This paper examines some aspects of Anna Ritchie’s wide-ranging involvement in the archaeology of Scotland, from the Neolithic period onwards. Since her arrival in Edinburgh as a doctoral student of Professor Stuart Piggott (PhD 1970), she has directed excavations, notably in Orkney, researched in a variety of fields, and published extensively for both academic and general readerships. She has also been involved as a trustee of several bodies and is a former President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

At least 7 inscriptions in the ogham script are known from Orkney, all of them recovered during archaeological excavation. The most famous, an ogham-inscribed spindle-whorl, was discovered in 1970 by our honorand herself, during her rescue excavation at Point of Buckquoy (published in Ritchie 1977, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 104). Other portable objects inscribed with ogham include a bone knife-handle from the Broch of Gurness and, possibly, a playing piece from Birsay. To this may be added the ogham-inscribed cross-slab from Burrian, North Ronaldsay, a slab from Pool, Sanday, and the collection of (at least) three building stones with ogham graffiti from the Brough of Birsay. This is a remarkably heterogeneous collection – in terms of form, function, and date – which throws unique light on various aspects of pre-Viking Orkney. Revisiting this body of material in the light of new analysis allows us to deepen our understanding of topics such as literacy, language, and Orcadian connections with Britain and Ireland. In turn, Orkney’s ogham is pivotal in understanding the development of the ogham tradition as a whole.

This paper provides a detailed assessment of the sculpture associated with the early medieval monastery at Abercorn, West Lothian. Abercorn, called Æbbercurnig by Bede, was the site of an important northern Northumbrian ecclesiastical community headed by Bishop Trumwine in the seventh-century. After Northumbrian defeat at the Battle of Dun Nechtain in AD 685, the bishopric was dissolved and ecclesiastical presence at the site likely ceased for some time. The textual record is silent during this period, and Charles Thomas’ excavations (1964-5) provide no evidence of hoped-for early medieval inhabitation. The sculpture record, however, indicates resumed activity by the late eighth or early ninth-century. In particular, the focused investment in free-standing (‘high’) crosses in this period would not only indicate Abercorn’s status and ability to gather the resources and skilled craftsmen needed for their construction, but also points to the site trying to delineate and (re-)position itself within a shifting political world. This paper argues that Abercorn’s sculptural signature not only links it to other sites within the Northumbrian heartland, but that it also provides a distinctive Pictish component – as Anna Ritchie has similarly argued for the early medieval sculpture assemblage at Jedburgh, Roxburghshire (Ritchie 2021).

The economy of the medieval Norse world remained socially embedded long after the nominal introduction of coinage. This appears to have been the case in both the Scandinavian homelands and more distant parts of the diaspora. Excavations at ‘central places’ like Orphir in Orkney illustrate the continued importance of commensality in the centuries after the Viking Age, with rents and other payments rendered largely in kind for conspicuous consumption by the resident jarls and their guests. While the archaeological material suggests that much of this produce was sourced locally, there has been relatively little study of the environmental-historical impact of these cultural practices on the cognitive landscapes of Scotia Scandinavica.

This paper takes it cues from the traces of agricultural production, industrial activity and landscape management preserved in the assemblages from high-status sites including Birsay, Orphir and Kirkwall, and proceeds to examine how they are reflected in the Old Norse components of the surrounding namescapes. Particular attention is given to how Scandinavian innovations have embedded and survived compared to more longstanding staples, and the extent to which they are reflected in the documentary sources of the post-Norse period.

The investigation scrutinises historical maps, rentals, and charters, in conjunction with satellite imagery, Old Norse literary sources, and archaeological site reports, to identify and collate a range of onomastic and extra-linguistic data. This material is then analysed, building on approaches, theories and models developed by Oram, Smout, Sanmark, Lethbridge and others, to gauge the impact of the Scandinavian social economy on the landscape. In so doing, it seeks to further our understanding of how natural resources enabled and set limits for the cultural activity of Scotland’s Norse communities, and how they may have modified their ecosystems in response.

In addition to ogham inscriptions, there are around ten inscriptions in Latin letters on monumental sculpture from Pictland. Inscriptions such as the Drosten Stone at St Vigeans, the Dupplin Cross, and even the complex inscription on the Newton Stone have received considerable scholarly attention. There are, however, several inscribed stones from Scotland that were discovered in the nineteenth century that have since gone missing or were relocated outside of Scotland. Some more recent discoveries have also been overlooked because of their fragmentary nature. This paper is a detective story, following clues such as document trails left behind by antiquarians, rubbings, drawings, and plaster casts, to solve the many mysteries surrounding these inscribed stones, and to explore how their interpretation can further our understanding of the Picts and writing in early Scotland.

This paper will explore Dr Ritchie’s vital contributions to improving our understanding of the Govan Hogbacks and the Govan Stones. The visible contributions include insightful scholarly papers, editing a landmark academic monograph, alongside a range of popular publications and appearing as a TV authority. Behind the scenes she played a significant role in supporting the efforts of the late Revd Tom Davidson Kelly to utilise Govan Old’s cultural heritage to improve the lives of community of Govan. In reflecting on her relationship with Govan there are both the intellectual breakthroughs and the long-term social benefits to be considered.

The Picts left plenty of evidence of their presence in Shetland, leaving a remarkable collection of carved stones, ogham inscriptions and of course, the St Ninian’s Isle treasure. However, the evidence for Pictish settlement has been somewhat elusive.

It was perhaps not until the early years of the excavations at Old Scatness that archaeologists really began to understand what Pictish settlement in Shetland looks like. As one project has led to another, several researchers (including the author) have begun to find Pictish settlement when they were expecting to find something else. Is Pictish settlement hidden in plain sight? If so, where could we now expect to find it and why?

In light of a recent reappraisal of the Viking Age collections at National Museums Scotland, the Pictish to Norse transition at the Brough of Birsay, Orkney is worth revisiting. In particular this paper will look at the evidence for non-ferrous metalworking in light of recent research on the workshops of Portmahomack and Dublin to make the case that the ‘Pictish’ evidence extends further into the ninth century than previous authors have speculated, with implications for how we think about the Viking settlement of Orkney.

Aberlemno has long been known for the famous depiction of a battle on the back of the Aberlemno churchyard cross-slab along with the series of Pictish stones known from Aberlemno roadside and Flemington Farm. Remarkably there has been very little archaeological work or reconnaissance in this landscape. As part of the Leverhulme funded Comparative Kingship project at the University of Aberdeen over 25 hectares of geophysical survey have been conducted along with evaluative fieldwork at two major sites – Balbinny and Flemington. This talk will outline the recent work and the dating obtained for two enclosures, one newly identified and will consider the archaeology of the Aberlemno environs, an area that Anna has long had an interest in and has published on.

This talk is being given solely by Gordon Noble, but is based on joint work with Dr James O’Driscoll.

Dr James O’Driscoll is a Researcher on the Leverhulme funded Comparative Kingship Project at the University of Aberdeen. His research is focused on the application of remote sensing and GIS based techniques in archaeology, with particular emphasis on enclosures and hillforts, their contemporary landscapes and socio-economic setting.

As an Edinburgh undergraduate from the late 1960s, Ian Ralston excavated with both Anna and Graham Ritchie in Argyll and Orkney. He is Abercromby Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh and was elected President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2020. Co-authored with Emeritus Professor Gary Lock (Oxford), the Atlas of the Hillforts of Britain and Ireland will be published in the spring of 2022.

Katherine Forsyth is Professor of Celtic Studies at the University of Glasgow. Her research iinterests lie in the history and culture of the Celtic-speaking peoples in the first millennium AD, with a particular focus on text as material culture. She has published on aspects of Pictish studies and on sculpture in Scotland, and on board-games in Celtic Britain and Ireland, but the main focus of her research is epigraphy, particularly inscriptions in the ogham alphabet. She is currently Principal Investigator for the AHRC-IRC project ‘OG(H)AM: Harnessing digital technologies to transform understanding of ogham writing, from the 4^th century to the 21^st.’

Christina Cowart-Smith is a PhD candidate in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. Her thesis is a transnational archaeological study of free-standing (‘high’) crosses in Britain. The study focuses in particular on non-figural cross components, as these fragments make up the majority of the extant data set. In her spare time she enjoys playing West Highland fiddle music, having played the instrument for 20 years.

Dr Alan Macniven is a Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where he teaches on a range of courses covering the language, literature and culture of modern and medieval Scandinavia. His research has focused on Scotland’s Norse place-names. Alan is currently on research leave working on a field guide to Scotland’s Viking Namescapes for Birlinn Books.

Dr Kelly Kilpatrick is an Affiliate Lecturer in the Department of Classics at the University of Glasgow and an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. She teaches ancient and medieval Celtic material culture, epigraphy, religion, and mythology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and a Vice President and lecture organiser for the Pictish Arts Society.

