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Archaeology in Scotland

Archaeological Organizations      Megaliths in Scotland      Glossary of Archaelogical Terms in Reference to Scotland      Other Information about Archaelogy in Scotland      

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Archaeological Organizations

Council for British Archaeology "works to promote the study and safeguarding of Britain's historic environment, to provide a forum for archaeological opinion, and to improve public interest in, and knowledge of, Britain's past."

Historic Scotland has information about the following topics:
    Ancient Monuments
    Contacts [Adobe Acrobat]
    Archaeology: An Introduction.

Archaeology Scotland brings together those for whom archaeology is an interest, an active pastime or a career.  It supports local archaeological action and initiatives and campaigns for the best possible conservation and management of our heritage.  Explore our website to find out more about what we do and how we can help you get the most out of your interest in archaeology.

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Megaliths in Scotland

Megaliths in Britain Deciphered as Astronomy and Land Survey:  Megalithic sites with menhirs, cairns, dolmens, quoits and tumuli were erected by ancient man for purposes of land survey by astronomy.  Many stones are cupmarked or carved to represent stars of the heavens.   Ancient Scotland ca. 3117 BC was geographically surveyed by astronomy.  The Highlands represented the center of the survey and were marked astronomically as the center of the heavens.  Some supplementary and related articles may be found at the following Web sites:
    The Megalith Map - A resource for finding any stone circle or row in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales
    Precession and the Pyramid Astronomical Knowledge in Ancient Egypt
    The Doors of Precession: Lunar Deities and the Sacred Landscape of the Neolithic Peoples
    St.Mary's Church of Melrose Abbey and the Shadow at Noon of Christmas
    Astro-archeology - The Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples were a lot more intelligent than we generally give them credit for today.  They would carefully select a site and then arrange the stones so that its major axis pointed at the position in the sky that a planet, or bright star, or the Moon would assume at a particular time on a given date.  Sometimes distant mountain peaks or a single standing stone or cairn, a mound of smaller stones, would serve as a foresight to ensure correct observation.

Altering the Earth, The Origins of Monuments in Britain and Continental Europe by Richard Bradley, Edinburgh 1993.  This is a monograph published by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

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Glossary of Archaelogical Terms in Reference to Scotland

broch  -  an ancient dry stone building or a round stone tower, unique to Iron Age Scotland

cairn  -  a pile of stones that is used as a boundary marker, a memorial, or a burial site. Cairns are usually conical in shape and were often erected on high ground. Burial cairns date primarily from the Neolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age.  - Encyclopedia Britannica  See also Caithness.org - Archaeology.

crannog  -  a type of ancient loch-dwelling found throughout Scotland and Ireland dating from 5,000 years ago.  Many crannogs were built out in the water as defensive homesteads and represented symbols of power and wealth.  See the Scottish Crannog Centre.

daub  -  Daub and fired clay are created when clay is hardened by fire. Daub represents mud plaster used to construct wattle-and-daub houses. It normally exhibits stick impressions from the wattle. Fired clay lacks the stick impressions and may represent daub, plaster from around the smoke hole in the roof, or pieces of a hearth.  See the Common artifact Types.  See also wattle below.

quern  -  an ancient device for grinding grain.  The saddle quern, consisting simply of a flat stone bed and a rounded stone to be operated manually against it, dates from Neolithic times (before 5600 BC).  - Encyclopedia Britannica

wattle  -  in building construction, method of constructing walls in which vertical wooden stakes, or wattles, are woven with horizontal twigs and branches, and then daubed with clay or mud.  This method is one of the oldest known for making a weatherproof structure.  - Encyclopedia Britannica

See An Archaeology Primer.

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Other Information about Archaelogy in Scotland

Archeo News:  It is often difficult to find some news about the most recent archaeological meetings, digs and breathtaking discoveries.  As we are particularly interested in prehistoric and megalithic monuments, we are trying to collect every bit of information about them and to put it inside this website.  In these pages you can find the latest news about those special events, people and places mainly related to Europe's most ancient heritage.

There is a new discussion forum on Scottish archaeology.  It is in the normal 'mailing-list' format.  To subscribe send a message (blank subject field) to   listserv@clangregor.ml.org   with the following in the message body:  subscribe scotarch.   You will be notified via e-mail automatically upon subscription, the message will contain various guidelines for use.

BBC's The Mummies of Cladh Hallan (no longer available on the Web) - According to sensational archaeological discoveries currently being made in Scotland, Bronze Age Britons were practising the art of mummification at the same time as 'mummy culture' was in full swing in Pharaonic Egypt. It appears that ancient Britons invented this skill for themselves ...

The University of Sheffield's Archeaology article The Prehistoric Village at Cladh Hallan - Part I - Like the preserved prehistoric settlements in the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, these ancient remains have been exceptionally preserved, layer by layer, underneath the sand. Sadly, the rabbits - whose burrowings have helped archaeologists to find these sites - are now destroying the layers and deposits inside these settlement mounds.

Europe's Oldest Mummies (So Far) Found in U.K. - Archaeologists recently discovered the first carefully preserved mummies in Great Britain-and the oldest mummies ever found in Europe. They found two mummies buried underneath a 3,000-year-old house at Cladh Hallan, a Bronze Age building complex.  The complex is located on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides islands, off the coast of Scotland. Experts believe that the mummies must have been tightly wrapped in fabric like Egyptian mummies, but the wrappings fell apart in the islands' wet weather.  One of the mummies, a male, is approximately 3,500 years old - about 200 years older than Egypt's King Tut!

Visit Archaeolink Prehistory Park in Aberdeenshire.  The exhibition is housed in an earth mound and the external walls are made of glass.  The main themes are prehistoric technology, early agriculture, environmental changes and early beliefs and rituals.  Six indoor elements include a dramatic film presentation, which takes visitors on a memorable journey back through time to meet their ancient ancestors.  A myths and legends gallery explores the ancient beliefs.  An Archtivities Room gives opportunities for children to dress up and try crafts.  A unique feature is the Archaeoquest, a computer based trail which suggests a personalised tour of some of the best prehistoric sites in Aberdeenshire.  Outside, a series of reconstructions - all based on archaeological evidence from Northeast Scotland - form a 'Path through Prehistory'.  Also in the park there is a real late prehistoric settlement and a Prehistoric Tree Trail through pleasant woodland.  Young visitors will enjoy the play area which includes a 'Sandpit Dig'.

There are more than 350 ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of the village of Kilmartin, Argyll: 150 of them are prehistoric.  This extraordinary concentration and diversity of monuments distinguishes the Kilmartin Glen as an area of outstanding archaeological importance.  It is one of Scotland's richest prehistoric landscapes. ... excavations have revealed a complex Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual landscape including an Early Neolithic cursus and an Early Bronze Age timber circle.  Interesting and surprising prehistoric contacts are hinted at by the shape and decoration of some of the pottery vessels which were excavated from graves on the site.

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You may select a general topic from the list below to view both information on those topics and links to related sites.

Select a topic here.
Archaeology in Scotland
Scottish Authors
Castles in Scotland
Scottish Cooking
Franco-Scottish Sites
Germano-Scottish Sites
Heraldry
Scottish Magazines On-Line
Scottish & Celtic Newsgroups
Miscellaneous "Scottish Stuff"
Radio-TV
Scottish Newspapers On-Line
Tartan & The Kilt
Robert the Bruce
Scottish Serendipity
Technology in Scotland
Web Cameras in Scotland

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