Established on the grounds of an ancient church in the Highlands, surveys at the Tarbat Discovery Centre kirkyard have revealed a medieval cross slab, two Claymore slabs and a Green Man 🪦 Find out more at this Highland Family History Society event on 23 April: www.digitscotland.com/events/the-t...

In 2023, a previously undocumented incised inscription was discovered on the Stone of Destiny, an ancient symbol of Scottish monarchy, using photogrammetry (a digital imaging method) 👑 What else has this technique uncovered in Scotland? Find out on our website: www.digitscotland.com/what-is-phot...

Over 3,000 years of human history has been found at Edinburgh Castle, including Iron Age huts, a medieval smithy used by English forces and a previously unknown 17th-century cemetery 🪦 Ready to dig deeper? Archaeologist Peter Yeoman FSAScot tells us more: www.digitscotland.com/archaeology-...

In 2025, the discovery of a tiny flint flake near Crieff sparked a community investigation into the prehistoric peoples of Perth & Kinross 🌳 On 18 May, join the archaeologist who found it to discover the stories of those who once called this place home: www.digitscotland.com/events/archa...

NEW BOOK: 'Rhynie, A Powerful Place of Pictland' We are thrilled to announce the release of our book by Professor Gordon Noble FSAScot, a nationally important monograph that brings together 10 years of research which has transformed our understanding of the Picts: www.socantscot.org/uncategorize...

Built in 1582 and burned 65 years later, Gylen Castle on Cearara (Kerrera) seems to have had a relatively short life, but is there more to its history? 🏰 In 2002, archaeological surveys revealed below-ground structures which may pre-date this picturesque ruin: www.digitscotland.com/top-archaeol...

A medieval moated enclosure which is at least 500 years old has recently been identified by geophysical survey in the Scottish Borders and experts need your help to excavate the interior 🔍 Register for the free dig starting on 11 May—no experience required: www.digitscotland.com/events/excav...

Bronze Age shield found in peat bog returned to Scotland for first time in over 230 years The shield is one of six to feature in an exhibition on Bronze Age Scotland this summer.

Around 1,900 years ago, Trimontium in the Borders was Scotland's largest Roman fort and settlement ⚔️ "Reflect on the traces of those who once walked these lands, whose stories linger quietly beneath the surface" at @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social's new exhibition: www.digitscotland.com/events/lands...

FUNDING NEWS: Society Funds Experimental Archaeology Connected to the Book of Kells and More with Latest Grants The project could bring us closer to knowing whether the Book of Kells was created at a Highland monastery over 1,200 years ago: www.socantscot.org/news/society...

You may have already spotted or visited the Wallace Monument on Abbey Craig, but did you know that the site was also home to a hillfort which dates to around AD 900 (1,100 years ago)? 🌄 Dig into Stirling's archaeological sites with @stirlingdigger.bsky.social: www.digitscotland.com/top-five-arc...

3D models of historic sites made using photogrammetry, like this one of 2,200-year-old Dun Carloway broch on Leòdhais (Lewis), are changing the way archaeologists investigate Scotland's past 💻 Find out more about this technique and how you can get involved: www.digitscotland.com/what-is-phot...

Coroghan Castle on Canna is best known as the prison where the wife of a jealous clan chief was allegedly sent to prevent others from wooing her 💔 Legends aside, archaeological survey has helped to uncover and record the material remains of the island's past: www.digitscotland.com/top-archaeol...

Thought to have been carved with ogham (an Early Medieval alphabet) over 1,000 years ago, photogrammetry revealed something new on this stone decades after it was excavated in Orkney: a hooded human figure 📷 What is photogrammetry? Dr Megan Kasten explains: www.digitscotland.com/what-is-phot...

Discovered in 2019, this 1,200-year-old Pictish cross-slab featuring real and mythical creatures was reused as a gravestone in the Highlands in the 18th century 🪦 Dig into the story with the North of Scotland Archaeological Society in Inverness on 19 March: www.digitscotland.com/events/not-a...

Seaweed grows wild and is abundant across Scotland, so it’s no surprise that it's been used here for millennia 🌊 Today, research into historic seaweed harvesting reminds us how these types of food sources can help us build a more sustainable future: www.digitscotland.com/the-archaeol...

