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Starts: 19:30
Ends: 21:00
Part of Highland Archaeology Festival of Online Talks organised by the Highland Council Historic Environment Team
Two online talks on Caithness: Martin Carruthers (UHI) will talk about recent excavations at Swartigill and Colleen Batey will discuss finds from the important multi-period site at Freswick Links soon to be at North Coast Visitor Centre (former Caithness Horizons).
Bookings via Eventbrite (link).
Online talk organised by Highland Council Historic Environment Team
Highland Council Historic Environment Team.
Phone 077888 35466
Email info@archhighland.org.uk
www.highlandarchaeologyfestival.org
Further Details:
'The importance of local collections at Freswick Links, Caithness'
Talk by Dr Colleen Batey. Although a large number of diagnostic items were recovered during the last phase of excavations at Freswick Links in Caithness by Colleen Batey and ChrisMorris, the work built on earlier investigations by A O Curle and V G Childe in the 1930s and early 1940s. These earlier excavation campaigns benefitted from the use of a locally available workforce, chiefly Simon Bremner who acted as Foreman on A O Curle's excavations. Bremner created his own collection then and in the following years, some of which were donated to the National Museum by his daughter Margaret Rosie in the 1950s. The whole was brought together by Colleen Batey in 1987, including the bulk of the collection which had been retained by Mrs Rosie and family. This is now donated to the North Coast Visitor Centre, and awaits formal accessioning.
Following both Undergraduate and Postgraduate study at Durham University, Colleen Batey graduated with a PhD on the Viking and Late Norse in Caithness. This brought together earlier excavations and recovered stray finds from the site of Freswick Links and formed a backdrop to major excavations at the site which enabled the site’s significance to be more fully contextualised.
Her succeeding archaeological career focussed on excavations at the Earl’s Bu, Orphir and the Brough of Birsay in Orkney, as well as co-directing excavations at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and finds specialist work in Iceland. Following a long career in University teaching at Durham, Leeds, University College London and latterly in Glasgow, she has now retired to live in Orkney. She has an extensive publication record and continues to work on post excavation projects.
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