Open Access E-Books
type: channel
description: The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is an independent publisher of Scottish history and archaeology.
language: en
publication name: Open Access E-Books
items: Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland: The development of a landscape of Pictish royal power from the Roman to the early medieval period
items: The Archaeology of Finlaggan, Islay: Excavations at the Centre of the Lordship of the Isles, 1989–1998
items: A Cromwellian Warship wrecked off Duart Castle, Mull, Scotland, in 1653
items: The Lands of Ancient Lothian
items: The Moon and the Bonfire
items: On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe
items: The Traprain Law Environs Project
items: The Antiquarian Rediscovery of the Antonine Wall
items: Rhum
items: Anatomy of an Iron Age Roundhouse
items: Darkness Visible
items: Culduthel
items: 'Remember Now Thy Creator'
items: The Fortification of the Firth of Forth 1880–1977
items: A Fragmented Masterpiece
items: Bearsden
items: Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness
items: The Scottish Antiquarian Tradition

Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland: The development of a landscape of Pictish royal power from the Roman to the early medieval period
type: item
description: Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland presents the results of three major excavations in the Upper Strathbogie Valley, Aberdeenshire: the Craw Stane elite complex and the hillforts of Tap o’ Noth and Cairn More. Offering a transformative reassessment of power, settlement and material culture in Late Roman Iron Age and early medieval northern Britain, this volume provides the first comprehensive analysis of a Pictish central place complex. Integrating artefactual, environmental, stratigraphic and scientific datasets, it explores themes of rulership, cult and connectivity between northern Pictland and the wider European world. It establishes Rhynie as a key locus for understanding sociopolitical formation in early medieval Scotland and suggests new models for the emergence of polity, economy and identity in Late Roman and post-Roman northern Europe. Gordon Noble is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen. He has undertaken landscape research and fieldwork projects on sites in Scotland from the Mesolithic to medieval periods. For more than a decade, Gordon and an extensive team of archaeologists and specialists from across Scotland have been conducting award-winning research at Rhynie and a host of other Pictish era sites through the ‘Northern Picts’ and ‘Comparative Kingship’ projects at the University of Aberdeen.
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Rhynie Man
  topic: keywords
subject: Craw Stane
  topic: keywords
subject: Pictish kingdoms
  topic: keywords
subject: Pictish society
  topic: keywords
subject: hillforts
  topic: keywords
subject: material assemblages
  topic: keywords
subject: Tap o' Noth
  topic: keywords
subject: Cairn More
  topic: keywords
subject: Rhynie Man
  topic: subjects
subject: Craw Stane
  topic: subjects
subject: Pictish kingdoms
  topic: subjects
subject: Pictish society
  topic: subjects
subject: hillforts
  topic: subjects
subject: material assemblages
  topic: subjects
subject: Tap o' Noth
  topic: subjects
subject: Cairn More
  topic: subjects
creator: Gordon Noble
creator: Lucy Koster
creator: Daniel MacLean
creator: Ingrid Mainland
creator: Fiona McGibbon
creator: Ellen McManus
creator: Sesilia Niehaus
creator: Marc Oxenham
creator: Shalen Prado
creator: Susan Ramsay
creator: Ermine Roshem
creator: Alison Sheridan
creator: Andreas Rau
creator: Andy Hickie
creator: Hamish Fenton
creator: Samantha Jones
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Derek Hamilton
creator: Gemma Cruikshanks
creator: Nicholas Evans
creator: Meggen Gondek
creator: Cathy MacIver
creator: Edouard Masson-MacLean
creator: James O'Driscoll
creator: Simon Taylor
creator: Kate Britton
creator: Ewan Campbell
creator: Orsolya Czére
creator: Mary Davis
creator: Leanne Demay
creator: Jovita Fawcett
creator: James Gerrard
creator: Joana Valdez-Tullet
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Gordon Noble (Author); Lucy Koster, Daniel MacLean, Ingrid Mainland, Fiona McGibbon, Ellen McManus, Sesilia Niehaus, Marc Oxenham, Shalen Prado, Susan Ramsay, Ermine Roshem, Alison Sheridan, Andreas Rau, Andy Hickie, Hamish Fenton, Samantha Jones, Fraser Hunter, Derek Hamilton (Contributor); Gemma Cruikshanks, Nicholas Evans, Meggen Gondek, Cathy MacIver, Edouard Masson-MacLean, James O'Driscoll, Simon Taylor (Chapter Author); Kate Britton, Ewan Campbell, Orsolya Czére, Mary Davis, Leanne Demay, Jovita Fawcett, James Gerrard, Joana Valdez-Tullet (Contributor) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-03-23
publication date: 2026-03-23
doi: 10.9750/9781908332394