When you see a carved stone or a recent piece of graffiti, what do you think? Do you see the marking, the message or the meaning behind them? 🤔 Journey to the past with some of Scotland's oldest markings at this exhibition in the Highlands from 20 March: www.digitscotland.com/events/marki...

In 2005, a Bronze Age monument used to heat water over 2,800 years ago was exposed by a storm on a beach in Orkney 🌊 Over following winters, the site was damaged by subsequent storms before the local community helped re-excavate, move and reconstruct it: www.digitscotland.com/how-to-help-...

When uncovering traces of people from the past, evidence comes in all sizes, can be found everywhere and might not look like what we expect 🤔 Confused? Don't be! Learn more about how archaeologists uncover these stories and how you can get involved: www.digitscotland.com/what-is-arch...

These stone tools found on An t-Eilean Sgitheanach (Isle of Skye) were used by pioneering humans over 11,000 years ago ⚒️ On 12 March, discover how growing evidence is showing that early humans of this period ventured much further north than previously believed: www.digitscotland.com/events/at-th...

Over 10,000 years ago, Ice Age glaciers melted to create the Highland landscape we know today and a handful of adventurers travelled north 🧭 Trace their story through to the arrival of Picts and early Christians at this exhibition at Inveravon Church in Moray: www.digitscotland.com/events/first...

"Thousands of archaeological sites are now threatened by coastal impacts of climate change", which means that important evidence is being "washed away by storms and high tides before we can learn from it" 🌊 But archaeologists have a plan to offset this loss: www.digitscotland.com/how-drones-a...

North Ronaldsay's sheep are renowned for their unusual diet of seaweed—but their eating habits aren't a new phenomenon 🐏 By analysing over 100 Neolithic sheep teeth, archaeologists have shown that sheep in Orkney were grazing on seaweed over 4,500 years ago: www.digitscotland.com/the-archaeol...

In 2024, volunteers helped excavate at least two roundhouses at the site of an ancient settlement near Moffat which was once part of a busy Iron Age landscape ⛏️ Think you can help uncover more? Register for the Adie's Brae dig in April, no experience required: www.digitscotland.com/events/adies...

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...

First mentioned in Roman sources over 1,700 years ago as a collective name for troublesome, barbaric peoples, the Picts went on to become the dominant kingdom in northern Britain 💪 On 12 February, explore their southern kingdoms at this online event: www.digitscotland.com/events/east-...

When investigators broke through a pavement at Edinburgh Castle in 1912, they were amazed to discover the lost tower of King David II 🏰 Built in 1367 by Robert the Bruce's son, it still bore the dramatic scars from its final days under English bombardment: www.digitscotland.com/archaeology-...

Think archaeology is just digging? Think again! Geophysical survey can offer important clues about what lies beneath the soil without breaking ground 🌱 Join this free workshop on 5 February to investigate the context of recent medieval finds in the Borders: www.digitscotland.com/events/geoph...

In 1933, prehistoric circular features were discovered in West Dunbartonshire and later described as a “druidic temple” ☀️ But a reassessment eventually revealed that they were more likely associated with burial mounds created over 3,500 years ago: www.digitscotland.com/top-five-arc...

Edinburgh's Holyrood Park has been shaped by over 8,000 years of human use, with traces of Iron Age forts and Bronze Age agricultural terraces still visible on the slopes 🌄 On 25 January, dig into the archaeology of the site with Historic Environment Scotland: www.digitscotland.com/events/parka...

A Highland graveyard survey has revealed a “new” medieval cross as well as inscriptions from the early 1600s to the early 1800s 🪦 On 16 January, hear about the lives of Tarbat families recorded on these stones and discover some of the most striking examples: www.digitscotland.com/events/the-t...

In the 1980s, excavations at Edinburgh Castle uncovered evidence connected to pivotal moments in Scottish history 🏰 This included a smithy used during Edward III of England's invasion in AD 1335 and a 17th-century cemetery linked to the first Jacobite Rising: www.digitscotland.com/archaeology-...

