Welcome to the collection of open access e-books about Scotland's past published by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland thanks to the support of our Fellows.

Spotlights

  • A Cromwellian Warship wrecked off Duart Castle, Mull, Scotland, in 1653

    Cromwellian Warship

    Spotlight

    This book records the excavation of the wreck of a small Cromwellian warship, believed to be Swan, which was found off Duart Point. From this, the dimensions, constructional techniques and general layout of the ship were determined, and realities of the ship's operational functions and her crew's life on board were revealed.

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  • The Lands of Ancient Lothian: Interpreting the Archaeology of the A1

    The Lands of Ancient Lothian

    Spotlight

    Between 2001 and 2004, archaeological work during the A1 road upgrade in East Lothian unearthed 11 sites spanning 5,000 years. Discoveries included ninth millennium BC microliths, ceremonial practices, settlement evidence, and ritual activities up to the first millennium BC.

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  • On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe: Excavation of a Chambered Cairn on the Holm of Papa Westray, Orkney

    On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe

    Spotlight

    One of the two chambered cairns built as burial monuments on the tiny Holm of Papa Westray is the subject of this book. First excavated in the nineteenth century, and again in a more scientific manner in the 1980s, it has shed surprising light on life, death and ritual in Neolithic times.

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New Releases

A Cromwellian Warship wrecked off Duart Castle, Mull, Scotland, in 1653

Colin J M Martin (Author); James H Barrett, David Bate, Sue Black, Darren Cox, George Dalgleish, Peter Spencer Davies, Peter Ditchfield, Glenn Foard, Headland Archaeology Ltd, David Lamb, Ian MacLeod, John McManus, Wolfram Meier-Augenstein, Rachel L Parks, Andrew Ramsay, Janet Shelley, Theo Skinner, Catherine Smith, Lore Troalen (Contributor)
August 15, 2025

The Lands of Ancient Lothian: Interpreting the Archaeology of the A1

Olivia Lelong, Gavin MacGregor (Author); Lorna Innes, Kirsteen McLellan, Ingrid Shearer, Eland Stuart, Paul Duffy, Andrew Heald, Fraser Hunter, Jo MacKenzie, Dawn McLaren, Ann MacSween, Nicholas Marquez-Grant, Jennifer Miller, Amelia Pannett, Susan Ramsay, Alan Saville, Alison Sheridan, Ian Simpson, Catherine Smith, Colin Wallace (Contributor)
May 14, 2024

On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe: Excavation of a Chambered Cairn on the Holm of Papa Westray, Orkney

Anna Ritchie (Author); Patrick Ashmore, Marie Balasse, R Barnett, Don Brothwell, M Collins, Thomas Cucchi, Keith Dobney, Jennifer Harland, Mary Harman, Audrey Henshall, Frances Lee, Monika Maleszka-Ritchie, Rachel Parks, Mike Richards, J Searle, M Shafer, Rick Schulting, Anne Tresset, David F Williams, C C Wright (Contributor)
January 19, 2024

The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland

Richard Bradley (Author); Tim Phillips, Alison Sheridan, Angela Boyle, Stephen Lancaster, Donald Davidson, Ian Simpson, Brian Matthews, Peter Brewer, Sharon Arrowsmith, Chris Ball, Catherine Chisham, Petra Dark, Donald Davidson, Stephen Lancaster (Contributor); Ian Simpson; David Trevarthen (Contributor)
December 15, 2023

The Traprain Law Environs Project: Fieldwork and Excavations 2000–2004

Colin Haselgrove (Author); Peter Carne, David C Cowley, Duncan Hale, Leon Fitts, Derek Hamilton, Fraser Hunter, Jacqui Huntley, Pamela Lowther, Kevin H J Macleod, Ann MacSween, Charlotte O'Brien, Anwen Caffell, Phil Clogg, Louisa Gidney, Charlotte Henderson, Dave Heslop, Cath McGill, Jennifer Jones, Jason Mole, Jennifer Price, Alison Sheridan, John Thomas, Steven Willis (Contributor)
May 26, 2023

