Category: Research
Kailyards and hunting lodges
An update from our excavation team after our 2026 season. The excavations at Achnacon were led by Dr Edward Stewart (AS), Derek Alexander (NTS), Amy Hellier (Perth Museums) and Leonore Kitt (UofG). Excavation This summer we were back in Achnacon exploring a kailyard adjacent to the modern sheepfold. Kailyards were garden plots attached to individual…
Archaeology of Light and Change
As the year turns again, we find ourselves in the shortest and darkest days. In Scotland, as in other northerly places, this time of year provides an important reminder that while in some ways the past may feel distant and inaccessible, in other ways, things remain very much the same. Particularly in the deep Glens…
In the Archive: Finds Auditing
Leap into our artefact catalogues, finds studies and archiving processes with Amy Hellier, excavations and finds lab supervisor. ………….. If you have joined us on excavation over the past three years, I more than likely have taken the find you discovered, placed it in a finds bag, scribbled on a context and finds number with…
In the Lab: Soil Science
Blogpost by Leonore Kitt (Excavations Assistant) During the excavations back in 2024, you have probably seen me and a few helping hands jamming a metal cylinder on the walls of the kailyard and the rig and furrow test pits. Once in the lab, those samples proved very useful to have a better insight into how…
Crafting the Past
Among our finds from the Summerhouse of MacIain were an assemblage of spindle whorls. These are hoop shapes, in this case cast in lead, which were used to spin fibres into thread. These would be used to create textiles from wool as well as other fiberous materials including bog cotton and tree basts. Two of…
Publication Announcement: Wicked Wild Wastes?
We’re excited to announce the latest project publication (Open Access), coming off the back of my PhD research into repopulating in upland landscapes, aerial and walkover surveys on Rannoch Moor, and inspired by the creative approaches of my colleagues: Wicked Wild Wastes? Challenging Wildness through Repopulating Approaches to Archaeological Narratives in Scottish Highland Landscapes You…
Look up, look down, look all around: A trip with the Archaeo-botanists
Between the 30th July and 1st August I was joined by Nicholas Cullen, Sabrina Ross, Cole Juckette and Nicky Juckette, for a series of site visits to our excavations across Glencoe, and some areas we would like to investigate around Rannoch Moor. Nick is our projects archaeo-botanist, based at Stanford University and a specialist in…
Fragment Found: Book Launch
I was thrilled to be able to attend the launch of the Fragments Found book and installation at the Make It Glasgow Bothy, beside the clay pits. This volume brings together a collection of contributions on the theme of found pottery fragments, including pieces by artists, archaeologists and mudlarks. In the volume there are reflections…
Post Excavation: What we get up to!
Once we returned from the season in Glencoe there was still plenty work to do. Alongside our students we set out to ensure all our records, finds and samples were in order after the season. It is always a little chaotic at the end of the field season so it is good to have time…