Highland Archaeology Festival (HAF) set to start this weekend with events and experiences near Inverness and the Highlands celebrating local heritage
A FESTIVAL featuring events and special exhibitions at museums throughout the Highlands and celebrating the heritage of the region will kick off on Saturday.
For three weeks, the Highland Archaeology Festival (HAF), which is organised by The Highland Council, will offer a range of walks, talks, workshops, exhibitions, special children’s activities and other events for all ages.
Walks and site tours will take place in Reelig Glen, Kirkhill, Petty and around the City of Inverness as well as Culloden among others.
Urquhart Castle will be hosting a Pictish jewellery workshop and a family event to meet a medieval blacksmith, and The Strathnairn Agricultural Working Vintage Rally and Display will provide a chance to see farming and rural crafts.
Workshops on basic finds conservation and small finds illustration will appeal to those working in museums, but also to detectorists and those interested in art.
The Highland Council’s Archaeologist Kirsty Cameron added: “We’re delighted that so many organisations and museums have offered activities to celebrate archaeology, history and heritage. We’ve had a great response this year, with over 130 events and exhibitions on offer. We are very pleased to have our in-person conference again, this year on Saturday 8th October at Council Headquarters in Inverness after a break of two years. To compliment this, we have also organised six online sessions for those who can’t make the conference. Our keynote talk, on the 7th October at Council Headquarters will be given by Steven Birch on High Pasture Cave. This internationally important site will be published in early 2023, and Steven will provide new insights from the last few years.”
The Highland Museum of Childhood will also offer children’s activities and talks will be running in Dingwall (on Dingwall and the British Empire), Tain (on the area in the Scottish Wars of Independence) and Ullapool (on archaeological sites around Loch Broom).
More information on the full programme can be found on the festival's website at www.highlandarchaeologyfestival.org, which also links to a number of self-guided trails and a list of museums open during the event, and those interested can also request a list of sites to be sent out by contacting 077888 35466.
Copies will be available at libraries and can be downloaded from the HAF website.
Other activities will take place in Dingwall, Kirkmichael, Munlochy, the North Sutor, Fortrose, Rosemarkie, Strathkanaird, Beinn Eighe, and Lochbroom, as well as many other events taking place across Caithness to Badenoch, Skye to Nairn.
Councillor Ken Gowans, chair of The Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee, said: “Archaeology enriches all our lives, fascinates young minds and contributes greatly of our understanding and creation of community and place. The Highland Archaeology Festival is the premier event of its kind in Scotland, and attracts people from a wide area. We live in communities where the heritage is so accessible, with many local societies and museums promoting their local area and undertaking important projects. Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy notes that archaeology is for everyone, contributing to our wellbeing and knowledge, and to our economic growth and quality of life. What better way to showcase this than by a festival stretching across the Highlands and celebrating the range and diversity of Highland heritage? I particularly would like to thank all the event organisers for their time, imagination and effort, as the festival would not be possible without them.”
A variety of online talks have also been arranged. The Highland Council Historic Environment Team is hosting talks on: Recent Place-Name Research (by Dr Simon Taylor and Roddy Maclean); The Boundary Objects Project investigating grave goods, stories and research opportunities (by Prof Duncan Garrow and Dr Melanie Giles); Recent work by AOC Archaeology at Bettyhill, Staffin, Kirkhill and Dornoch; New Light on Old Graves (by Dr Cecily Spall, Dr Matt Knight, Dr Adrián Maldonado and Dr Alison Sheridan); Tarradale Through Time Project (by its director Eric Grant); and Cultural Connections at the Monastery of Applecross (by Dr Carolyn McNamara). Other online talks have been organised by the String Project and West Highland Museum on a Mesolithic Harpoon (by Dr Alison Sheridan).
In addition, the Kinloss Abbey Trust in Moray has offered a guided tour, and there are special exhibitions at Burghead Visitor Centre and Elgin Museum. Volunteers are invited to come and help at a dig at Brodie Castle. Argyll’s Kilmartin Museum offers walks of this historic landscape.
