Historic Scotland Research Articles

The Evolution of Scotland's Towns: Creation, Growth and Fragmentation. Edited by E. Patricia Dennison. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. xvii + 350pp. £24.99.Northern England and Southern Scotland in the Central Middle Ages. Edited by Keith J. Stringer and J. L Angus.Boydell Press. 2017. xvi + 369pp. Price not stated.Medieval St Andrews: Church, Cult, City. Edited by Michael Brown and Katie Stevenson.

The Evolution of Scotland's Towns: Creation, Growth and Fragmentation. Edited by E. Patricia Dennison. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. xvii + 350pp. £24.99.Northern England and Southern Scotland in the Central Middle Ages. Edited by Keith J. Stringer and J. L Angus.Boydell Press. 2017. xvi + 369pp. Price not stated.Medieval St Andrews: Church, Cult, City. Edited by Michael Brown and Katie Stevenson.

Hearing Historic Scotland: Reflections on Recording in Virtually Reconstructed Acoustics

This article discusses the process and wider implications of a new project by The Binchois Consort that situates an entire CD recording in a virtually reconstructed acoustic. We believe our recording is the first complete commercial CD to reproduce virtually an acoustical experience of a particular space, place, and time: in our case, the chapel royal of Linlithgow palace as it stood at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Now a ruined shell, with no roof or windows, clinging to the side of the peel above Linlithgow Loch, Linlithgow palace was once the great pleasure palace of the kings and queens of Scotland and the birthplace of James V and Mary Queen of Scots. As a refuge for the royal family from the bustle of the capital, Edinburgh, and the main royal residence in Stirling, the building once resounded to music sung by the skilled musicians of the itinerant chapel royal, surrounded by magnificent decorations and sculptures. Almost none of this-the music or the building’s furnishings-survives. We seek to give an overview not only of our production process for the CD but also of the broader historical and aesthetic rationale for the project, as well as some thoughts on possible future ramifications. Some consideration of the broader project and, especially, of the creation of the Linlithgow chapel VR experience, is also given.

English Landscapes

English Landscapes

Kincardine Bridge, Scotland – an engineering triumph 85 years on

When construction of Kincardine Bridge was completed in 1936, it was the longest road bridge in Scotland and the largest swing-span bridge in Europe. The bridge, listed as category A by Historic Environment Scotland, remains in service 85 years on and carries around 12 000 vehicles daily across the Forth estuary. On occasions, when the Queensferry Crossing and the Forth Road Bridge are closed simultaneously, Kincardine Bridge offers the shortest available diversion route across the estuary for unrestricted traffic. A 2019 principal inspection highlighted deterioration to some structural elements and, in 2020, bridge assessment standards in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges were revised. As a result, a quantitative assessment was undertaken to provide confidence that the bridge remains safe for use and fit for purpose and to inform future maintenance requirements. This focus of this paper is on the multitude of structural forms that comprise the overall bridge and how they have comparably performed relating to durability over the past 85 years, have been quantitatively assessed, have comparably withstood present-day traffic loading criteria and will be maintained in the future.

Visitor Erosion in Fragile Landscapes: Balancing conflicting agendas of access and conservation at properties in care in Scotland

There are difficult and often conflicting agendas to balance with regard to managing historic and archaeological sites as visitor attractions. This article discusses the significant impact of high visitor numbers at archaeologically sensitive sites in the care of Historic Environment Scotland and the approaches taken to mitigate the consequent erosion and manage access. Understanding a monument's significance, a robust management plan and stakeholder and community engagement are essential to successful long-term conservation. Two cases studies are discussed: Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, and the Ring of Brodgar, Orkney.

Traditional hot mixed lime mortars for conservation and repair

Earth-lime and hot mixed lime mortars were the almost ubiquitous materials of traditional construction over many thousands of years but have been sorely neglected, if not ignored, by a building conservation community philosophically wedded to the principle of like-for-like and compatible repair in favour of materials with minimal historic precedent for the purposes to which they have been put. This situation has begun to change over recent years based upon growing craft experience using these mortars once more, as well as mounting evidence of the damaging potential of modern natural hydraulic limes (NHL). Historic England, Historic Scotland and CADW are reiterating the demand for like-for-like repair of historic fabric and, in most cases, this will indicate the use of hot mixed air lime or feebly hydraulic hot mixes.