The Antiquarian Rediscovery of the Antonine Wall

Lawrence Keppie (Author)
April 28, 2023

Rhum: Mesolithic and Later Sites at Kinloch, Excavations 1984–86

Caroline R Wickham-Jones (Author)
November 11, 2022

Anatomy of an Iron Age Roundhouse: The Cnip Wheelhouse Excavations, Lewis

Ian Armit (Author); Ruby Cerón-Carrasco, Mike Church, Ann Clarke, Ciara Clarke, Mike Cressey, Magnar Dalland, Bill Finlayson, Vicky Ginn, Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, Andrew Heald, Fraser Hunter, Andrew Kitchener, Kirsten Leask, Finbar McCormick, Dawn McLaren, Ann MacSween, Kath McSweeney, Eiméar Nelis, Anthony Newton, Ulrike Wenzel, Alan Braby, George Mudie, Libby Mulqueeny (Contributor)
September 30, 2022

Darkness Visible: The Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, from the Bronze Age to the Picts

Ian Armit, Lindsey Büster (Author); Torben Bjarke Ballin, Katharina Becker, Julie Boreham, Alan Braby, Trevor Cowie, Gemma Cruickshanks, Mary Davis, Adrian Evans, Mark Hall, Nick Holmes, Fraser Hunter, Dominic Ingemark, Rachael Kershaw, Christopher Knüsel, Jo McKenzie, Sam Moorhead, Clare Rainsford, Daniel Sahlén, Rick Schulting, Daniel Shaw, Alison Sheridan, Tom Sparrow, Michael Stratigos, John Summers, Jim Tate, Lore Troalen, Colin Wallace, Andrew S Wilson, Derek Hamilton (Contributor)
June 15, 2022

Culduthel: An Iron Age Craftworking Centre in North-East Scotland

Candy Hatherley, Ross Murray (Author); Torben Bjarke Ballin, Hillary E M Cool, Mary Davis, David Dungworth, Rob Ellam, Ian Freestone, Sarah-Jane Haston, Nick Holmes, Fraser Hunter, Susanna Kirk, Ann MacSween, Fiona McGibbon, Dawn McLaren, Abby Mynett, Gillian Paget, Daniel Sahlén, Jim Tate, Scott Timpany, Colin Wallace (Contributor)
February 18, 2022

A Fragmented Masterpiece: Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish Cross-Slab

Heather F James, Isabel Henderson, Sally M Foster, Siân Jones (Author); Meggen Gondek, Douglas Morton, Ian G Scott, Amanda Brend, David V Clarke, Adrian Cox, Richard Fawcett, Allan Hall, Derek Hall, Andy Heald, Peter Hill, Stuart Jeffrey, Maria Kostoglou, Jo McKenzie, Neil McLean, Jennifer Miller, Suzanne Miller, Robin Murdoch, Iona Murray, Susan Ramsay, Julie Roberts, David Sanderson, Catherine Smith, Eland Stuart, George Thomson, Martin Carver (Contributor)
November 5, 2021

Bearsden: A Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall

David J Breeze (Author); Lindsay Allason-Jones, Donald Bailey, Mike Baillie, Iain Banks, Paul Bidwell, Sjoerd Bohncke, Susan Chambers, Geoff Collins, Anne Crone, Alex Croom, Brenda Dickinson, Camilla Dickson, James H Dickson, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Dennis B Gallagher, Geoff D Gaunt, Rikke D Giles, Mark Gillings, Katharine F Hartley, Martin Henig, Andrew K G Jones, Lawrence J F Keppie, John Locke, Euan MacKie, Frances S McLaren, Ian D Máté, Jef Maytom, Graham C Morgan, Michael J Moore, Jennifer Price, Sian Rees, Anne S Robertson, Jackaline Robertson, Adam T Welfare, David F Williams (Contributor)
May 29, 2020

Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness: Changing Ideologies in North-East Scotland, Sixth to Sixteenth Century AD

Martin Carver, Justin Garner-Lahire, Cecily Spall (Author)
June 28, 2019

The Scottish Antiquarian Tradition: Essays to mark the bicentenary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1780–1980

A S Bell (Editor); Ronald G Cant, R B K Stevenson, Marinell Ash, D V Clarke, Angus Graham, Lord Stewartby, Charles J Burnett (Contributor)
June 27, 2019