archaeology too! Any other new technologies you have been using? Again, it’s more about using technologies already Castle Coeffin, Lismore, a probable Clan MacDougall caput included in the SMCCCP project well proven in other fields for analysis and dating © M Thacker – especially those from

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ur partnership organisation, Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage, is a Scotlandwide training programme designed to provide the heritage sector with the vital skills needed to increase fundraising income from private sources, individuals, charitable trusts and companies. Having now worked with nearly 200 organisations across Scotland and provided training and support to 350 individuals, we are able to offer everyone in the sector new online and digital resources to assist with fundraising efforts. Whether you are looking to be inspired by the stories of others, want to develop your case for support or would like to take a walk through the seven steps of fundraising you can find everything you need to get started on the Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage website. A series of video case studies tell the stories of organisations that have had success with their fundraising and more stories are being added all the time.

The media sponsor for the programme, Media Education, has produced short films on all of the fundraising topics covered in the training, as well as the popular ‘seven steps of fundraising’ animation, a step-by-step guide to developing and maintaining your fundraising relationships. Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage is funded by the Heritage Lottery fund and is delivered by the partnership of Arts & Business Scotland, Archaeology Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland, greenspace scotland and Museums Galleries Scotland. For further information and to access the digital resources please visit the website www.resourcingscotlandsheritage.org

Scottish Heritage Angel Awards

he Scottish Heritage Angel Awards 2016 will be open for nominations from April. The Awards, which were established in 2014 and announced their first winners last year, recognise the work and achievements of heritage volunteers across Scotland. The organisers (Scottish Civic Trust, Historic Environment Scotland, Archaeology Scotland and Scottish Government) will be looking for nominations for individuals and community heritage groups who are involved in recording, caring for and celebrating Scotland’s historic environment. Funded by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the Awards support the delivery of the Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland – Our Place in Time, which places

a strong focus on community participation and engagement in heritage. The winners in 2015 were: Friends of Glasgow Necropolis; Forres Heritage; Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Volunteers; Scottish Waterways Trust – Canals College; and Archaeology Scotland veteran

volunteer Patrick Cave-Browne in the Lifetime Contribution to the Historic Environment Keep an eye out for news at @ScotAngelAwards and www. scottishheritageangelawards. org.uk where you can also view films of last year’s shortlisted nominees.

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books Scotland in Later Prehistoric Europe Fraser Hunter and Ian Ralston (eds), 2015. Hardback, 301 pages, 142 illustrations ISBN 978-1-90833-206-6 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, £60

his collection of conference papers, originally delivered in 2008, marks the third volume by the Society to examine Scotland’s place in the archaeology of Europe. Fifteen contributors cover the later Bronze and Iron Ages and supplement Mesolithic Scotland and its Neighbours and Scotland in Ancient Europe, both published by the Society in 2004, to conclude this extended discussion of Scotland in prehistory. Barry Cunliffe conjures up sea travel to Britain through the eyes of sailors approaching from along the Atlantic seaboard or from the coasts around the North Sea and discusses the different influences that these brought to the western and eastern parts of the British archipelago. In spite of a long history of ‘trade’ along these sea routes, accounts by Pierre-Yves Milcent, Eugene Warmenbol and Flemming Kaul of neighbouring continental regions – France, the Low Countries and Scandinavia – leave a feeling of the remoteness of those areas from Scotland, in spite of 30 – ISSUE 25

the great distances that some artefacts appear to have travelled. Kaul’s interpretation of religious symbolism portrayed in ship imagery as petroglyphs and on artefacts is fascinating, but its linkage to British archaeology is tenuous. Scotland’s place in a wider context is discussed in Ian Armit’s comparison of settlement in Scotland and Ireland and J V S and the late M R Megaw’s consideration of how northern British Iron Age decoration sits within the general European body of so-called Celtic Art. Colin Haselgrove looks southwards across the English border to consider the archaeology of ‘central Britain’, an area extending from the edge of the Highlands to Leicestershire. Specific to Scotland are papers in which Richard Tipping sets the environmental scene in the north and Andrew Dunwell assesses the contribution made by contract archaeology after 1990, while others analyse Bronze Age roundhouse architecture (Rachel Pope), hillforts (Ian Ralston), religion (Martin Goldberg) and artefact production (F Hunter). The concluding chapter comes as something of a rallying cry, in which Strat Halliday alerts us to the rare quality of Scotland’s prehistoric landscapes,

buildings and deep stratified deposits which can provide evidence of sociogeographical archaeology that few European regions could claim to equal. Although in the same breath he points to the Antonine Wall as the clearest demonstration of Scotland’s marginal location, he alerts us to its potential as the best place to study the Romans at the limits of empire – a topic that this conference series has yet to address. This book adds to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland’s well-deserved reputation for excellent publications. The editors are to be congratulated on their hard work, despite unavoidable delays, in drawing together fourteen papers of fine quality, variety and interest that should appeal to the interested amateur as much as to the professional specialist. Review by John Dent