Presenting an Archaeology for Everyone: Changing our approach to publicly funded archaeological investigation in Scotland

We explore the idea of the 'public benefit' of archaeology and argue that our definition of what this means needs to be broadened, so that those that fund and consume archaeological information, and those that currently do not, can better understand the full breadth of its importance and significance. Archaeological information is relevant to, and in many cases actively contributes to, climate change, the promotion of diversity, the construction of sustainable communities and the appreciation and understanding of place. We will present and discuss some of the range of projects that are currently being supported through Historic Environment Scotland's Archaeology Programme, which is now focused on the delivery of Scotland's Archaeology Strategy. Many of these projects bring together professional archaeologists and members of the public, but how do we get a greater variety of people interested? It will be argued that one of the key roles of a national body is to bridge the gap between people's day-to-day lives and archaeology, making clearer why it is important to everyone. There are clearly challenges inherent in this approach, and we will present these to EAC members for discussion. We argue that different forms of media can be used to amplify the relevance of archaeological information, and that this could be done more effectively. At present, archaeological information is largely consumed as an academic text-based narrative, hard to understand by the general public, and its relevance to everyday life is rarely clearly conveyed. We are seeking to improve this through better, more relevant, stories and imagery. The scientific endeavours of archaeologists, varying from landscape reconstruction to analysis of ancient diet are often relevant to contemporary issues – this could be better explored and promoted.

Kisimul, Isle of Barra part 2

Kisimul Castle was taken into the guardianship of Historic Scotland in 2000 and, in order to inform any future works for its upkeep, a programme of archaeological evaluation, building recording and historical research was undertaken in 2001. Following on from this, a detailed programme of post-excavation analysis and research was conducted in 2011–12. The historical and architectural work has been published as Part 1 (Holden 2017). This Part 2 covers the archaeological work. While frustratingly little was revealed by the archaeology in terms of the construction of the castle, it did identify evidence for prehistoric as well as post-medieval occupation. The finds, including a significant quantity of craggan ware pottery and an exquisite gold lace tag, provide an evocative picture of life on the isle and its inhabitants.

Recently excavated Iron Age burials from the Western Isles

Between 2004 and 2008, AOC Archaeology Group undertook the excavation of four separate Iron Age burials. These remains had been exposed by coastal erosion, and were excavated under the terms of the Historic Scotland Call-Off Contract for Human Remains; the four inhumations were fully excavated and radiocarbon dated. The excavations provide new evidence for Iron Age burial practice in the Western Isles and, more generally, Scotland. The examples discussed here from Scarista, Vallay, Griminish and Drimsdale were all unaccompanied burials, which by the position of the body in the grave and/or the grave setting, may have, in the past, been interpreted as possible Bronze Age or Early Historic graves in the absence of direct dates obtained from the human skeletal remains. These recent discoveries emphasise the necessity for the application of radiocarbon techniques (in the common absence of grave goods) to classify burials chronologically.

Kisimul, Isle of Barra. Part 1: The Castle and the MacNeills

Kisimul Castle was taken into the guardianship of Historic Scotland in 2000 and in order to inform any future works for its upkeep a programme of archaeological evaluation, building recording and historical research was undertaken in 2001. Following on from this, a detailed programme of post-excavation analysis and research was conducted in 2011–12. The archaeological works revealed frustratingly little about the construction of the castle but did identify evidence for prehistoric as well as post-medieval occupation of the site and provided an evocative picture of life on the isle and its inhabitants. This will be covered subsequently in Part 2. By contrast, the historical and architectural work presents a good case for an early 15th-century origin for the castle supporting Dunbar’s (1978) earlier hypothesis and these are discussed in this Part 1.