Stephen Driscoll has been Professor of Historical Archaeology at the University of Glasgow since 2005. His main research is broadly concerned with the archaeology of Scotland’s historic period. He advocates for an interdisciplinary practice integrating archaeological techniques with historical evidence to explore places and social developments of significance to Scotland’s history. His particular expertise lies in the formative early medieval period (AD 400-1100). He co-directed the and recently co-authored the monograph on Royal Forteviot (2020). For nearly three decades he has conducted fieldwork at Govan and taken an active hand in repurposing of the old church into a valuable community cultural asset. Collectively his archaeological investigations represent a career-long effort to transform our understanding of the developments underpinning medieval Scotland by exploring the materiality of its key social institutions – church, monarchy, law and state.

Dr Val Turner has been the Regional Archaeologist for Shetland since 1986, when the post was set up. She has devoted most of her working life to the archaeology of Shetland and her PhD (gained whilst working in post full-time) is in Shetland’s prehistoric landscapes. She has project managed two major archaeological projects: the Excavation of the Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village, and Viking Unst and is currently working on a new project to conserve the site at Old Scatness, as well as seeking World Heritage Status for Shetland’s Iron Age – Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof. She is also working on a book of Archaeological Walks in Shetland.

Dr Adrián Maldonado is an archaeologist specialising in early medieval Scotland, author of Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking Age to Medieval Kingdom (2021). He obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow in 2011, and has been a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Glasgow and the University of Chester. Adrián joined the NMS in 2018 as Glenmorangie Research Fellow, investigating the collections relating to the Viking Age and the origins of the kingdom of Scotland, 9-12th centuries AD. He is now Galloway Hoard Researcher at NMS, providing research support for the ongoing conservation and exhibition of the Galloway Hoard.

Gordon Noble is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen. He currently works on two major funded projects, Northern Picts and Comparative Kingship. His recent book, with Dr K. Brophy, is Prehistoric Forteviot: Excavations of a ceremonial complex in eastern Scotland.

Dr Colleen Batey is a recent past president of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies, and retired from the University of Glasgow in 2019. She is well known in the field of the archaeology of the Highlands and Islands, with specific focus on the Viking and Late Norse periods. Her excavations at Freswick Links in Caithness remain the largest environmental archaeological investigation in Scotland. With excavations carried out from Iceland to Cornwall over a forty-year field career, Colleen now resides in Orkney, from where she continues to undertake online lectures and supervisions. She holds honorary positions at both UHI and the University of Durham, as well as Hunter College New York.

John Borland worked as an archaeological and architectural surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and then Historic Environment Scotland for thirty-six years. He retired as Measured Survey Manager in 2020.

During his working lifetime, he recorded almost every period and type of archaeological and architectural monument, from Neolithic chambered cairns to entire prehistoric landscapes to military structures of WWII. However, he has always had a particular interest in recording carved stones, especially those of the Early Medieval period.

John has been President of the Pictish Arts Society for the past ten years.

Dr Sally Foster is Senior Lecturer in Heritage and Conservation at the University of Stirling. She is the author of Picts, Gaels and Scots (3rd edition published in 2014). Co-produced research and books include Able Minds and Practised Hands: Scotland’s Early Medieval Sculpture in the 21st Century; A Fragmented Masterpiece: Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Cross-Slab and, most recently, My Life as a Replica: St John’s Cross, Iona.  The findings of the Iona research, with Professor Sian Jones, have led to the co-production of New Futures for Replicas: Principles and Guidance for Museums and Heritage.

Dr Christian Cooijmans is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Liverpool. His first monograph, Monarchs and Hydrarchs, has recently been published with Routledge. He is currently the Digital Content Officer for SSNS.

Dr Ian Giles received his PhD in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Edinburgh and is a full-time professional literary translator of Swedish. He is currently the Treasurer of SSNS.

The Scottish Society for Northern Studies (SSNS) is a charity founded in 1968 which encourages the exploration of the interactions and influences of the Scandinavian, Celtic, and Scottish worlds – both within Scotland and further afield.

https://www.ssns.org.uk/

The Pictish Arts Society was founded in 1988. It is the purpose of the PAS to raise public awareness of the Pictish stones, history and culture and to encourage various arts inspired by Pictish design. Membership is open to one and all from across the globe for anyone who has an interest in the Pictish stones and arts.

http://www.thepictishartssociety.org.uk/