The Archaeology of Finlaggan, Islay: Excavations at the Centre of the Lordship of the Isles, 1989–1998
type: item
description: Finlaggan on Islay has long been recognised as an important medieval site; the centre from which the MacDonald Lords of the Isles exercised control and patronage over large areas of Scotland. This major archaeological project undertaken from 1989 to 1998 led to a better understanding of how the Lords of the Isles created a Gaelic state and how Finlaggan contributed to the culture and heritage of Scotland. The excavations also uncovered evidence of prehistoric occupation and ritual, lead mining, and post-medieval settlement including a fort. In addition to the excavation results, this book reviews all available historical documentation to place Finlaggan in its local West Highland setting as well as a wider British and Irish context. Richly illustrated with photographs and plans of the excavation sites, the book discusses Finlaggan as a castle, palace and administrative hub. The volume is supplemented by an online catalogue of artefacts and environmental material that provides a wealth of information on the inhabitants, their pastimes, their activities and their quality of life. *** This book is available in print from the Society's online shop: The Archaeology of Finlaggan, Islay. Fellows receive a 20% discount on merchandise and books published by the Society by logging in to the website. If you would also like to support our work as a charity and enjoy the many benefits of Fellowship, find out how to join or subscribe to our public e-newsletter to learn more about our work and publications.
subject: Mesolithic
  topic: category
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: Archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: Medieval history
  topic: keywords
subject: Lords of the Isles
  topic: keywords
subject: castle
  topic: keywords
subject: trade
  topic: keywords
subject: manufacturing
  topic: keywords
subject: medieval lifestyles
  topic: keywords
creator: David Caldwell
creator: Kath McSweeney
creator: Roger McWee
creator: N Milner
creator: Nicola Murray
creator: Norman Newton
creator: Marion O’Neil
creator: Leonie Paterson
creator: Alan Radley
creator: Nigel Ruckley
creator: Alan Saville
creator: Paul Sharman
creator: Helen Spencer
creator: David Stewart
creator: Jonathan Triscott
creator: Clive Warsop
creator: E M Laurie
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Fiona Baker
creator: Sheila Boardman
creator: Chris Burgess
creator: Ruby Ceron-Carrasco
creator: John Chesher
creator: David Connolly
creator: Trevor Cowie
creator: Michael Cressey
creator: Jo Dawson
creator: Valerie Dean
creator: Gordon Ewart
creator: Mark Hall
creator: Karen Hardy
creator: Judy Holmes
creator: Nicholas Holmes
creator: Paul Wilthew
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 David Caldwell (Author); Kath McSweeney, Roger McWee, N Milner, Nicola Murray, Norman Newton, Marion O’Neil, Leonie Paterson, Alan Radley, Nigel Ruckley, Alan Saville, Paul Sharman, Helen Spencer, David Stewart, Jonathan Triscott, Clive Warsop, E M Laurie, Fraser Hunter, Fiona Baker, Sheila Boardman, Chris Burgess, Ruby Ceron-Carrasco, John Chesher, David Connolly, Trevor Cowie, Michael Cressey, Jo Dawson, Valerie Dean, Gordon Ewart, Mark Hall, Karen Hardy, Judy Holmes, Nicholas Holmes, Paul Wilthew (Contributor) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-09-17
publication date: 2025-09-17
doi: 10.9750/9781908332356

A Cromwellian Warship wrecked off Duart Castle, Mull, Scotland, in 1653
type: item
description: This book records the excavation of the wreck of a small Cromwellian warship, believed to be Swan, which was found off Duart Point in 1979. When erosion threatened the site in 1992, maritime archaeologists from St Andrews University were asked to investigate the wreck in advance of consolidation and long-term protective management. A ten-year programme of survey, limited excavation and research followed, during which much of the lower hull and parts of the collapsed upper stern were uncovered and recorded. 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. Eleven chapters, including contributions from many of the experts who were involved in the project, chart the project’s development, the identification of the wreck and its archaeology, as well as explaining the historical background to the shipwreck. Key finds from the site are carefully analysed, including carvings from the decorated stern, interior panelling, navigational, medical and food-processing equipment, and elements of the rigging and pump systems. There is also a detailed study of the remains of one of the ship's sailors, who the evidence suggests was born in Yorkshire. Other finds reveal important information about seventeenth-century armament, manufacturing processes, ship provisioning and metallurgy. This monograph demonstrates how established archaeological principles can be applied without compromise under water, and illustrates the breadth of information which can be derived from such an approach.
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: marine archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: military history
  topic: keywords
subject: shipwreck
  topic: keywords
subject: 17th-century armament
  topic: keywords
subject: manufacturing processes
  topic: keywords
subject: ship provisioning
  topic: keywords
subject: metallurgy
  topic: keywords
subject: Early modern period
  topic: subjects
creator: Colin J M Martin
creator: James H Barrett
creator: David Bate
creator: Sue Black
creator: Darren Cox
creator: George Dalgleish
creator: Peter Spencer Davies
creator: Peter Ditchfield
creator: Glenn Foard
creator: Headland Archaeology Ltd
creator: David Lamb
creator: Ian MacLeod
creator: John McManus
creator: Wolfram Meier-Augenstein
creator: Rachel L Parks
creator: Andrew Ramsay
creator: Janet Shelley
creator: Theo Skinner
creator: Catherine Smith
creator: Lore Troalen
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 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) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-08-15
publication date: 2025-08-15
doi: 10.9750/9781908332370

