First People of The Spey: from Hunter Gatherer to Early Christian
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Over 10,000 years ago, the glaciers of the Ice Age melted to create the Highland landscape we know today.
A handful of adventurers travelled north to exploit the resources of a newly formed river.
This year, Grantown Museum invites you to retrace their steps and discover: the first people of the Spey.
Through clues in the landscape and ancient finds, unearth the stories from the earliest hunter gatherers to the coming of Christianity.
Discover a trove of Strathspey's archaeological treasures found by the River Spey and brought together for the first time.
Explore Strathspey’s ancient landscape, and get hands on and up close to fantastic replica objects.
Grantown Museum is delving deep into the past, exploring features in an ancient riverscape, showcasing archaeological finds that have lain in the ground near the River Spey for hundreds or thousands of years.
Objects that have never been displayed in the area where they were found, until now.
Grantown Museum curator Dan Cottam said: “We are very excited about bringing these amazing objects together for the first time.
“There are a wealth of treasures languishing in museum stores across the country. The National Museum of Scotland, Inverness Museum and the Highland Folk Museum are pleased to be able to share their collections with us.
“It will be a brilliant opportunity for anyone who is interested in our ancient past and we are especially keen for children of all ages to come and explore their ancient heritage with us.
“We will also have a fantastic collection of replica items for people to get up close to, including an incredibly beautiful replica of the Monymusk Reliquary, a little silver and bronze house that was reputed to carry the bones of St Columba.
“It's a real treat for the eyes and shows the amazing craftmanship of the Pictish People.”
Grantown’s exhibition will explore the world of the first people to settle on the Spey, 10,000 years ago and will follow their story through to the time of the Picts and the coming of Christianity.
Accompanying the exhibition will be an exciting programme inviting people to explore some of the surprisingly many ancient remains sites along the Spey.
Symbol stones, hill forts, burial chambers, underground shelters and prehistoric settlements all await discovery.
An Iron Age camp will be set up in the summer and the museum plans to get outdoors for foraging, tracking and cooking demonstrations, and workshop some artistic responses to the story of the first people.
The exhibition began on Saturday, June 15.
A first site visit to standing stones, burial chambers and strange cup marks also took place last Sunday, June 9 with an introductory talk on the First People of the Spey held on Thursday, June 6.
To find out more about the exhibition, visit Grantown Museum’s website at grantownmuseum.co.uk.
