Author: Acfa Editor

At the beginning of October a smaller group of eleven members revisited Tiree to carry on recording more of the exciting archaeology we had to reluctantly leave in April. 

The teams working on the slopes of Hynish recorded another ‘crop’ of potential prehistoric features as well as multiperiod field systems and associated structures. East Hynish remains to be recorded when we return next April.

Thankfully the weather stayed dry and sunny although high winds kept us constant company.  Our accomodation in the cottages at the Hynish Centre was very comfortable and we enjoyed the cross-cultural exchanges after dinner with the group of windsurfers who were staying at the Centre.

ACFA is delighted to announce the publication of our first book, Eaglesham, The Farmlands and The Orry , by Susan Hunter.  

Over more than twenty years Susan and her husband Robin walked the parish of Eaglesham recording the visible remains of the past in the landscape and producing eighteen detailed archaeological papers.  This fully illustrated book aranges some of the best examples from these papers in chronological order to provide a picture of the folk who inhabited Eaglesham over the past few thousand years, and the type of farming they carried out.

Although principally an archaeology book, this publication also contains a wealth of information gleaned from the farming families of Eaglesham.

Copies are available from Waterstone’s, The Avenue, Newton Mearns, through other bookshops by order, from the Eaglesham Gift Company, Eaglesham Village or direct from ACFA.  To buy direct please send £13 plus £4.50 P & P (total £17.50) via PayPal and also send your name and delivery address to acfacommittee@gmail.com 

 

To purchase multiple copies please contact us for information.

 

 

ACFA Newsletter No 47 has been published and has been distributed to members.  The newsletter archive can be accessed by members by logging in to the Members’ Area.  

There was another bumper crop of entries for this year’s photography competition, they can all be seen in the Gallery.  First place and winner of the ACFA Quaich was Susan Hunter and her photograph of Swedish rock art, “Hand-to-Hand Combat in Bronze Age Sweden”.  Judges awarded second place to Irene Dayer’s “St Kilda in July”, third place “Glasgow Cathedral Key” by Janie Munro with an honourable mention to Sue Hothersall for her photograph of Whitby Cathedral.  Sue was also the winner of the Members’ Vote, a new introduction to this year’s competition and voted for by members at the AGM.

 

Right: Hand-to-Hand Combat in Bronze Age Sweden, Susan Hunter winner of the ACFA Quaich

Members met on Saturday October 15 for the Annual General Meeting and lunch.  Chairperson Dugie MacInnes presented a annual report which demonstrated that ACFA members have had an exceedingly busy year taking part in surveys and excavations from the Clyde Valley to the island of Tiree. There were no changes to the committee this year and thanks were expressed to everyone who had contributed to such a successful year.

After the formal meeting Dr Tertia Barnett from Edinburgh University spoke to members about the Scottish Rock Art Project which aspires to reassess and create a database of the wealth of rock art in Scotland. She invited ACFA to take part in the project.

The guest speaker after lunch was Dr Paul Murtagh from the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership.  A number of ACFA members have already worked on surveys for the project. After an introduction to the background of the project Dr Murtagh gave a presentation about the history and archaeology of the orchards of the Clyde Valley which are the next focus for CAVLP.  Volunteers are sought for this project and more details of survey dates will be announced in due course.

Left: Members survey a house site at Balephetrish, Tiree Photo A Blackwood