Siobhán Beatson
Life on the Margins: A socio-economic analysis of the sea loch communities of the northwest Highlands in the sixteenth century.
Supervised by Professor David Worthington, UHI Centre for History, Dr Kathrin Zickermann, UHI Centre for History, Dr Jen Harland, UHI Archaeology Institute.
Siobhán studied Scottish History with the Open University and University of Dundee before going on to complete an MLitt, with Distinction, in the History of the Highlands and Islands at UHI in 2023.
Siobhán is the Manager/Curator of Ullapool Museum and through this position has been able to explore her love for the Scottish Highlands. In 2020 Siobhán was able to head up the research team of Ullapool Museum’s community archaeology project Lost Inverlael: A’ Lorg Baile Bhlàir. Through this project Siobhán found her love for landscape archaeology and the history of highland settlements. For her MLitt Dissertation she was able to draw from this project to look at the food sustainability in the Strath of Lochbroom during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Siobhán’s research is an expansion of her MLitt dissertation and hopes to conduct a socio-economic analysis on the communities located in the sea lochs in Wester Ross, during the sixteenth century. It will examine the social and economic strategies deployed within the sea loch communities, that gave rise to a unique hybrid way of life that pulled from both maritime and terrestrial economies. This will include examining the use of available land, relationships with local, national and international trade and examine the self-sufficiency of the inhabitants and settlements. Furthermore, this study will question if regional variations are in place and conduct comparisons with other North Atlantic communities, of similar geography such as those residing in the Western fjords of Norway and Eastern coast of Iceland.