The Lands of Ancient Lothian
type: item
description: The upgrading of part of the A1 road in south-east Scotland prompted the excavation of eleven archaeological sites. These spanned a period of 5,000 years from the early fourth millennium BC to the early fifth century AD. This volume draws together the results of the excavations and presents the story of human endeavour in the changing landscapes of ancient Lothian. In spite of the chronological range and diversity of the archaeology, evidence has emerged from the excavations for common threads across the millennia: long-held concerns with sustaining life through farming, the symbolic potency of certain objects, and the enduring perceived significance of certain places in the landscape.
subject: Mesolithic
  topic: category
subject: Neolithic
  topic: category
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: category
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Microliths
  topic: keywords
subject: Human remains
  topic: keywords
subject: Mortuary structures
  topic: keywords
subject: Cist
  topic: keywords
subject: Cairn
  topic: keywords
subject: Midden
  topic: keywords
subject: Mesolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: Neolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Roman
  topic: subjects
subject: Iron Age
  topic: subjects
creator: Olivia Lelong
creator: Gavin MacGregor
creator: Lorna Innes
creator: Kirsteen McLellan
creator: Ingrid Shearer
creator: Eland Stuart
creator: Paul Duffy
creator: Andrew Heald
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Jo MacKenzie
creator: Dawn McLaren
creator: Ann MacSween
creator: Nicholas Marquez-Grant
creator: Jennifer Miller
creator: Amelia Pannett
creator: Susan Ramsay
creator: Alan Saville
creator: Alison Sheridan
creator: Ian Simpson
creator: Catherine Smith
creator: Colin Wallace
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 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) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2024-05-14
publication date: 2024-05-14
doi: 10.9750/9781908332332

The Moon and the Bonfire
type: item
description: This volume presents the result of three excavations and two field walking surveys in Aberdeenshire. They were intended to shed new light on the character, chronology and structural development of the distinctive recumbent stone circles which are such a feature of north-east Scotland. Although the monuments share certain elements with other traditions of prehistoric architecture, and, in particular, with the Clava Cairns of the inner Moray Firth, no excavations at these sites had been published since the 1930s and their wider contexts had not been investigated by field survey. The new project took advantage of techniques which had not been used before, including pollen analysis and soil micromorphology, in an attempt to interpret these monuments in their wider chronological and geographical contexts. In that respect this work was the sequel to an earlier investigation of the Clava Cairns.
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: category
subject: stone circles
  topic: keywords
subject: ring cairns
  topic: keywords
subject: fieldwalking survey
  topic: keywords
subject: landscapes
  topic: keywords
subject: cremation burial
  topic: keywords
subject: archaeoastronomy
  topic: keywords
subject: recumbent stones
  topic: keywords
subject: Chalcolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: subjects
creator: Richard Bradley
creator: Tim Phillips
creator: Alison Sheridan
creator: Angela Boyle
creator: Stephen Lancaster
creator: Donald Davidson
creator: Ian Simpson
creator: Brian Matthews
creator: Peter Brewer
creator: Sharon Arrowsmith
creator: Chris Ball
creator: Catherine Chisham
creator: Petra Dark
creator: David Trevarthen
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 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)
date: 2023-12-15
publication date: 2023-12-15
doi: 10.9750/9781908332325

On the Fringe of Neolithic Europe
type: item
description: The stalled cairn of Holm of Papa Westray North (OR K 21) in the far north of Orkney was excavated in 1854 and 1982–3. It was preceded by a small cell in a round cairn, which was amalgamated within the rectangular cairn of the stalled chamber. The cell was filled and walled off within the life of the stalled chamber, and the latter, with its entrance passage, was similarly filled at the end of its use, with evidence of deliberate selection of organic material included in the filling, particularly limpet shells and red deer antler. The remains of a minimum of eight to nine human individuals were found within the tomb, and the remains of neonate lambs show that sheep had access to the stalled chamber before it was sealed. Plain bowls were associated with the chamber deposits and Grooved Ware and beaker with secondary structures outside the cairn. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the tomb was in use for burials during the period from about 3520 cal bc to about 2900 cal bc and thus was contemporary with both the settlement at Knap of Howar in adjacent Papa Westray and the stalled cairn at Point of Cott in Westray. Stable carbon isotope and iodine analysis of teeth has demonstrated that the Neolithic sheep on the Holm were eating seaweed in the winter months, and isotope analysis of human bones indicates that the local population had a diet that included a small amount of marine protein. Vole remains exhibit the features that make the modern Orkney vole unique and thus confirm that this divergence from the European norm dates back to later Neolithic times. The fishbone assemblage indicates both otter and human activity within the chamber. Canmore ID 3243
subject: Neolithic
  topic: category
subject: chambered cairn
  topic: keywords
subject: shrine
  topic: keywords
subject: human burials
  topic: keywords
subject: bones of sheep
  topic: keywords
subject: vole and fish
  topic: keywords
subject: radiocarbon dates
  topic: keywords
subject: Neolithic
  topic: subjects
creator: Anna Ritchie
creator: Patrick Ashmore
creator: Marie Balasse
creator: R Barnett
creator: Don Brothwell
creator: M Collins
creator: Thomas Cucchi
creator: Keith Dobney
creator: Jennifer Harland
creator: Mary Harman
creator: Audrey Henshall
creator: Frances Lee
creator: Monika Maleszka-Ritchie
creator: Rachel Parks
creator: Mike Richards
creator: J Searle
creator: M Shafer
creator: Rick Schulting
creator: Anne Tresset
creator: David F Williams
creator: C C Wright
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Anna Ritchie (Author) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2024-01-19
publication date: 2024-01-19
doi: 10.9750/9781908332318

