December 2015: Research Questions now online

The research framework, created by Alison Sheridan (National Museums Scotland) and Gabriel Cooney (University College Dublin), that forms part of a forthcoming article (‘The Boyne to Brodgar initiative: understanding – and preserving, presenting and raising awareness of – Neolithic monuments and the people who built and used them in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man’, which will appear in the spring 2016 edition of the Journal of Irish Archaeology) is now available to view on this project website.

The authors thank the Editor, Carleton Jones, and the publisher, Nick Maxwell, for permission to reproduce it here.

Project Coordinator’s role extended

Following on from Historic Scotland’s initial investment to support the employment of Dr Louisa Campbell to Coordinate the project and write the project design document, AOC Archaeology Group have generously agreed to contribute funds to extend Dr Campbell’s involvement until the end of January 2014.

Symposium 25 October 2013

With generous sponsorship from the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments (RCAHMS), an invited audience of guests with a range of specialisms and interests related to the project met at the RCAHMS in Edinburgh to discuss aims, objectives and proposed direction.  Under the principal themes underpinning all archaeological research of Who, Why, What, Where, When, speakers presented on a range of topics. These included material culture, stable isotope analysis, mapping and recording of Neolithic settlements, environmental analysis, ¹⁴C and Bayesian modelling, architecture and typologies, cosmogenic nuclides, conservation, management and presentation of monuments, luminescence, legacies and community archaeology.  The papers led to a dynamic and extremely interesting discussion which will contribute enormously to the development of a coherent and elegant project design.

Management Group Meeting 2 July 2013

The Management Group met at the University of Edinburgh to discuss developments and agree the way forward.  It was agreed that the overarching question that the project seeks to address is: ‘Who built the monuments?”. This theme will be explored through three inter-related strands: Who, Monuments and How. We will develop a transdisciplinary approach to understand the monuments and the people who built them. For instance, under the theme of ‘Who’ we might analyse material culture and human skeletal remains to understand the lifeways of Neolithic people, including their dietary preferences and subsistence strategies and the objects they used. Mapping monuments and their associated settlements will help to understand monuments in their wider social and environmental contexts and provide a better understanding of regional variation as well as how monuments were used by the people who built them.  Alongside local communities we will explore how monuments are used, perceived, preserved and presented in the present day. We will develop ways of creatively exploring monuments and build lasting legacies in partnership with the communities who engage with them in the contemporary world.

Workshop 8 May 2013

Members of the team connected with the project came together at the Quakers Meeting Rooms in Edinburgh to discuss and agree the main objectives and approaches to be developed. The meeting was extremely productive and participants confirmed their involvement and provided overviews of their own perspectives on how the project might best approach various themes.  A Management Group was elected and it was agreed that a symposium will be organised for October 2013 which will serve as a platform for showcasing the principal aspects covered in the project.