GUARD on St Kilda
Archaeological Excavations on St Kilda since 1991
St Kilda is a small group of islands 40 miles west of Lewis in the Western Isles. The islands were inhabited from prehistoric times up until their evacuation in 1930. Life on the islands was based on limited resources and sea birds were important sources of food, oil and feathers. Possibly as a result of this extreme existence, many features in the landscape are unique to St Kilda, the cleitan in particular (small drystone buildings used for storage). The islands were given to the National Trust for Scotland [external link] in 1957 and in the late 1950’s the Ministry of Defence established a radar tracking station on St Kilda. In recognition of the unique aspects of the islands, St Kilda was awarded dual World Heritage status in 2005 for its natural and cultural heritage.
Once the islands were in the care of the NTS, volunteer work parties were established to repair and maintain the buildings and structures on the main island of Hirta. Archaeological investigations developed out of this volunteer programme, initially under the direction of the University of Durham [external link] and from the early 1990’s by the University of Glasgow [external link] and GUARD. In addition to working with the volunteer programme, GUARD also provided the first seasonal archaeological warden for the islands to monitor and manage the cultural heritage of the islands.
Map showing the location of the St Kilda archipelago and the main island of Hirta.
The fieldwork undertaken by Glasgow University has investigated four areas on the main island of Hirta: Ruaival, An Lag bho Tuath, Mullagh Sgar and in the Village itself. The work has included excavation, trial trenching, topographic survey and geophysical survey and has usually been undertaken over a four week period in June and July, with two volunteer work parties under the supervision of two GUARD staff members.
GUARD work from 1995-99 (Mullach Sgar)
GUARD work from 1999- 2003 (Mullach Sgar)
Geophysics Survey in the village, St Kilda
Looking towards Carn Mor from Ruival
©2006 GUARD. All rights reserved. Last Updated:February 2007