Newsletter issue 18 August 2012

A celebration of 3years of Stop, Lookand Listen

If you’ve been on one of the classes inthis project - Community Timelines,Pathways into the Past, Heritage alongthe Kyle Line, Display the Past, Delveinto the Past or Living in the Past -come and join us in StrathpefferCommunity Centre on Saturday 22September.

We’re having a day to celebrate allthat you’ve achieved through beingpart of ARCH. You’ll be able to findout more about what the differentARCH classes have discovered, toshare with us what went well - andwhat didn’t - and to help us to planfor the future.

We’re delighted that Cait McCullagh,now with Inverness Museum and ArtGallery, will be coming along to talkabout ‘Material Insights’ - how findscan help us to understand more aboutwhere we live and how our area haschanged over time. Cait has beeninvolved with ARCH from the start, is afantastic advocate for us and anenthusiastic and inspiring speaker.

It’s always fascinating to learn fromothers, so we’ll also be hearing frompeople from across the Highlandsabout what they discovered in theirARCH groups. In the afternoon therewill be workshops to continue to sharethat experience.

We’ll also be having a mystery objectdisplay. Bring along an object or aphotograph and see if others canidentify what it is.

The event is free, includes lunch,and we’ll arrange busses from theareas the courses took place in.If there are low numbers from someareas, we may arrange car-shares andpay mileage.

Contact us for more details and tobook a place. To book transportwe’ll need to know by 31 August.

We need your helpwith a couple ofquestions!

Have you been on an ARCHcourse? If so, we could do withsome help in making sure thatwe’ve got all the information weneed for our end of projectevaluation.

ARCH’s grant support comes to aclose in January 2013, and theorganisations who havesupported us would like to knowhow we’ve done. If you’ve beenon an ARCH course you’ll knowthat we pester you with a varietyof forms, including evaluation.You’ve all been great at fillingthese in - but we still have verylittle data on the following twoquestions :

* After the course did you go onto join a localsociety or volunteer in a localmuseum?

* Did you use public transport,walk or cycle to SLL classes orevents?

We’d love to hear from you. Justget in touch using any of theARCH contacts on the last pageof the newsletter.

Welcome to our late summer newsletter, as ever we’ve lots to share withyou, including a photo report from our summer dig, new courses starting, lotsof ARCH activity at the Highland Archaeology Festival, our own celebration inStrathpeffer on Saturday 22 September, and news from Inverness Museum.

ARCH is delighted to havebeen given funding by theEuropean Community HighlandLEADER 2007-2013Programme, KiltearnCommunity Council, TheHighland Council, the Co-operative Membership Community Fund and the Robert Kiln Trustto study the wartime remains of the Highlands.We’ll be drawing together sources to create a database of allknown Highland sites, and working with the Evanton community tocollect memories of the wartime remains in the village.

We’ll be bringing you more details as plans develop. Keep an eyeon our website and facebook page for information on this andmany other heritage activities across Highland.

Evanton wartimeremains

Have you heard our Kyle Line MP3?It is on the ARCH website and free to download - just hover over the‘home’ tab and look for ‘podcasts’. The script was written by coursemembers,narrated by Irene Cronie from Dingwall Academy, andrecorded by Alexander Gallacher, student at Edinburgh University,and covers many aspects of the history along the line includingcrofting, sporting estates, wartime and hydro schemes.

Delving into the Past at Foulis MoundAn account of two weeks at the ARCH community dig by those who took part

Day 2 On the mound westarted to come acrossan area of darker soilwith flecks of charcoal,which is exactly wherethe geophysicssuggested an area ofburning may be. Lynne

Day 3A copperalloybuttonwasfoundearly onin theday byFergus. It is imagined that the buttonmay have been worn by a labourer ashe worked on the field. Quite a fewpieces of glass were found (one by me),as well as a piece of slag (a piece ofiron rich metal left over from thesmithing process). Kirsty

Day 4 Our star findwas by Kirsty - apiece of unglazedpottery possiblydating from the dark ages.In the barley field therewas plenty of hard workfor the farmers. All of theplough soil has beenremoved. Muchmattocking, shovelling andwheelbarrow pushing asthe spoil heap reacheshigher and higher. Bob

Day 5 ‘Cleaning’ is verydifficult when incessantrain is determined toturn everything tochurned mud. Whilstwater will be very usefulfor processing thesamples it is not muchgood when collectingthem. Lynne

Day 6I spent

most of the time trowelingsoil, of various tones of browninto a wee shovel and thentipping it into a bucket and,when the bucket was full,sieving it to see if I hadmissed any treasures – I didfind a wee bit of bone!. Trish

Day 11 Ideal dig weather,dry, some sunshine and aslight breeze to keep themidges and flies at bay.The mound - a lot ofwork done by the mainteam. Evidence ofcharcoal layer appearing.David made some bonediscoveries. Catriona

Day 9 On the mound, in the wind, wecontinued taking out a deep band of mottledbrown and black with lots of stones. Thislayer contains lots of charcoal and is almostcertainly what produced the strong positivereading on our geophysics. Lachlan

Day 12 We have taken off thefinal layers in the moundtrench, revealing a layer ofblack soil, charcoal, largestones and lots of animalbone. This suggests themound was a site of repeatedburning and animal butchery.