An Inventory for the Nation James Crawford, 2015. Softback, 171 pages ISBN 978-1-902419-97-8 RCAHMS, £14.99

o mark the handing-over of its responsibilities to the newly created Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has published this valedictory volume celebrating the achievements of Scotland’s longest serving Royal Commission. In a series of thematic chapters, the volume charts the history and development of RCAHMS from its foundation in 1908, the first of the three Royal Commissions to be established, to its amalgamation with Historic Scotland in 2015. The author demonstrates how

the scope of recording of archaeological sites and architectural monuments and the dissemination of the data held by RCAHMS evolved over time in reaction to improvements in field survey techniques, the expansion of perceptions of what constitutes a historic monument, the creation of the National Monuments Record, and the impact of digital technology. The Commissioners appointed in 1908 would be astonished to see how the first edition of the Inventory of Berwickshire, published in 1909 and sold for sixpence, grew into the lavishly illustrated county series, culminating in 1992 with the production of the final volume of the Inventory of Argyll, let alone the impressive range of specialist and non-specialist publications issued from the 1960s onwards. The illustrations in the vo volume have been carefully ch chosen to show the range of sk skills, both in the field and in the office, possessed by th the staff of RCAHMS. The ph photographs themselves fo form an interesting social his history – from fieldwork un undertaken by gentlemen in formal collars and ties, to today’s community pr projects comprising school ch children and silver surfers cla clad in the latest weatherpr proofing. Also demonstrated in the photographs are

the changing attitudes to what constitutes acceptable practice in field survey – some of the more daring and hair-raising surveys of the past would now have the Secretary dragged before the Health and Safety Commission. Members of Archaeology Scotland will be amused to see the photograph of the 1953 Summer School on an uncharacteristically wet day in Dumfriesshire – a reminder of the contribution RCAHMS maintained in supporting the wider historic environment community. In the penultimate section of the volume there is an invaluable set of appendices listing staff, budgets, premises, former Chairmen, Commissioners and Secretaries, as well as maps showing the growth of the National Inventory, and a comprehensive bibliography of all RCAHMS publications and exhibitions. John Hume, the last Chairman of Commissioners, ends the volume with a wish, shared I am sure by us all, that HES will take up the challenge and continue to evolve the work of RCAHMS, which has been so well documented in this volume Review by Jack Stevenson

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Summer School 2016 Rural Stirlingshire, 20th-23rd May 2016 Join us for a weekend in rural Stirlingshire with professional guides and lecturers. Visit archaeological sites dating from the prehistoric to the 20th century – chambered cairns, homesteads, brochs, mottes, churches, farmsteads and towers. Enjoy two full days of field visits and three evening lectures. Full information and a registration form from Archaeology Scotland. tel 0300 012 9878 email info@archaeologyscotland.org.uk web www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk

ARP2016 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN PROGRESS GALASHIELS 2016

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE EXAMINING RECENT AND ONGOING ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS ACROSS SCOTLAND SATURDAY 28TH MAY 2016 VOLUNTEER HALL ST JOHNS STREET GALASHIELS TD1 3JX

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND SUITE 1A, STUART HOUSE, ESKMILLS, STATION ROAD, MUSSELBURGH EH21 7PB TEL: 0300 012 9878 EMAIL: INFO@ARCHAEOLOGYSCOTLAND.ORG.UK WEB: WWW.ARCHAEOLOGYSCOTLAND.ORG.UK

THE RING DITCHES AND PALISADE SLOTS OF CASTLE HILL (NT 291 400) IN THE TWEED VALLEY FOREST PARK WERE RECENTLY SURVEYED BY RUBICON HERITAGE FOR FORESTRY COMMISSION SCOTLAND. TO FIND OUT MORE, VISIT WWW.FORESTRY.CO.UK\SCOTLANDENVIRONMENT