Assessing Historic Places Regarding Risks and Vulnerabilities Associated with Climate Change to Inform Conservation Planning—Development of Assessment Methods in Northern Europe

In the face of anthropogenic climate change, the management of cultural heritage must change the world over, in order to adapt historic places to the resulting impacts. Concepts for climate change mitigation and adaptation are well developed, but their application specifically in the context of the historic environment is limited. The number of methods and tools to assess the risks of climate change impacts on historic places and the vulnerabilities of these places to these risks is still small. In this article, three assessment methods will be discussed, which were developed through projects in Northern Europe: Cultural and Heritage Added Value to Regional Policies for Tourism and Sustainability (CHARTS) disseminated a risk and vulnerability assessment to investigate the impacts of climate change on the historic environment of Wales. The Aurland project, in Norway, piloted a site-specific assessment method through local and expert input. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is reviewing its portfolio of historic places with a novel impact assessment and mapping method, using a geographical information system (GIS). This article discusses the differences of the approaches chosen by the projects to assess climate change impacts and plan adaptation measures. The article concludes with outlining a recently started project, Adapt Northern Heritage, involving HES and two Aurland partners, Riksantikvaren and the Norsk institute for kulturminneforskning, as well as Minjastofnun Íslands.

Community Rescue: Saving sites from the sea

Erosion threatens coastal sites around the globe and Scotland has been pioneering a methodology of community action that brings local groups and professional together to work at sites before they are destroyed. This builds upon the Historic Scotland rapid coastal surveys and the follow-up analysis of collected data to prioritise action. Projects such as Shorewatch and the Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (SCHARP) have seen communities update records and participate in practical work. This paper presents the background to these community initiatives, giving details of two projects; the excavation of an Iron Age Wheelhouse in the Hebrides and the relocation of Bronze Age structures in Shetland.

Mapping the Historic Landscape: Historic Land-Use Assessment in Scotland

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the recent completion of Scotland’s Historic Land-use Assessment (HLA) project, a long-term partnership between Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) (now merged as Historic Environment Scotland) to map time-depth within the present-day landscape was completed in 2015. This paper places HLA within the wider context of historic landscape characterisation (HLC) in Europe and outlines some of the new insights and perspectives that this resource provides for Scotland’s landscapes. In particular, the historical complexity and time-depth inherent within the Scottish landscape is emphasised, along with the importance of HLA’s landscape-scale data and nationwide coverage. The paper finishes with a discussion of some of the possibilities and challenges for the future of HLA and HLC projects in general, concluding that HLA/HLC data have a significant part to play in understanding and communicating the role of the past in the formation of current landscapes and, in partnership with multidisciplinary data, helping to shape future landscapes.

Achanduin Castle, Lismore, Argyll

Excavations were undertaken at Achanduin Castle, Lismore, Argyll (NGR: NM 8043 3927), over six seasons from 1970 to 1975 under the direction of the late Dennis John Turner (1932–2013), henceforward referred to as DJT. Partly funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and with tools and equipment loaned by RCAHMS (now Historic Environment Scotland), the work was carried out in support of the RCAHMS’s programme of survey in the Lorn district of Argyll. Its purpose was to examine an apparently little-altered but much-ruined example of a castle of enclosure ascribable to a small but identifiably distinct group of rectangular, or near rectangular, courtyard castles. DJT concluded that it was built c 1295–1310 by the MacDougalls, and only later passed to the bishops of Argyll. The authors add their own observations on the excavations in a separate section. They note tenuous evidence for a pre-castle phase. The bulk of the report focuses on the erection and occupation of the castle, followed by abandonment, post-medieval occupation, collapse/demolition and recent times.

The Antonine Wall's distance-slabs: LiDAR as metric survey

The “Hidden Landscape of a Roman Frontier” is a collaborative research project run and jointly funded by Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) and Historic Environment Scotland (HES). Intended to run for a 3-year period, it began in October 2015. The project focuses on the landscape archaeology, history, and heritage management of the Roman frontier in Scotland, part of the “Frontiers of the Roman Empire” transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. The project's primary data-set is comprised of aerial LiDAR at 0.5-m resolution covering the World Heritage Site, combined with terrestrial laser-scanning coverage for the forts at Bar Hill and Rough Castle and the fortlet at Kinneil. All data was commissioned under the auspices of the Scottish Ten Project; the aerial data was captured in spring 2010, the terrestrial data in July 2013 and April 2016. The project also draws upon a number of supplemental data sources, including the National Monuments Record of Scotland (https://canmore.org.uk/), geophysical survey data, archive aerial images, colour infra-red imagery, and additional LiDAR data from the UK Environment Agency.

