An ambitious new programme of archaeological research, known as the Assynt Hidden Lives Project began in November 2009, funded by Leader and the Heritage Lottery fund. AOC Archaeology Group has joined with Historic Assynt in launching a large-scale survey and assessment of the archaeological sites and monuments of Assynt parish in Sutherland. This community-driven programme aims to characterise and record the archaeology of this under-studied area through a programme of walkover and archaeological site survey.
One of the most spectacular areas of natural beauty in Scotland, the archaeology of Assynt has not received the same level of attention as neighbouring areas to the south, east or west, and as such the history of the people who inhabited this landscape is incomplete. The Hidden Lives Project aims to re-establish a connection to past communities of Assynt by creating a high quality archaeological record of the traces they left behind.
AOC has led a team of volunteers from the local area in carrying out a systematic walkover survey of hundreds of sites in the parish, followed by a programme of archaeological topographic survey in order to create a chronological cross-section of Assynt’s past. Training is central to the ethos of the programme and professional archaeologists have led field training sessions in all levels of archaeological recording, from written descriptions and interpretation to detailed topographic survey involving total stations, GPS and laser scanning.
The fieldwork stages of the project are now complete. You can read
the field work web diary here.
Details and times of public meetings about the project can be found here.
The results of the project will be freely available to all: check
our Results
and Downloads page to access the final report, and other
downloadable resources.