The Traprain Law Environs Project
type: item
description: This volume presents the results of fieldwork on the East Lothian coastal plain in south-east Scotland investigating the nature later prehistoric settlement around the hillfort of Traprain Law. Following geomagnetic surveys at thirty sites, six enclosures were excavated, three extensively. All six had complex occupation histories, involving multiple acts of enclosure, as well as phases of open settlement and use for other purposes such as burial. Their combined chronological span extends from the fourth millennium BC to the dawn of the Early Historic period. The four curvilinear enclosures were apparently constructed in the later second or early first millennium BC. The short-lived hillslope enclosure at Standingstone occupied the site of an earlier Bronze Age burial ground and open settlement. At Whittingehame, a later scoop within a ravine-edge enclosure was still a focus of agricultural activity as late as the sixth century AD. The two rectilinear enclosures were foundations of the later Iron Age, although a scooped settlement within the site at Knowes was inhabited well into the Roman Iron Age. Thanks to these excavations and the wider studies of the cropmark record and material culture from East Lothian presented here, we can now begin to reconstruct settlement dynamic in the Traprain Law area and relate this to the sequence of activity on the hilltop between the second millennium BC and the mid-first millennium AD. *** This collaborative programme of research represents an exemplary landmark, and all involved deserve support and congratulation. – Dennis W Harding (Antiquity) *** Canmore ID 56406 – East Bearford Canmore ID 56215 – East Linton Canmore ID 56315 – Foster Law Canmore ID 57720 – Knowes Canmore ID 56438 – Standingstone Canmore ID 57809 – Whittinghame
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: category
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Settlement pattern
  topic: keywords
subject: Enclosure
  topic: keywords
subject: Geophysical survey
  topic: keywords
subject: Material culture
  topic: keywords
subject: Roman contacts
  topic: keywords
subject: Later Prehistoric
  topic: subjects
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Early Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Middle Iron Age
  topic: subjects
creator: Colin Haselgrove
creator: Peter Carne
creator: David C Cowley
creator: Duncan Hale
creator: Leon Fitts
creator: Derek Hamilton
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Jacqui Huntley
creator: Pamela Lowther
creator: Kevin H J Macleod
creator: Ann MacSween
creator: Charlotte O'Brien
creator: Anwen Caffell
creator: Phil Clogg
creator: Louisa Gidney
creator: Charlotte Henderson
creator: Dave Heslop
creator: Cath McGill
creator: Jennifer Jones
creator: Jason Mole
creator: Jennifer Price
creator: Alison Sheridan
creator: John Thomas
creator: Steven Willis
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Colin Haselgrove and the individual contributors
date: 2023-05-26
publication date: 2023-05-26
doi: 10.9750/9781908332301

The Antiquarian Rediscovery of the Antonine Wall
type: item
description: The Antonine Wall has been visible as an upstanding earthwork across the central belt of Scotland since its construction by the Roman legions over 1,850 years ago, in the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. This book takes up its story from the time of its abandonment in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and charts developments in our knowledge about it through the Middle Ages and after, up to the early years of the twentieth century, by which time the earliest scientific excavations had taken place. The book is profusely illustrated with maps, portraits of prominent antiquaries and nineteenth-century watercolours.
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: Roman Empire
  topic: keywords
subject: Antoninus Pius
  topic: keywords
subject: antiquarian record
  topic: keywords
subject: Timothy Pont
  topic: keywords
subject: William Camden
  topic: keywords
subject: Sir Robert Sibbald
  topic: keywords
subject: William Stukeley
  topic: keywords
subject: Sir John Clerk of Penicuik
  topic: keywords
subject: Alexander Gordon
  topic: keywords
subject: John Horsley
  topic: keywords
subject: General William Roy
  topic: keywords
subject: John Buchanan
  topic: keywords
subject: Robert Stuart
  topic: keywords
subject: Roman Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Middle Ages
  topic: subjects
subject: 17th century
  topic: subjects
subject: 18th century
  topic: subjects
subject: 19th century
  topic: subjects
subject: 20th century
  topic: subjects
creator: Lawrence Keppie
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Lawrence Keppie (Author)
date: 2023-04-28
publication date: 2023-04-28
doi: 10.9750/9781908332240

Rhum
type: item
description: This volume is the report of the archaeological excavations that took place on the island of Rhum between 1984 and 1986. The text contains details of the stratigraphical remains on site, and in particular the large body of Mesolithic material recovered. It describes the methodology, detailed analyses of the artefactual assemblages as well as the environmental and geophysical studies that were carried out in conjunction with the excavations. A section on the use of raw materials in the west of Scotland takes the coverage beyond Rhum, and the final section presents an interpretation of the site in the early settlement of Scotland. Detailed information relating to the methods and results of analyses and the full accounts of specialist work are included in microfiche scans at the end of the chapter list.
subject: Mesolithic
  topic: category
subject: Neolithic
  topic: category
subject: bloodstone
  topic: keywords
subject: lithic
  topic: keywords
subject: blade
  topic: keywords
subject: flake
  topic: keywords
subject: flint
  topic: keywords
subject: core
  topic: keywords
subject: stone tool
  topic: keywords
subject: scraper
  topic: keywords
subject: Mesolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: Neolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: second millenium BC
  topic: subjects
subject: third millenium BC
  topic: subjects
creator: Caroline R Wickham-Jones
creator: Sue Bellamy
creator: Simon Butler
creator: Ann Clarke
creator: Gordon Cook
creator: Donald Davidson
creator: Andrew Dugmore
creator: Graham Durant
creator: Kevin Edwards
creator: Bill Finlayson
creator: Daffydd Griffiths
creator: Ken Hirons
creator: David Jordan
creator: Mary Kemp
creator: Simon Lee
creator: Barbara Maher
creator: Sinead McCartan
creator: Rod McCullagh
creator: Brian Moffat
creator: Neil Oliver
creator: Romola Parish
creator: Anthony Pollard
creator: Dave Pollock
creator: Allan Radley
creator: Elaine Scott
creator: Donald Sutherland
creator: Dave Watson
creator: Peter Zetterlund
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Caroline R Wickham-Jones and the individual contributors
date: 2022-11-11
publication date: 2022-11-11
doi: 10.9750/9781908332295

