Archaeology general – Page 4 – Caroline Wickham-Jones

The Tourist Trap

Traffic management can be an issue for the Orcadian tourist attractions on summer days, as here in the car park at Skara Brae.

I’m troubled by tourists. I like them, and I like to be a tourist myself, but, somehow, tourism has become a problem.

There are lots of reasons to appreciate tourism. It has always had a close relationship to archaeology and that continues today. Archaeology has a magnetic draw for tourists: sites are often in picturesque locations; ruins can be romantic; some hold the allure of ancestral homelands; others provide interest for the intellectual; many are exotic. There is something comforting about reminding ourselves just how deep rooted our past can be. Continue reading The Tourist Trap

Parallel Realities

Life in the past was affected by different weather conditions just as we are today.

I’m writing this in a total whiteout. I can’t see anything, and I half expect a shoal of fish to swim past the window. Continue reading Parallel Realities

Living in Mesolithic Scotland

The lives of our Mesolithic ancestors were very different to ours. What can they teach us?

I’ve been working on a text about life in Mesolithic Scotland for a teaching resource. It has got me thinking about one of my favourite subjects: the ways in which our life differs so much from that of our Mesolithic ancestors and yet we still value skills that would have been very familiar to those who made their home here eight thousand years ago. Continue reading Living in Mesolithic Scotland

Why Study Archaeology?

Why spend the time (and money) to study archaeology? It is not a simple picture.

Over the years many people have asked me about the advisability of studying archaeology. Sometimes it is those who look to develop a career in it. Sometimes it is parents who are worried that their child has apparently decided to pursue a career in some fringe subject. Occasionally it is someone who wants to find out more about their long-term interest. Continue reading Why Study Archaeology?

Scatter sites: more than meets the eye

Mesolithic Deeside. — This evocative image by Ali Cameron gives a good idea of the joys of fieldwalking. It is all about finding flints, usually in the rain! Mesolithic Deeside members at work fieldwalking the prolific sites along the River Dee in Aberdeenshire.

I’ve been thinking about lithic scatters a lot recently. For the uninitiated a lithic scatter is a collection of stone tools. They tend to be found on the ground surface, usually across the surface of a ploughed field, but they may also occur in other Continue reading Scatter sites: more than meets the eye

Chocolate: not as Relaxing as You Thought

Archaeology works hard to be inclusive. Participation involves responsibility, but there are always people on hand to advise. Why then has a well-known company apparently chosen to dive in without forethought?

It can’t have been the Spring Publicity campaign that Cadbury planned. On the face of it, the idea: to encourage families into exploring the outdoors and engaging with heritage, was such a good one. How could it all go so horribly wrong?

Not only have they been encouraging illegal behaviour (the ransacking of archaeological sites is covered by legislation in each of the countries of the United Kingdom), it is also irresponsible. I doubt that they would suggest that kids go out and collect birds’ eggs from nests. So why was it deemed acceptable to Continue reading Chocolate: not as Relaxing as You Thought

Fun in the Test Pit

At the end of February I spent a long weekend in Aberdeenshire, investigating one of the largest, and most significant, hunter-gatherer sites in Scotland. Of course, I was not working alone, there was a big team of us including Continue reading Fun in the Test Pit

Planning problems

The island of Rum off the west coast of Scotland, from the coast of Morar. Much of my work in the 1980s took place here, all funded by Historic Buildings and Monuments (Scottish Development Department). It was a happy time.

Autumn is the time when you start to think about your plans for the forthcoming year. Many of us have become accustomed to putting together research projects and considering the finance applications that we will need to make in order to run them. I’ve been very lucky, for much of my career I have been able to work Continue reading Planning problems

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Hon fellows — Courtesy of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland: 2018 new Honorary Fellows, Caroline Wickham-Jones, Diana Murray, Lisbeth Thoms, and Jane Ryder.

I am honoured to have been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

The Society was founded in 1780 and since then it has played an active role in promoting the heritage of Scotland. It is an impressive record. Clearly, over the years, it has had to change: matters that were considered significant 50 years ago Continue reading The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland