Orry Community Geophysical Survey
Tiree Horizons
In April 2016 ACFA embarked on a new major project on the island of Tiree, the westernmost of the Inner Hebrides. With the initial aim of identifying possible medieval or Norse settlement sites which are indicated by place-name evidence, a wealth of archaeology has been surveyed during the original visit and in subsequent trips in October 2016 and April 2017 with a future visit planned for April next year. The interim report for the April 2016 findings can be found here
Initial Fieldwork in the Irvine Valley
Initial field walking and revisiting of recorded sites along the banks of the Rivers Irvine and Garnock began in January this year as a consequence of the inspiring work carried out by ACFA member Richard Pugh on Dundonald Castle which he is planning to expand into a wider study of the Irvine Valley embracing place name studies and the concentrations of prehistoric and Early Historic activity.
In this work we hope also to complement and revisit the early ACFA Occasional Paper 23 by Jim Mair, Anne Wood and Gerry Hearns of 1996, which has survey plans and descriptions of over thirty sites in the middle valley.
The survey is an occasional walkover convened by a small team on an ad hoc basis and a short presentation was given at the post-Xmas bash which encouraged interest from some further members.
The first study area being covered is along the lower reaches of the River Garnock from which AD 19C antiquarian reports note a rich record of prehistoric cists, cairns, flint scatters, a possible crannog, some Anglo Saxon strap ends and an Arabic dirham. This suggests the tantalising possibility of early beach emporiums in this area of shifting sand dunes, river systems and islands. The Ardeer or Stevenston Sands area has been probably irrevocably compromised by almost a century of Nobel and ICI explosive complexes creating a rapidly deteriorating massive industrial archaeological landscape rapidly being reclaimed by nature.
No formal survey is possible in these circumstances and days out have involved small teams re-visiting those sites which are in the Canmore record, recording their current state, identifying any new sites immediately connected with the river environment and trying work out the topography of this dynamic and scarred landscape.
Contact: Margaret Gardiner, Libby King, Gerry Hearns or Ian Marshall for more Information.
What’s Your Heritage
Historic Environment Scotland have launched a public survey seeking to find out what heritage means to the people of Scotland as part of the 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. Find the survey at What’s Your Heritage and help inform the discussion on which of Scotland’s places, buildings and monuments you want to see recognised and celebrated.
Tiree 2016 Part Two
At the beginning of October a smaller group of eleven members revisited Tiree to carry on recording more of the exciting archaeology we had to reluctantly leave in April.
The teams working on the slopes of Hynish recorded another ‘crop’ of potential prehistoric features as well as multiperiod field systems and associated structures. East Hynish remains to be recorded when we return next April.
Thankfully the weather stayed dry and sunny although high winds kept us constant company. Our accomodation in the cottages at the Hynish Centre was very comfortable and we enjoyed the cross-cultural exchanges after dinner with the group of windsurfers who were staying at the Centre.
Eaglesham, The Farmlands and the Orry
Author: Susan Hunter
Format: paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9574600-9-6
Pages: 310
Colour and b/w illustrations and photographs
Over more than twenty years Susan and her husband Robin walked the parish of Eaglesham recording the visible remains of the past in the landscape and producing eighteen detailed archaeological papers. This fully illustrated book arranges some of the best examples from these papers in chronological order to provide a picture of the folk who inhabited Eaglesham over the past few thousand years, and the type of farming they carried out.
Although principally an archaeology book, this publication also contains a wealth of information gleaned from the farming families of Eaglesham.
Price £20 including P&P to UK addresses. For delivery to the rest of the world, or for orders of more than one copy, please contact us
Newsletter Number 47
ACFA Newsletter No 47 has been published and has been distributed to members. The newsletter archive can be accessed by members by logging in to the Members’ Area.
Photography Competition 2016
There was another bumper crop of entries for this year’s photography competition, they can all be seen in the Gallery. First place and winner of the ACFA Quaich was Susan Hunter and her photograph of Swedish rock art, “Hand-to-Hand Combat in Bronze Age Sweden”. Judges awarded second place to Irene Dayer’s “St Kilda in July”, third place “Glasgow Cathedral 
Key” by Janie Munro with an honourable mention to Sue Hothersall for her photograph of Whitby Cathedral. Sue was also the winner of the Members’ Vote, a new introduction to this year’s competition and voted for by members at the AGM.
Right: Hand-to-Hand Combat in Bronze Age Sweden, Susan Hunter winner of the ACFA Quaich
Annual General Meeting 2016
Members met on Saturday October 15 for the Annual General Meeting and lunch. Chairperson Dugie MacInnes presented a annual report which demonstrated that ACFA members have had an exceedingly busy year taking part in surveys and excavations from the Clyde Valley to the island of Tiree. There were no changes to the committee this year and thanks were expressed to everyone who had contributed to such a successful year.
After the formal meeting Dr Tertia Barnett from Edinburgh University spoke to members about the Scottish Rock Art Project which aspires to reassess and create a database of the wealth of rock art in Scotland. She invited ACFA to take part in the project.
The guest speaker after lunch was Dr Paul Murtagh from the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership. A number of ACFA members have already worked on surveys for the project. After an introduction to the background of the project Dr Murtagh gave a presentation about the history and archaeology of the orchards of the Clyde Valley which are the next focus for CAVLP. Volunteers are sought for this project and more details of survey dates will be announced in due course.
Left: Members survey a house site at Balephetrish, Tiree Photo A Blackwood