Anatomy of an Iron Age Roundhouse
type: item
description: Wheelhouses were Iron Age buildings of great sophistication. Although found only in northern Scotland, they belong to a much wider “roundhouse tradition” that, before the arrival of the Romans, covered the whole of Britain. When tidal erosion on Cnip beach in west Lewis uncovered a spectacularly well-preserved wheelhouse complex, it presented a rare opportunity to shed new light on the extraordinary architectural phenomenon. The uniquely detailed sequence at Cnip enabled the excavation team to trace the settlement from conception to abandonment, dissecting the buildings and generating new insights into the daily lives of the Iron Age islanders, their relationships with their environment, and with their neighbours. This volume sets out the results of the excavations, placing them in the wider context of the British and European Iron Age. *** This report provides an excellent source for readers to appreciate the archaeology in the Western Isles. – Professor Niall Sharples (Antiquity) *** Canmore ID 4009
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: wheelhouse
  topic: keywords
subject: architecture
  topic: keywords
subject: pottery
  topic: keywords
subject: cosmology
  topic: keywords
subject: roundhouse
  topic: keywords
subject: red deer
  topic: keywords
subject: human remains
  topic: keywords
subject: Iron Age
  topic: subjects
creator: Ian Armit
creator: Ruby Cerón-Carrasco
creator: Mike Church
creator: Ann Clarke
creator: Ciara Clarke
creator: Mike Cressey
creator: Magnar Dalland
creator: Bill Finlayson
creator: Vicky Ginn
creator: Sheila Hamilton-Dyer
creator: Andrew Heald
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Andrew Kitchener
creator: Kirsten Leask
creator: Finbar McCormick
creator: Dawn McLaren
creator: Ann MacSween
creator: Kath McSweeney
creator: Eiméar Nelis
creator: Anthony Newton
creator: Ulrike Wenzel
creator: Alan Braby
creator: George Mudie
creator: Libby Mulqueeny
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Ian Armit and the individual contributors
date: 2022-09-30
publication date: 2022-09-30
doi: 10.9750/9781908332288

Darkness Visible
type: item
description: The Sculptor’s Cave is one of the most enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain. Excavated in the 1920s and 1970s, new analysis of the archive has revealed a complex history of funerary and ritual activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Iron Age. Using innovative methods and new techniques, this volume re-examines the results of earlier excavations and places the site in its wider British and European context. *** This book is available in print from the Society's online shop: Darkness Visible. Fellows receive a 20% discount on merchandise and books published by the Society by logging in to the website. If you would also like to support our work as a charity and enjoy the many benefits of Fellowship, find out how to join or subscribe to our public e-newsletter to learn more about our work and publications. *** Winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year 2021 *** Armit and Büster’s handsomely produced volume transports us back in time to both the late Bronze Age and Roman Iron Age, revealing exciting new evidence for the treatment of the dead in both periods. – Professor Gordon Noble (Current Archaeology, 2021 'Darkness Visible: the Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, from the Bronze Age to the Picts') *** Darkness Visible is a valuable guide to a remarkable cave. – Professor Benjamin Hudson (Scotia: Interdisciplinary Journal of Scottish Studies XLIV: 2022) *** Canmore ID 1627
subject: Bronze Age
  topic: category
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Pictish symbols
  topic: keywords
subject: human remains
  topic: keywords
subject: cave archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: mummification
  topic: keywords
subject: decapitation
  topic: keywords
subject: funerary rites
  topic: keywords
subject: ritual
  topic: keywords
subject: Late Bronze Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Roman Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: early medieval
  topic: subjects
creator: Ian Armit
creator: Lindsey Büster
creator: Torben Bjarke Ballin
creator: Katharina Becker
creator: Julie Boreham
creator: Alan Braby
creator: Trevor Cowie
creator: Gemma Cruickshanks
creator: Mary Davis
creator: Adrian Evans
creator: Mark Hall
creator: Nick Holmes
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Dominic Ingemark
creator: Rachael Kershaw
creator: Christopher Knüsel
creator: Jo McKenzie
creator: Sam Moorhead
creator: Clare Rainsford
creator: Daniel Sahlén
creator: Rick Schulting
creator: Daniel Shaw
creator: Alison Sheridan
creator: Tom Sparrow
creator: Michael Stratigos
creator: John Summers
creator: Jim Tate
creator: Lore Troalen
creator: Colin Wallace
creator: Andrew S Wilson
creator: Derek Hamilton
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Ian Armit, Lindsey Büster and the individual contributors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2022-06-15
publication date: 2022-06-15
doi: 10.9750/9781908332233

Culduthel
type: item
description: The Iron Age settlement at Culduthel (NGR: NH 664 414) is one of the most significant later prehistoric sites identified in mainland Scotland. Archaeological excavation in 2005 revealed a craftworking centre which had specialised in the production of iron, bronze and glass objects between the late 1st Millennium BC and early 1st Millennium AD. This volume combines illustrated catalogues of finds with expert analyses to offer a unique insight into manufacture, trade and exchange of an Iron Age community in north-east Scotland. *** This book is available in print from the Society's online shop: Culduthel. Fellows receive a 20% discount on merchandise and books published by the Society by logging in to the website. If you would also like to support our work as a charity and enjoy the many benefits of Fellowship, find out how to join or subscribe to our public e-newsletter to learn more about our work and publications. *** ‘[Culduthel] brings together 20 years of painstaking research into the finds to share extraordinary insights into life between 200 BC and AD 200 in the Moray Firth.’ – Susy Macaulay (Press and Journal, ‘Sophisticated, artistic, well-travelled: what the Culduthel dig tells us about pre-historic Highlanders’)
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: prehistoric archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: material culture
  topic: keywords
subject: roundhouse
  topic: keywords
subject: furnace
  topic: keywords
subject: hearth
  topic: keywords
subject: metalworking
  topic: keywords
subject: manufacture
  topic: keywords
subject: crucible
  topic: keywords
subject: quern
  topic: keywords
subject: late 1st Millennium BC
  topic: subjects
subject: early 1st Millennium AD
  topic: subjects
subject: Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Neolithic
  topic: subjects
subject: Early Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Middle Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Late Iron Age
  topic: subjects
creator: Candy Hatherley
creator: Ross Murray
creator: Torben Bjarke Ballin
creator: Hillary E M Cool
creator: Mary Davis
creator: David Dungworth
creator: Rob Ellam
creator: Ian Freestone
creator: Sarah-Jane Haston
creator: Nick Holmes
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Susanna Kirk
creator: Ann MacSween
creator: Fiona McGibbon
creator: Dawn McLaren
creator: Abby Mynett
creator: Gillian Paget
creator: Daniel Sahlén
creator: Jim Tate
creator: Scott Timpany
creator: Colin Wallace
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Candy Hatherley, Ross Murray and individual contributors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2022-02-18
publication date: 2022-02-18
doi: 10.9750/9781908332202

'Remember Now Thy Creator'
type: item
description: Embroidered samplers show the one aspect of girls’ education that leaves the most lasting and tangible memorial of that part of their lives. This book considers samplers made in Scotland; it aims to situate them within the social context of the period and to examine their role in the education of girls. The time span covers the first emergence of a specific Scottish style and ends with the introduction of the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made schooling a local government responsibility and led eventually to downplaying the importance of sampler making. Girls in Scotland made samplers within a general British tradition, but some designs appear to have developed that are specifically Scottish, such as the use of red and green alphabets. *** Many questions […] are raised in this magnificent volume and the author’s analysis of the different elements in the samplers is superbly illustrated by the 121 full coloured plates. This is a very important volume for helping our understanding of the history behind these labours of love that some of us are privileged to own. – Barbara Crawford (The Antiquaries Journal) Remember Now Thy Creator certainly achieves Tarrant’s stated aim of showing how fascinating these samplers are as windows onto the social, religious, political and gendered history of Scotland. – Sally Tuckett (Journal of Scottish Historical Studies) ***
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: embroidery
  topic: keywords
subject: sampler
  topic: keywords
subject: education
  topic: keywords
subject: Edinburgh
  topic: keywords
subject: Glasgow
  topic: keywords
subject: London
  topic: keywords
subject: pattern
  topic: keywords
subject: alphabet
  topic: keywords
subject: stitch
  topic: keywords
subject: History
  topic: subjects
creator: Naomi E A Tarrant
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Naomi E A Tarrant
date: 2022-03-11
publication date: 2022-03-11
doi: 10.9750/9781908332271

The Fortification of the Firth of Forth 1880–1977
type: item
description: The Fortification of the Firth of Forth describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final traditional defensive capabilities were abandoned. The authors combine archival sources with new fieldwork and oral histories to not only describe what was built, but when and why. This meticulously researched, richly illustrated volume relates the defences in the Forth to the wider political and military context and also describes the human side of the defences: the men and women who manned the fortress. This is a fascinating resource for those interested in Scottish military and naval history, and conflict and battlefield archaeology. *** A seamless study of an area long significant in naval history. […] The authors address a clearly defined but multi-faceted subject with perception, authority, and panache. Anyone with interests connected in any way with the subject will learn much by reading this volume.’ – Robert J C Mowat, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (volume 48) ‘[The authors] have to be congratulated on putting together a massive amount of research with informative text and numerous plans, charts and photographs. This book is a ‘must have’ for those interested in the recent archaeology, military or local history of this area.’ – Douglas Gray, Kinghorn Chronicle
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: Military history
  topic: keywords
subject: Military
  topic: keywords
subject: Naval
  topic: keywords
subject: Coast Defence
  topic: keywords
subject: Submarine Mining
  topic: keywords
subject: Anti-Submarine Defence
  topic: keywords
subject: Fortification
  topic: keywords
subject: 19th century
  topic: subjects
subject: 20th century
  topic: subjects
subject: Modern
  topic: subjects
subject: First World War
  topic: subjects
subject: Second World War
  topic: subjects
creator: Gordon J Barclay
creator: Ron Morris
rights: Copyright (c) 2022 Gordon J Barclay, Ron Morris (Author)
date: 2022-01-14
publication date: 2022-01-14
doi: 10.9750/9781908332264

