In 2019, this gold medieval ring was found on the top of a molehill within the grounds of Dundonald Castle in South Ayrshire 💍 Thought to have been an "elite object" around 500 years ago, it may have been brought to the surface by the mole’s digging activities: www.digitscotland.com/top-six-arch...

Scavengers Assemble

In 2018, @coastarch.bsky.social raced against the tide to investigate a submerged prehistoric forest on a beach in Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides) 🌳 It's one of the many sites in Scotland that are under threat from erosion and rising sea levels: www.digitscotland.com/how-to-help-...

The Picts were always more than their blue-painted, bloodthirsty depictions. Carved in Stone, a new setting guide from @stoutstoat.co.uk and archaeologist Heather Christie, invites players to explore their incomplete but beautiful history.

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: ‘Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland’ Please pre-order or donate before 6 December to enable us to print this book by Professor Gordon Noble FSAScot, which will have a major impact on the study of Pictish kingship and society: www.kickstarter.com/projects/soc...

HELP US PRINT: ‘Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland’ This nationally important monograph by Professor Gordon Noble FSAScot will only be printed if we hit our crowdfunding target by 6 December. Please support the campaign by registering your interest: www.kickstarter.com/projects/soc...

We are pleased to be supporting this event, which includes a talk on Ursula Clark’s photographs for ‘Architecture of Scotland’ by George Hay. A Fellow of the Society from 1953 to 1986, George was one of the most accomplished practitioners and interpreters of the distinctive architecture of Scotland.

NEW SAIR: From 2019-2020, archaeologists uncovered a significant site along the River Spey, comprising multiple phases of settlement, funerary activity, and craftworking. Get the whole story in our latest Scottish Archaeological Internet Report (SAIR): journals.socantscot.org/index.../sai...

We backfilled the #KelvinWheelies trenches today. It’s been an amazing few days of skateboarding archaeology & I want to thank our awesome team, Kieran of Archaeology Scotland, Glasgow City Council, our funders @socantscot.bsky.social and the legend that is Jamie Blair of Clan Skates. 🛹

Hot off the press! We are very excited to be launching this exciting church research project with our colleagues @socantscot.bsky.social, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Pilgrim Trust. It's Free, in-person & online, but booking is essential 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-eve...

Are you a student or early career researcher who wants to attend a conference or event in Scotland which is relevant to Scottish archaeology? Our @scarf-scot.bsky.social project is offering bursaries which can contribute to registration, travel and accommodation costs: scarf.scot/students/stu...

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Dorothy Marshall Medal Do you know someone who, in a voluntary capacity, has made an outstanding contribution to Scottish archaeological or related work? Submit your nomination for the Dorothy Marshall Medal before midnight on 10 August 2025: www.socantscot.org/grants-prize...

An important part of a bigger story that has so far mainly focused on the University of Edinburgh

NEW GUEST BLOG - The Gunning Victoria Jubilee Gift: Brazilian Slavery and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Dr Simon Buck writes about Dr Robert Halliday Gunning (1818-1900), new information on his links to slavery, and his connections to the Society: www.socantscot.org/news/guest-b...

Want to delve into Bronze and Iron Age settlements, Roman activity and how Reivers, Covenanters and farmers shaped the landscape at Corehead in Dumfries & Galloway? 🥾 Don't miss this free walk with Uncovering the Tweed and the Borders Forest Trust on 9 August: www.digitscotland.com/events/walk-...

Imagine it’s the west of Ireland in 1847, during the Great Famine? Starving men, women, children desperately try to get to the Workhouse or charity Soup Kitchens. British Red Coat soldiers line up on the road, fire, then bayonet wounded by the road, while laughing. 1/

SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT: We are delighted to support @scotarchforum.bsky.social's 2025 conference on the theme of Building Bridges. Have something to say about collaboration, inclusivity and global engagement in Scottish archaeology? The abstract deadline is 31 July: www.scotarchforum.com/saf2025

In 2023, volunteers uncovered a rare visible example of an early mine shaft at a 17th-century mansion in Stirlingshire 👷 Want to help investigate this unusual feature, no experience required? Register to join the team from 19 July before spaces fill up: www.digitscotland.com/events/banno...

NEW RESEARCH REPORT: The Wartime Orkney Trail leaflets project Read the report by Ian Collins FSAScot, who was awarded a Society grant to develop self-guided wartime trails exploring the rich archaeology left by 19th and 20th century military activity in Orkney: www.socantscot.org/.../the-wart...

It’s me! I can finally reveal that I’ve been appointed as the Research Officer for this vital project. Hundreds of churches are currently closing or at risk here in Scotland. This work will rapidly assess our endangered heritage and work with communities to find solutions.

Would you like to get more involved? We’re recruiting a Community Officer for the project! Deadline 13th July.

England wildlife regulator chair (pictured) ‘enthusiastic’ about lynx rewilding www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exciting to see this coming together! It’s Faifley’s new school campus with Cochno Stone rock art inspired design and colour scheme. #UrbanPrehistory #FaifleyRocks

Could the Norse hall found at Skaill Farm in 2019 have been home to Sigurd, a powerful chieftain mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga? 🍻 Visit the site from 7 July when @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social will return to uncover more of its 1,000-year history: www.digitscotland.com/events/skail...