A Short Cist Burial at Kilkeddan Farm, Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute

AOC Archaeology Group undertook the excavation of a previously unknown Bronze Age cist, located in a field close to Kilkeddan Farm, Argyll & Bute, during September 2005 under the Historic Scotland call-off contract for human remains. The cist was found to contain poorly surviving unburnt human skeletal remains along with a finely decorated tripartite Food Vessel and a flint knife. The incomplete and fragmentary condition of the skeleton suggests that the human remains were disarticulated at the time of deposition. Radiocarbon dates obtained from the human bone and associated charcoal confirms an early Bronze Age date for the burial.

Wrappings of power: a woman's burial in cattle hide at Langwell Farm, Strath Oykel

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal bc. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or by waterlogging. The cist had been set into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract.

Eroding Archaeology at the Coast: How a Global Problem is being Managed in Scotland, with Examples from the Western Isles

Abstract Many thousands of archaeological sites are threatened by coastal erosion around the globe. The problem is particularly grave in Scotland, where a number of management strategies have been developed. Much of this work has been undertaken by Historic Scotland working in partnership with the SCAPE Trust and the University of St Andrews. This paper outlines the scale of the problem presented by coastal erosion, using recent work in the Western Isles to provide examples. It shows how action has developed over the years, with heritage managers often requiring a different approach to other coastal managers. The effectiveness of desk-based assessment and coastal survey is reviewed, and the results of two desk-based assessments in areas that were subsequently surveyed are analyzed. The paper outlines how prioritized lists of sites requiring future action have been produced and describes the important role that community groups can play in heritage management, giving examples of practical projects that inc...

The excavation of two short cist burials at Broomlands, Kelso

Two stone-built short cists were excavated in Broomlands, Kelso, by AOC Archaeology Group under the Historic Scotland Call-off Contract for Human Remains.A single poorly preserved adult inhumation was recovered from one cist, along with a small intrusive disc-shaped perforated oil shale object. The inhumation was dated to 2340–2120 cal BC. The second cist contained heavily damaged and fragmentary unburnt bones from two adults. Radiocarbon dates suggest one individual, the principal interment in the cist, dates to 2030–1750 BC and the second individual was interred much later, between 930 and 800 cal BC.

Insights from archaeological analysis and interpretation of marine data sets to inform marine cultural heritage management and planning of wave and tidal energy development for Orkney Waters and the Pentland Firth, NE Scotland

The Orkney archipelago has a rich heritage that includes the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, Viking settlements, harbours supplying Hudson's Bay Company ships, and the wartime naval base of Scapa Flow. This rich history has left its mark on the seabed but accurate maps showing the location and character of surviving seabed archaeology do not exist to the same extent as for archaeology on land. ORCA Marine was commissioned by Historic Scotland to work with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in interrogating marine data sets to enhance historic environment records of Orkney Waters and the Pentland Firth. These waters were prioritised for their history of maritime activity and to help guide planning and developments in an area highlighted by the Scottish Government for marine renewable energy.A variety of recent and legacy datasets, including wreck databases; sonar data gathered by public sector bodies; aerial photography; seabed cores; Admiralty charts; and local knowledge, were examined for their effectiveness in discovering and interpreting marine cultural heritage cost-effectively. A methodology was developed that enabled marine cultural heritage information to be quickly assimilated within the national and regional inventories for dissemination online. Polygonisation of records resulted in GIS-based shapefiles identifying site extents, and areas of archaeological potential in relation to wrecks, submerged prehistoric landscapes, anchorages and fishing areas.Substantial gaps in data coverage were identified and areas of the seabed have been surveyed at resolutions that are sufficient to detect large upstanding remains such as iron shipwrecks but insufficient to identify smaller archaeological features. Other geophysical datasets have been created at a resolution detailed enough to allow the recognition of smaller anomalies but in some cases processing of the data has removed small anomalies of interest to archaeologists. Intensively used marine areas often contain the most artefactual remains such as historic ports being developed to service the marine renewable industry. Zones of high wave and tidal energy favoured for renewable energy devices include navigation channels and hazards where a large number of wrecks are documented. Transmission cable routes cross deep water where 20th-century wartime losses occurred. Planning and development of infrastructure relating to renewables may also interact with significant built heritage and archaeology on the foreshore and coast edge.