A Fragmented Masterpiece
type: item
description: Around AD 800, a superbly carved cross-slab was erected at Hilton of Cadboll in north-east Scotland. The major part of the stone now stands in the National Museum of Scotland, and the story of what happened to it in the intervening centuries is told here. Excavations at Hilton of Cadboll in 1998 and 2001 revealed not only fragments of the missing original carved face but also the lower portion of the stone still set into the ground, and this has allowed the art history of this magnificent Pictish monument to be assessed more fully than ever before. *** The ‘Pictish’ cross-slab from Hilton of Cadboll is one of the glories of the early Middle Ages. This comprehensive – art historical, theological, archaeological, historical and scientific – monumental biography locates its birth in the ecclesiastical structures and religious beliefs of late 8th-century Scotland. – John Moreland, Medieval Archaeology (volume 54) There could perhaps also have been more extensive coverage of the context in terms of the Early Historic political geography […] but none of this detracts from the epic nature of the volume and its important contribution to our understanding of this most complex and important fragmented masterpiece. – Alice Blackwell, Scottish Archaeological Journal (volume 31.2) *** Canmore ID 15261
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Pictish
  topic: keywords
subject: Art history
  topic: keywords
subject: Cross-slab
  topic: keywords
subject: Archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: Fragments
  topic: keywords
subject: Heritage
  topic: keywords
subject: Insular art
  topic: keywords
subject: Sculpture
  topic: keywords
subject: Biography
  topic: keywords
subject: Ethnography
  topic: keywords
subject: Replicas
  topic: keywords
subject: Excavation
  topic: keywords
subject: Class
  topic: keywords
subject: Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Nation
  topic: keywords
subject: Social values
  topic: keywords
subject: Early Middle Ages
  topic: subjects
subject: Late eighth century
  topic: subjects
subject: Twelfth century
  topic: subjects
subject: Seventeenth century
  topic: subjects
subject: Nineteenth century
  topic: subjects
subject: Twentieth century
  topic: subjects
subject: Twenty-first century
  topic: subjects
creator: Heather F James
creator: Isabel Henderson
creator: Sally M Foster
creator: Siân Jones
creator: Meggen Gondek
creator: Douglas Morton
creator: Ian G Scott
creator: Amanda Brend
creator: David V Clarke
creator: Adrian Cox
creator: Richard Fawcett
creator: Allan Hall
creator: Derek Hall
creator: Andy Heald
creator: Peter Hill
creator: Stuart Jeffrey
creator: Maria Kostoglou
creator: Jo McKenzie
creator: Neil McLean
creator: Jennifer Miller
creator: Suzanne Miller
creator: Robin Murdoch
creator: Iona Murray
creator: Susan Ramsay
creator: Julie Roberts
creator: David Sanderson
creator: Catherine Smith
creator: Eland Stuart
creator: George Thomson
creator: Martin Carver
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Heather F James, Isabel Henderson, Sally M Foster, Siân Jones
date: 2021-11-05
publication date: 2021-11-05
doi: 10.9750/9781908332226

Bearsden
type: item
description: The demolition of Victorian villas in the 1970s led to an excavation of a Roman fort at Bearsden, near Glasgow, on the Antonine Wall, and the discovery of a Roman bath-house and latrine. The bath-house is the tip of an archaeological iceberg. Over ten seasons a substantial portion of the Roman fort was examined and its history traced. Of particular importance was the discovery of sewage from the latrine which provided intimate details about the life of the soldiers at Bearsden, including their diet and hygiene. The excavations were led by the principal author of this report, Professor David Breeze, formerly Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland. Over thirty-five specialists have contributed. *** [Bearsden] is a splendid and comprehensive publication that has greatly benefited from recent developments in analytical techniques, particularly in relation to bioarchaeological remains and artefactual evidence. – Penelope Allison, Antiquity (issue 356) [David Breeze] has now brought this project to completion with aplomb. The result is beautifully produced and thorough – now a rarity in excavation reports. – Martin Millett, British Archaeology This is what we should all be aiming for in terms of sheer quality, impact and readability. – Jacqueline Cahill Wilson, The Journal of Irish Archaeology (volume XXV)
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Bearsden
  topic: keywords
subject: fort annexe
  topic: keywords
subject: bath-house
  topic: keywords
subject: latrine
  topic: keywords
subject: Antonine Wall
  topic: keywords
subject: bioarchaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: Romans in Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Roman fort
  topic: keywords
subject: Roman Scotland
  topic: subjects
creator: David J Breeze
creator: Lindsay Allason-Jones
creator: Donald Bailey
creator: Mike Baillie
creator: Iain Banks
creator: Paul Bidwell
creator: Sjoerd Bohncke
creator: Susan Chambers
creator: Geoff Collins
creator: Anne Crone
creator: Alex Croom
creator: Brenda Dickinson
creator: Camilla Dickson
creator: James H Dickson
creator: Andrew Fitzpatrick
creator: Dennis B Gallagher
creator: Geoff D Gaunt
creator: Rikke D Giles
creator: Mark Gillings
creator: Katharine F Hartley
creator: Martin Henig
creator: Andrew K G Jones
creator: Lawrence J F Keppie
creator: John Locke
creator: Euan MacKie
creator: Frances S McLaren
creator: Ian D Máté
creator: Jef Maytom
creator: Graham C Morgan
creator: Michael J Moore
creator: Jennifer Price
creator: Sian Rees
creator: Anne S Robertson
creator: Jackaline Robertson
creator: Adam T Welfare
creator: David F Williams
rights: Copyright (c) 2016 David Breeze (Author)
date: 2020-05-29
publication date: 2020-05-29
doi: 10.9750/9781908332189

Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness
type: item
description: Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula overlooking the Dornoch Firth is a fishing village with a 1,500-year-old history. In the sixth and seventh century it was a high-ranking centre with monumental cist burials and links to the equestrian class in England. In the eighth century it was a monastery, creating manuscripts and making church vessels and a stunning repertoire of carved stone monuments, its monks looking to Ireland, western Scotland and Northern England for their intellectual alliances. Around 800 AD the monastery came to an end following a Viking raid, but swiftly revived as a manufacturing and trading centre, now serving the protagonists of the Norse-Scottish wars. By the eleventh century the site was abandoned, but was remembered again in the early twelfth century when it became the parish church of St Colman. In the later middle ages it experienced an upsurge of activity with fishermen and metalsmiths settling beside an enlarged community church. When the Reformation arrived at Portmahomack about 1600, the village moved to the harbour and the old church of St Colman remained on its own, acting for another four hundred years as a weathervane of local society and its beliefs. Rediscovered by archaeologists in the 1980s, from 1994 to 2007 the site at Portmahomack saw one of the largest research excavations to have taken place in Scotland. Reviews “Martin Carver’s ten-year programme of excavations at Portmahomack—the first large-scale investigation of an early medieval monastery in the kingdom of the Picts—has been in the vanguard of [Pictish archaeology] research, and the publication of the culminating monograph represents a major landmark in Pictish studies. […] Overall this is an expertly crafted volume that does full justice to the spectacular sequence of archaeology unearthed at Portmahomack. It will stand as an enduring legacy for the pioneering achievements of the underlying excavations, and serve as a vital guide for future studies of Pictish and m…
subject: Roman & Iron Age
  topic: category
subject: Medieval
  topic: category
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: Portmahomack
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: cist burial
  topic: keywords
subject: monastery
  topic: keywords
subject: monastic cemetery
  topic: keywords
subject: carved stone monuments
  topic: keywords
subject: St Colman
  topic: keywords
subject: church
  topic: keywords
subject: early medieval sculpture
  topic: keywords
subject: medieval township
  topic: keywords
subject: Iron Age
  topic: subjects
subject: Pictish
  topic: subjects
subject: Scotto-Norse
  topic: subjects
subject: Medieval
  topic: subjects
subject: post-medieval
  topic: subjects
creator: Martin Carver
creator: Justin Garner-Lahire
creator: Cecily Spall
creator: Derek Hamilton
creator: Sarah King
creator: Shirley Curtis-Summers
creator: Lauren Walther
creator: Janet Montgomery
creator: Jane A. Evans
creator: Becca Walters
creator: Nicky Toop
creator: Lawrence Butler
creator: Mark Blackburn
creator: Fraser Hunter
creator: Steve Ashby
creator: Catherine Mortimer
creator: Ewan Campbell
creator: James Peake
creator: Ian Freestone
creator: Nigel Ruckley
creator: Anthony Newton
creator: Mark Hall
creator: Monika Maleska-Ritchie
creator: Nick Holmes
creator: Hugh Willmott
creator: Clare Thomas
creator: Penelope Walton-Rogers
creator: Derek Hall
creator: Krish Seetah
creator: Matilda Holmes
creator: Allan Hall
creator: Harry Kenward
creator: Claire Ellis
rights: Copyright (c) 2016 Contributors
date: 2019-06-28
publication date: 2019-06-28
doi: 10.9750/9781908332165

The Scottish Antiquarian Tradition
type: item
description: For two hundred years the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland has remained a major guardian of the heritage of the nation in its museum and through the long series of publications by its members that record many of the major discoveries about the early history of Scotland. In 1980 the Society celebrated the bicentenary of its foundation by commissioning this series of essays dealing with its history as the premier Scottish archaeological and historical body.
subject: Modern
  topic: category
subject: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: bicentenary
  topic: keywords
subject: Earl of Buchan
  topic: keywords
subject: National Museum of Antiquities
  topic: keywords
subject: National Museum of Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: National Galleries of Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish history
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish heritage
  topic: keywords
subject: Numismatics
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish coinage
  topic: keywords
subject: William Smellie
  topic: keywords
subject: David Steuart Erskine
  topic: keywords
subject: Charter
  topic: keywords
subject: David Laing
  topic: keywords
subject: Daniel Wilson
  topic: keywords
subject: eighteenth century
  topic: subjects
subject: nineteenth century
  topic: subjects
subject: twentieth century
  topic: subjects
subject: modern
  topic: subjects
creator: A S Bell
creator: Ronald G Cant
creator: R B K Stevenson
creator: Marinell Ash
creator: D V Clarke
creator: Angus Graham
creator: Lord Stewartby
creator: Charles J Burnett
rights: Copyright (c) 1981
date: 2019-06-27
publication date: 2019-06-27
doi: 10.9750/9781908332158