In Glencoe, @uofglasgow.bsky.social and @n-t-s.bsky.social are investigating an early modern township from 24 June to 8 July 🌄 Visit or volunteer, or head to their festival on 5 July to enjoy tours, storytelling, artefact handling and more: www.digitscotland.com/events/glenc... #ScotlandDigs2025

With fellows of the @socantscot.bsky.social, we started the "Hidden Voices" project of which I am very proud! We work to enhance the biographies and contributions of women archaeologists to the field. Check out our new website and drop us a line if you'd be interested in joinning us!

NEW RESEARCH REPORT: Dundurn dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis Read the report by Fellows Prof Gordon Noble and Dr Anne Crone who were awarded a Society grant to dendro-date timbers from an early medieval Pictish site in Perth & Kinross: socantscot.org/uncategorize...

Place-names have much to teach us about languages, living and dead, and about their societal and political context. Join us for six lectures from 20 to 22 June exploring Scottish place-names, sponsored by Ordnance Survey. Register for a free online ticket: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rhind-lect...

Place-names make a unique contribution to our understanding of how we humans have interacted with our environment over the centuries. Join us for six lectures exploring Scottish place-names, sponsored by Ordnance Survey. Free online tickets are still available: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rhind-lect...

The silk buried as part of the Galloway Hoard over 1,100 years ago came from a long way away – potentially as far as Central Asia 🗺️ It’s a valuable fabric called samite and the complex loom used to make the textile is actually the distant ancestor of computers: www.digitscotland.com/poisonous-wo...

Both Lambay Island off County Dublin and North Roe in Shetland were used as axe quarry sites in the Neolithic era - but are there other similarities? Don't miss our joint lecture with RSAI and Prof Gabriel Cooney in Dublin and online on 17 April (more info below).

Looking forward to talking about my research at the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh this April! Booking info below👇🏽

"Anyone can make these discoveries with a keen eye and curiosity" 👀 Want to uncover the hidden history of your local coastline? Volunteers are needed to help record archaeology along the coast of the Dornoch Firth in the Highlands—no experience required: digitscotland.com/events/coast...

Interested in visiting the Historic Environment Scotland Archives & Library to view some of their collections on Scottish heritage, history and archaeology? Due to high demand for previous tours, we're coordinating another private Fellows-only visit: fellows.socantscot.org/events/detai...

Over 2,000 years ago, people carved and decorated thousands of natural outcrops and boulders across Scotland - but why? 🎨 On 21 February, join @joanavaldez.bsky.social online to hear more about rock art and its important role in prehistoric lives: digitscotland.com/events/rock-...

Would you like to learn more about rock art in Scotland? Join us for one of our @royalsoced.bsky.social funded workshops taking place in Faifley, Kirkcudbright and Culloden🪨 Spaces are limited and filling up fast - head to bit.ly/4jOt8Ya for more info and to register now! #HESSupported

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and friends are organising a session at #EAA2025 @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social #74 Antiquarian Societies, Quo Vadis? We are looking for contributions that explore the role for antiquarian societies in the 21st century. www.e-a-a.org/EAA2025/EAA2...

My piece is out! A history of archaeological scholarship on the potential for matrilineal societies in Iron Age Europe.

Want to keep digging into the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival? Don’t miss @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social's free public lecture hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (who coordinate Dig It!) which will take place on 9 January in Edinburgh and online. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-archae...

New Genetic Study Maps Early Medieval Migrations Across Europe - groundbreaking research by @boothicus.bsky.social‬ @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk https://www.medievalists.net/2025/01/new-genetic-study-maps-early-medieval-migrations-across-europe/ #historysky #medievalsky #AncientDNA

I need Art Portfolios for Carved in Stone! I've been working on a Pictish history book for the last 5 years & I'll be looking to brief artists for print-ready work in March 2025, for delivery in June 2025. Details in this thread 🧵

"A glimpse into a prehistoric world hidden in plain sight" 👀 After being noticed by volunteers, charcoal and tools made from quartz and flint were found below the turf on the eroding coast in na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides) earlier this year: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

yes thata is indeed use of Miller's quote in the Expanse, thank you for noticing. Most of my titles are from pop culture. It was lovely to have fun writing for this: www.socantscot.org/news/guest-b...

I wrote something swift with Dig It! about ancient DNA, migration and genetic change in prehistoric Britain, and specifically how to interpret ‘population replacement.’ Hint: it is not synonymous with ‘invasion’. www.digitscotland.com/what-can-arc...

Can’t beat a kirkyard for cool stones. Reminds me of the reused Pictish stone in Dunino kirkyard

I've been mulling whether sites with 'David' sculpture in north-east Scotland might have been stops on an eighth-century royal circuit of a putative kingdom of Moreb (Moray). My latest blog looks at the evidence. #MedievalSky

"Contemporary archaeology allows archaeologists to intervene and try to help in a range of social issues that are pressing today, from the climate emergency to social injustice to plastic pollution" ♻️ Never heard of it? @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social explains: www.digitscotland.com/what-is-cont...

Our final newsletter of 2024 is now available!🎄⛄🎁 Hear all about our exciting events coming up in 2025 and some of our highlights from the past year. Follow the link to read the full newsletter: bit.ly/4iCphwD #HESSupported

A Pictish spearbutt which may have been used in close combat, a unique 'Celtic' bangle, and a rare shipwreck are just some of Scotland's most amazing archaeological discoveries from 2024 🤩 Dig into our list of finds which range from 4100 BC to the 1980s: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...