The recommendations below apply specifically to the early medieval period in the Highlands. Some research questions in the Land and Environment section 3.10 may also apply to this period.
Many research questions from the original National ScARF and other regional research frameworks are also relevant and applicable in the Highlands. These will soon be all be searchable and available all together through our our new digital platform facility.
Environment
HARF Agenda 8.1: The information already obtained from previous fieldwork should be pulled together from the grey literature and publications, to try and build a local and regional picture.
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01/09/2024Found in the following Frameworks:
The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.2: Woodland cover should be mapped.
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There is great variety in the Highlands during this period, with some areas mainly treeless, but others able to source large timber.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.3: Gaps in the local environmental records should be targeted with pollen and charcoal analyses.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.4: Analysis of charcoal will provide evidence of trees available, but also may provide insights into woodland management, including coppicing.
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01/09/2021Date of next review:
01/09/2024Found in the following Frameworks:
The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkSettlement and Daily Life
HARF Agenda 8.10: Further investigation of areas around cemeteries is needed to help identify settlements.
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Tarradale is a possibility, but ploughing may have destroyed much of the evidence. A landscape investigation of the site of Croftgowan, Badenoch and Strathspey, where aerial photography has identified the largest known barrow cemetery in the Highlands, would provide useful information for both burial and hopefully secular occupation.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.11: Further attention should be directed towards turf construction, with work also to try and assess volumes needed, sources and landscape impacts.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.12: Investigation of outworks on brochs may provide evidence for this period, and could be targeted.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.5: Identification of settlement evidence for this period is still needed including high-status sites.
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High status settlement would be easiest to target. In the east, the potential is great, given the recent investigations by the Northern Picts project in Moray and Aberdeenshire. All sites had evidence of Pictish sculpture, so areas with known sculpture would be the initial priorities.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.6: Identification of settlement evidence for this period is still needed including further investigation of promontory forts.
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The Atlas of Hillforts has assessed the evidence, and this provides a good basis to start from.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.7: Identification of settlement evidence for this period is still needed including other hillforts.
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Given the evidence from Craig Phadrig and Urquhart Castle, other hillforts, particularly those near finds of Pictish stones would be likely areas to investigate. Knockfarrel near Dingwall, although butchered by excavations in the 18th century, is a possibility.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.8: Identification of settlement evidence for this period is still needed including lowland high-status sites.
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Likely areas would include around Golspie including Dunrobin and Littleferrry, as well as perhaps Baddan near Golspie with its multiple enclosures and Balblair near Beauly.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.9: Further investigation of areas where high-status finds have been found may help to identify settlements.
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eg Rogart (MHG11596) and Dornoch.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.13: Radiocarbon dating of bone artefacts might also provide further evidence of use in the early medieval period.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.14: Further analysis of the material from Freswick, combining recent finds, with targeting dating, would provide a useful study, allowing comparison with Orkney and elsewhere.
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Certain gaps would repay investigation, such as the site of the Pictish settlement in the area, and its relationship with Iron Age and Viking settlement (see eg Morris et al 1995, 268).Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.15: Norse place-name evidence for the Highlands as a whole should be brought together, and areas with little investigation targeted for further work
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If settlements are identified, relationships with native Pictish settlement in the area, and the light they can shed on Pictish-Viking relations should be explored. The area around Reay in Caithness is a possibility, with its evidence of pagan Viking graves as well as Pictish sculpture. Similarly, Skeabost on Skye would be good to target.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.16: Further investigation of proposed thing sites might provide useful data.
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However, if these were open air temporary camps, as in Medieval period Iceland, structural and other evidence would be sparse. Dated core samples could determine the antiquity of Dingwall, and further investigations into the possible thing site there.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.17: Identification of rural non-elite settlement in other areas is needed as well.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.18: If, as is likely, many houses were built of turf, areas of good preservation with deep stratigraphy will be necessary. Investigations must be well-funded to provide good dating and large scale excavation.
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Further work could build on the Strath Suardal surveys and testpitting.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.19: Evidence from recent Inverness excavations, both within the Medieval burgh limits and in the surrounding area should be pulled together.
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Was there a settlement in the late Early Medieval period which the Medieval burgh simply incorporated?Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.20: Given the large number of crannogs in the region, further work would show whether there is reuse or even construction in this period.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkReligion and Ritual
HARF Agenda 8.21: The Pictish stones should be studied further in their local context.
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The ScARF Medieval panel suggested studying Pictish stones in their local context, citing the Shandwick stone as a good contender (Medieval panel 5.2).Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.22: Investigation of the cemeteries at Whitebridge or Garbeg where upstanding barrows survive may shed light on above ground burial traditions
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(potential noted in National ScARF 4.5). A detailed survey of Whitebridge would be beneficial, to understand the preservation of the barrows and the later buildings built into the cemetery. At Garbeg there is nearby settlement evidence which is possible contemporary, providing a rare opportunity to link burial and settlement.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.23: Further work is needed at Ackergill cemetery, building on Mitchell 2019, including its local context and relationship to the nearby cemetery at Keiss.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.24: Investigate one of the proposed monastic enclosures with huts to get good dating and to determine if a monastic interpretation is plausible.
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Applecross would also be a good candidate for further study, and provide much needed evidence from the western Highlands.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.25: aDNA and isotope analysis of human remains are needed to provide information on diet and movement, and osteological evidence where possible, to complement the work at Portmahomack.
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Some of this has already been undertaken (Crosskirk Broch, Lower Dounreay, Keiss and Learnie Cave (Sheridan et al 2018), and when published must be integrated into the picture. Human remains from Latheron and Lambsdale, Caithness (MHG702); Dunrobin, Sutherland; and Gairloch, Wester Ross {MHG7673) in the NMS have not had dating or further analysis. The last two would be particularly useful, Lambsdale to provide dating for a mound with inhumations, possible structures and medieval pottery, the Gairloch cist to provide much needed evidence for the west coast.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.26: Dating of accompanying objects in Viking burials (as there are almost no surviving human remains) from Viking burials, would provide better chronology for the burials, as well as an idea of date range of common objects.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.27: More dating and research into longevity and use of holy wells is needed.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.28: The large number of carved Pictish stones provides opportunities for further research.
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The Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland ScARF panel had a large number of recommendations (see e.g 3.8, 4.4, 5.4, 6.3, 7.) The Highland material can help provide data for a number of recommendations. For example: Conduction research into the biographies of the stones, ‘creating a central corpus’…; ‘creating a digital/print corpus…’ There is great opportunity to involve community projects in recording via photogrammetry. Ensure regional and supra-regional overviews exist to provide a context in which to understand values and ultimately significance. Modern national boundaries will often be an irrelevance in this context.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkCraft and Industry
HARF Agenda 8.29: Further potential exists at Caird’s Cave, including the spoil heaps created by Maclean and Hall’s excavations in the early 20th century, and which are now under threat.
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Further investigation of Caird’s cave would help determine its nature, possible relationship to the Pictish monastery, and a context with other caves in the Rosemarkie Caves Project.Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.30: Further work at other caves on the west coast is needed to determine the nature of their use in this period, and to complement the work of the Rosemarkie Caves Project.
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Are these too industrial sites or other activities?Status:
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkHARF Agenda 8.31: With smithies identified throughout the Highlands, and evidence hinted at elsewhere, pull together this information, and compare to medieval evidence.
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The Scottish Archaeological Research FrameworkAre there research recommendations that you think are missing?
Why not add your comment below which will be flagged to ScARF (or get in touch with ScARF directly) and new questions will be considered for addition at the next revision.