Translocation; Excavating the Highland Clearances

Directed by Keir Strickland, this community archaeology project aims to examine the relocations of the Highland Clearances from an explicitly archaeological perspective.

Centred around targeted excavations at Clearance Townships and Crofting resettlement sites in northeast Scotland, this project aims to describe rural settlement in the periods leading up to, during, and following the Highland Clearances.

A successful pilot season at the township of Caen, in Sutherland, saw two weeks of community excavations on a single longhouse that described the rapid and final abandonment of the home, the removal of the structures roof, and the comparatively rich artefactual assemblage - including fragments of a riveted copper whisky still.

This project has worked with a number of collaborative partners, including the Timespan Museum and Arts Centre, and the St. Andrews Open Virtual Worlds group.

See also

Strickland, K.M. 2013. 'Translocation: Excavating the Highland Clearances'. Archaeology Scotland 19: 15-17.

Strickland, K.M. 2013. 'Kildonan Clearances Bicentenary: The Final Days of a Clearance Settlement'. History Scotland 14(2): 12-13.

McCafferey, J.P., Miller, A.H.D., Kennedy, S.E., Vermehren, A., Lefley, C. & Strickland, K.M. 2013. 'Exploring Heritage through Time and Space: supporting community reflection on the Highland Clearances'. Pp. 371-378 in Proceedings of the UNESCO Congress on Digital Heritage: Digital Heritage International Congress 2013, Marseille, France, 28^th October – 1^st November. New York; IEEE.