Review of M.Parker Pearson, N.Sharples, and J.Symonds, South Uist: archaeology and history of a Hebridean island
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Sheridan, J A
Date published
2005
Abstract
Two outstanding books have recently been published about the archaeology and history of the Outer Hebrides. Andrew Fleming’s St Kilda and the Wider World is one; Parker Pearson et al's is the other. South Uist presents the results of a major interdisciplinary and collaborative research project undertaken principally by the Universities of Sheffield and Cardiff for over a decade from 1990, and co-ordinated by Mike Parker Pearson and Niall Sharples. The project led on from an earlier Sheffield University initiative in the Outer Hebrides – the SEARCH project, begun in 1987 and led by Keith Branigan – and by the end of the fieldwork phase in 2004, some 6 large-scale and 15 smaller-scale excavations had been undertaken (as well as landscape and palaeoenvironmental surveys), involving over 1000 archaeology students and volunteers from Britain and America. With substantial funding from Historic Scotland and support from a variety of other sources, this project has revolutionised our understanding of the prehistory and history of this island, offering us a richly textured longue durée narrative spanning nearly eight millennia
Journal title
Prehistoric Society Online Reviews
Additional information
Full text version freely available at the official URL