But when? We shall have to bepatient to find out. Lynne

Day 13 There was a hunt on forcharcoal which was put verycarefully into little bits of tin foiland then into bags. These will beused in our barbeque tomorrow...only joking, they will be used forradiocarbon dating. Trish

Day 14The last day was abusy one, with somelast minuterecording. In thefield trench a lovelylittle horse shoe wasdiscovered. Afterthe back-filling outcame the barbequesand a weecelebration to saythanks to all thosewho have comealong to help us out.Lachlan

Day 10 Our 'road' andassociated ditches in thefield trench slowly

became more apparent. The ditches areproving to be of considerable widthapproximately 1m wide, partially filledwith stone a mix of cobbles and brokensharp stone, with a depth of around10 - 15 cms. Allan

Day 8 The Open day wasupon us before we knewit. Chief attraction wasof course the Mound, butnot far behind was ourresident Jacobite IanDevenne. Eric, the metaldetectorist, also broughtalong a collection of'objets trouves'. Simon

See next page forour conclusions &details of post-excavationclasses

Day 1 Our moundtrench is revealingan interestingfeature, a line oflarge stones close tothe surface runningacross the trench.Lachlan

Day 7 A memorable day in thetrenches. The YoungArchaeologists Club (YAKs) visitedthe Old Archaeologists Club(OAKs). The Yaks were given theopportunity to dig, sieve, collectsoil samples, draw the bridgeabutments, practice flotationand take photographs. Karen

Foulis conclusions

So what did the archaeologists decide about theFoulis Mound? Well it’s definitely a mound! But morethan that it is hard to tell. There was no clearpattern to the stonework, and no obvious depth tothe stones. But there were some interesting areas ofcharcoal and, once these are dated, they may give ussome further clues.

We do know that a routeway crossed the field, andthe trench that was dug there confirmed that. Cnocan Teampuill across the field is thought to be an earlyreligious site, though there is no evidence, beyond itsname. As this too lies on the routeway the thought isthat the mound could be a Thing or meeting place -or of course, it could still just be a natural mound butithas definitely had significant human activity atsome time in thepast.

You don’t need to have been on the dig to join

in the debate, come along to the postexcavation workshops with digleaders, Lachlan and Lynne McKeggie.

At these you’ll be able to find out how to look at allthe information from the dig to understand moreabout the site. Activites will include taking a closerlook at the finds, using water to see what interestingthings float to the surface and learning how to ink upplan drawings.

There will also be a special day where you can learnhow to create archaeological illustrations. And thebeauty is you don’t need to be arty or even able todraw! All the techniques you need will be taught onthe course.

The dates for the post-excavation workshops are:Alness Heritage Centre on Sat 25 August & Sun 2September and in Dingwall Academy on Sat 8 &Sat 15 September. All the workshops are from 1.00- 4.00 pm. Cost for each workshop is £3.00 or freefor low income. No need to book

The illustration workshop is on Sat 1 Septemberfrom 10.00 - 3.00pm in Dingwall Academy. Cost forthe workshop is £5.00 or free for low income. Bringyour own lunch. You’ll need to book for this workshop- just use the contacts on the back page.

Inverness Museum eventsCait McCullagh, co-founder ofARCH, and still a director,joined Inverness Museum andArt Gallery as their AssistantCurator this spring.

As Cait says, “ We have fabulous archaeological andsocial history collections at the museum, both ondisplay and in storage, and I am arranging a coupleof exciting opportunities to welcome folk into ourstores during Scottish Archaeological Month, thiscoming October.”

The dates are:Saturday 25th August, 2012: The city beneath ourfeet – discover the archaeology beneath thestreets of Inverness. Step into the past witharchaeologist/curator, Cait McCullagh. A compellingstory of tsunamis, middens, castles, medievalmerchants and monks. Tours start at 11am and at2pm and begin in the museum gallery. Each lastsaround 2 hours. The tours are free, but booking isessential.

Saturday 6th October 2012: Behind the scenes atthe museum – delve into the archaeology stores atIMAG. Explore behind the scenes in our stores anddiscover the objects that reveal ancient maths,

prehistoric bling and medieval money! Tours start at11am and 2pm. Both last for around 2 hours. Thetours are free, but places are limited, so booking isessential.email: cait.mccullagh@highlifehighland.comor call me on 01463 237114

Caledonian Canal workshopSaturday 29 September: Muirtown Basin,Inverness from 10.00 - 4.00 : ARCH projectofficer, Susan Kruse will be leading this for TheWaterways Trust. The day will focus on theCaledonian Canal and include a little classroomlearning, practical outdoor sessions and groupproject work. Find out more and book a placefrom: Stephen Wiseman, Caledonian CanalHeritage Officer on 01463 725561 or emailStephen.Wiseman@thewaterwaystrust.org.uk

Treasurer trove at the museumTreasure Trove will be visiting Inveness Museum onSaturday 13th October, as part of HighlandArchaeology Festival. From 11.00 - 4.00 you’ll beable to take along any interesting finds that you’vemade, discuss what they might be with an expertand find out more about the Treasure Trove system.

ARCH LecturesMonday 27th AugustFollowing FoulisLachlan and Lynne McKeggie describe theARCH excavations at Foulis investigating anenigmatic mound and routeway in 2011 and2012. The finds, the fun and how you canstill get involved!

Monday 24 September 7:30 - 9.00pm:A Tale of 8 CommunitiesAn illustrated talk by Susan Kruse of ARCHfeaturing 8 communities in the Highlandsthrough the ages, investigated as part of theCommunity Timeline project.

29th October‘Museum Without Walls: Scotland’sClearances Trail App’Jacquie Aitken presents a beginner’s guide todigital app technology and its uses as aheritage resource for a worldwide audience.Come along and hear about Timespan'sdigital journey beginning with an idea to thelaunch of the new app and what was learntalong the way.

26th November'Adopt-a-Monument - working with localcommunities to conserve and promotetheir local heritage' Cara Jones discussesthe new phase of Archaeology Scotland’sAdopt-a-Monument project, a five yearscheme which helps support and train localgroups who wish to take a leading role inpreserving their local heritage. Some recentHighland projects will be featured.

All lectures take place in DingwallCommunity Centre. Suggested donation of £3

Find ARCH at :Education Centre, Castle Street,Dingwall, IV15 9HUinfo@archhighland.org.ukT. 01349 868230take a look at our websitewww.archhighland.org.ukor find us on facebook atwww.facebook.com/ARCHhighland

ARCH EventsARCH has a busy events calendar this autumn - including the start of the lecture series and a number of events(all of which you can get to by public transport) at the Highland Archaeology Festival, which takes place fromSaturday 29 September - Sunday 14 October. Most of these events are free, but we do welcome donations to ARCH,to help us keep delivering community archaeology in the future.

ARCH at the HighlandArchaeology FestivalSunday 30 September 2.00 - 3.30pm: A tour of therecently-excavated mound and other archaeologicalsites in the vicinity of Foulis, near Evanton. Find out on-site what our excavation revealed about this site and its use inthe past. Meet at Foulis Burn bridge layby on the Old EvantonRoad (NH 593 637). Children welcome if accompanied byparent/guardian. Wear stout shoes & bring waterproofs.

Monday 1 October 10.30 - 12.00: A guided tour of themedieval remains of Beauly Priory by Susan Kruse of ARCHand John Finlay. Part of a Priory Trail accessible by publictransport. Wear stout shoes and wet weather gear. Childrenwelcome if accompanied by parent/guardian.

Wednesday 3 October 10.30am - 12.00: A guided tour of themedieval remains of Fortrose Cathedral by Susan Kruse ofARCH and John Finlay. Part of a Priory Trail accessible by publictransport. Wear stout shoes and wet weather gear. Childrenwelcome if accompanied by parent/guardian.

Thursday 4 October 2.00 - 3.30pm: A guided tour of themedieval remains of Fearn Abbey by Susan Kruse of ARCHand John Finlay. Part of a Priory Trail accessible by publictransport. Wear stout shoes and wet weather gear. Childrenwelcome if accompanied by parent/guardian.

Saturday 6 October: Build an Iron-Age hillfort: StrathpefferCommunity Centre. Join Lynne McKeggie of ARCH to find outwhat it takes to build an Iron Age hillfort and then do it (inminiature). A family event (or for unaccompanied adults)taking place in the shadow of Knockfarrel hillfort. Childrenwelcome if accompanied by parent/guardian. £2/person

Tuesday 9 October 2.00 - 4.00pm: Join Lachlan McKeggie ofARCH for a guided walk around the Iron Age/Pictishhilfort of Craig Phadrig on the outskirts of Inverness.Children welcome if accompanied by parent/guardian. Wearstout shoes and bring waterproofs.

Thursday 11 October 2.00 - 4.00pm: Textile workshop: JoinLynne McKeggie of ARCH at a workshop exploring varioustextile technologies and methods used in the past. Black IsleLeisure Centre, Fortrose. Children welcome if accompanied byparent/guardian. £2/person

Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 October - ARCH displays andbookstall at Highland Archaeology Festival Seminar