This project received an award of £10,000 from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for Arts and Humanities Workshops in 2015 (Principal Investigator Dr Sally Foster, Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy, University of Stirling; Co-Investigator Dr Katherine Forsyth, University of Glasgow). Historic Environment Scotland provided a grant of £2494 to the National Committee on Carved Stones in Scotland (NCCSS: www.carvedstones.scot) that enabled Workshop 3 to be offered free to all interested parties.
The RSE grant provided travel bursaries for five research students (from Manchester to the Orkney Islands) to attend Workshop 3. It also enabled a keynote public lecture by Dr Katherine Forsyth as part of the Runes, Monuments and Memorial Carvings (RMMC: monumentsnetwork.org) international network’s meeting in Glasgow on 13 April 2015.
Authorship of the Research Framework is as follows. All four lead authors collaborated on devising the structure and approach, and provided peer review of others’ contributions (peer review was also received from Critical Friends). SF was the lead for the Executive Summary, Acknowledgements, Sections 1, 2.1, 2.5, 2.7.4, 2.8, 4, 5.3.2, 7, and compiled 9 and 10. KF was the lead for 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7. SB was the lead for 2.4, 2.6, 2.7.1-3, 5, 8. SJ was the lead for 3.3.2, 3.6. The Research Recommendations were jointly compiled by all the four lead authors. All case studies are individually attributed. SF co-ordinated production of the core text, and was joined in its editing by SB and KF; SJ co-ordinated and edited the case studies.
SMF and KF are grateful to Dr Susan Buckham (Kirkyard Consulting/University of Stirling) and Dr Stuart Jeffrey (Glasgow School of Art Digital Design Studio) for teaming up as such very committed and engaged co-authors. We are particularly grateful to Mark Hall (past Chair of NCCSS) and Professor Siân Jones for their behind-the-scenes input, and to partners and children for their considerable support. Our colleagues on the NCCSS, of which the PI and CI are current and past Chairs respectively, provided the source of inspiration for this event, guided and assisted with its activities. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland steered us expertly and enthusiastically – Emma Jane O’Riordan of ScARF carried out the production of the website, and Dr Jeff Sanders promoted the project as part of Dig It! 2015. Helen Young provided administrative support for Workshop 3; Stephanie Garrison undertook the evaluation in 8.4. None of this would have been possible without the keen input of those who attended Workshops 1–3 (named in Sections 8.1–8.3) and those who generously acted as Critical Friends (named on title page) by commenting in writing on the developing Framework and providing case studies. Critical Friends do not necessarily share the approach of the lead authors or agree with all the content. We also thank those who kindly provided and allowed us to use their images (see credits in captions).
We will be pleased to correct any errors: please email carvedstones@stir.ac.uk.