Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) based at Orkney College has received a grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Orkney Energy Landscapes Project.
The work will be carried out in partnership with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews.
This exciting new project explores the past, present and future of energy production and the role of energy in shaping the identity of island communities. ORCA’s Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist Dan Lee is teaming up with Anthropologist Dr Richard Irvine from the University of St Andrews to undertake activities throughout 2020. These will be based around energy themes of oil, uranium, wind, wave and peat. The year-long project will tour Orkney islands, including Eday and Flotta, and also energy sites in the West Mainland.
Fieldwork will involve archaeological recording at contemporary energy sites, peat coring, oral history interviewing, fieldwalking, community events and schools workshops. Sites include the EMEC’s wave energy test facility at Billia Croo near Stromness. The project will produce a sound archive of stories connected with energy sites and resources for schools. The aim is to explore ways to understand and record energy sites, with the ultimate aim of creating an Orkney Energy Trail.
Anybody interested in delving into Orkney’s energy heritage, wants to help record energy sites, or with stories to share about our energy landscape is welcome to get involved and should contact Enquiries.ORCA@uhi.ac.uk
Orkney has a long history of energy production, from the use of traditional fuels such as peat, to the more recent extraction of oil, exploration of uranium, and the current world leading renewables industry. Energy needs have long shaped Orkney’s landscape, and today the islands are home to a global innovation hub in renewable energy. These industries have left physical traces in the landscape which can be recorded archaeologically, and stories and memories within communities that should be preserved.
Support from the National Lottery will allow participants to explore and record the physical remains of energy sites (e.g. concrete turbine bases, test sites), record stories and memories, and contribute to our understanding of Orkney’s energy landscapes now and for the future. Volunteers will learn skills and assist in recording energy sites and developing the concept and route of a potential future Energy Trail during the activities.
The project will record oral histories of community recollections and experiences of the islands’ energy histories, exploring how the interaction with different energy sources has come to shape contemporary Orkney and its identity.
Dan Lee (ORCA’s Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist) said: “We are really excited about exploring some of the most important and overlooked contemporary archaeological sites in Orkney – those from the renewable and oil industries – and work towards sharing these in an Orkney Energy Trail”
Richard Irvine (Anthropologist, University of St Andrews) added: “From peat cutting to wind turbines, the search for energy sources has played a key role in shaping the identity of these islands. There are energy stories everywhere in the landscape – whether we’re talking about the economic and social impact of oil, or the political self-determination that grew around the threat of Uranium mining, or debates about the role of renewables in Orkney’s future economy. I’m really excited about working with communities to gather these stories.”
Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) offers both terrestrial and marine historic environment services across the Highlands and Islands and north of Scotland. We work closely with a wide range of clients from the renewable energy, electricity transmission, oil and gas sectors in addition to infrastructure developers and legislative bodies, to provide historic environment solutions.
ORCA operates as part of Orkney Islands Council, and within the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute.
You can join the conversation at #OrkneyEnergyLandscapes
An extract from…….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/06/15/heading-to-hoxa-head/
“Carrying on along the path, we saw the ‘Pentalina’ ferry approaching St. Margaret’s Hope, with Hoy and Flotta in the background – you might notice that there are two forms of energy being produced here – a wind turbine on the left, and Flotta oil terminal on the right.”
I read an exchange on the Orkney Archaeology Society Facebook page entry about this project. I’m not on Facebook, so, if Sean is agreeable, I’ll post this, here, as I think it is relevant……….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/02/18/up-costa-hill-before-its-too-late/
I’ll add – note the telegraph pole, next to the cairn – we got used to the telegraph poles, marching across the land. The difference is – they stay still!
Telegraph poles – wind turbines – fossil fuels and all that they entail – Chernobyl?
How much is done for the good of humanity and the planet, and how much is done for profit for the few?
A thorny issue!!!