In April, the Treasure Trove Unit confirmed the discovery of an amulet with a history that spans millennia 🐴 Created around 300 years ago from an arrowhead made thousands of years earlier, the charm was believed to save horses from injuries caused by fairies: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

Horndean in the Borders has long been suspected to be the location of a lost village occupied around 800 years ago, known from historical documents and maps, but not proven - until now! 🗺️ Earlier this year, volunteers helped rediscover the medieval settlement: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

This summer, investigations unearthed evidence that a hillfort in Dumfries & Galloway may have been besieged by an invading Roman force 1,900 years ago ⚔️ Experts say the new data from Burnswark Hill "challenges long-held assumptions about Scotland’s past": www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

You can find the second of our 'Fireside stories from Glencoe' series here: glencoeandrannochenvirons.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/t... This post explores the story of the Glencoe Hoard (discovered in 2023) and is based on research by @hunterianglasgow.bsky.social Dr Jesper Ericsson.

You can find the first of our 'fireside stories from Glencoe' series over the festive break here: glencoeandrannochenvirons.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/b... This story by Prof Michael Given @uofgartshums.bsky.social explores a local *character* of Glencoe Big Archie! @nts-archaeology.bsky.social

Earlier this year, volunteers helped uncover rare Bronze Age structures in Shetland, including a complex burnt mound (a by-product of boiling water) 🍻 The purpose of this 2,500-year-old technique remains a mystery, with theories ranging from brewing to saunas: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

Traces of Neolithic feasting, possible evidence of a Roman siege, and an amulet once thought to be imbued with supernatural power are just some of Scotland's top archaeological discoveries from 2025 🤩 Dig into our list of finds spanning 6,000 years of history: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-scot...

In 1963, a Viking-Age grave containing a bronze mount decorated with a wolf was discovered on a Westness farm in Orkney 🐺 It's one of many traces of this predator—which roamed Scotland for millennia after the last ice age—that have been found by archaeologists: www.digitscotland.com/the-archaeol...

Despite being visible to hundreds of people daily crossing the Erskine Bridge, this prehistoric water dwelling is relatively unknown 🌊 But Erskine crannog in West Dunbartonshire has offered us many clues about how people lived on water over 2,000 years ago: www.digitscotland.com/top-five-arc...

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-...

Who would you meet travelling from one place to the next in 7th-century Pictland? What could you eat at a feast? And what would the bard be singing about? 🤔 Dig into early medieval Scotland with 'Carved in Stone', one of the ideas in our archaeology gift guide: www.digitscotland.com/scottish-arc...

It's thought that many Roman soldiers must have passed away while stationed at Trimontium fort in the Borders 1,900 years ago - so why have no grave sites been found? 🪦 On 11 December, hear theories on the location of the missing mausolea at this hybrid event: www.digitscotland.com/events/till-...

A small team of diggers will return to the Ness of Brodgar in 2026, following a major programme of geophysical survey across the site. #archaeology #excavation #Orkney #Neolithic #NessOfBrodgar #TimeTeam

In AD 871, two Viking kings successfully laid siege to a fortress on Dumbarton Rock near Glasgow ⚔️ 1,100 years later, archaeologists unearthed artefacts at the site which could be connected to the siege, including an iron pommel-bar for a Viking sword: www.digitscotland.com/top-five-arc...

On the summit of a steep-sided plateau in Renfrewshire lie the remains of one of Scotland's largest hillforts 🌄 If you visit Walls Hill, you can still spot the turf and earth bank and try to imagine what life was like at this fortress over 1,600 years ago: www.digitscotland.com/five-of-renf...

FREE ONLINE MAGAZINE: Celebrating Archaeology in Scotland Explore the links between archaeology and wellbeing in the 2025 edition from Scotland's Archaeology Strategy, featuring our @digitscotland.bsky.social and @scarf-scot.bsky.social projects: archaeologystrategy.scot/magazine/ #ScotArchStrat

Founded in the 15th century, Perth’s Carthusian priory is one of Scotland’s least understood but most historically significant medieval monastic sites ⛪ On Thursday, uncover new insights arising from documentary evidence and Ground-Penetrating Radar scanning: www.digitscotland.com/events/illum...

"The Picts emerge from the shadows and step forward in technicolour" 🤩 'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...