Landscapes Revealed: geophysical survey in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Area, 2002-2011 has been named Current Archaeology‘s book of the year 2023.
The second volume in the UHI Archaeology Institute’s research series, the book documents the remarkable findings of a decade-long survey project using cutting-edge techniques to reveal ancient secrets underlying 285ha of land in Orkney, as well as encompassing world-famous prehistoric sites like Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae.
The award was presented at the Current Archaeology Live! 2023 conference in London on Saturday, February 25. It was the first in-person CA Live! event since the onset of Covid-19 restrictions and was attended by over 400 people.
Authored by Amanda Brend, Nick Card, Jane Downes, Mark Edmonds, and James Moore, the book brings together various forms of survey to documents the evolving character and uses of the Orkney landscape over time, and sheds light on hundreds of prehistoric sites and ceremonial monuments, both newly discovered and already famous.
The project revealed a multi-layered and multifaceted archaeological landscape, both ritual and secular, that extended far beyond the Neolithic.
Accepting the award on behalf of the project team, Professor Jane Downes, the director of the UHI Archaeology Institute, said: “Thank you very much, I am quite overwhelmed given the field of volumes that have been nominated this year. Thank you to all who voted, to Current Archaeology, and to the sponsors of the award.”
Nominations were based on books reviewed in Current Archaeology magazine in 2021/2022 and the winner decided by an online vote. Landscapes Revealed was one of eight books in the running.
Published by Oxbow Books, Landscapes Revealed: Geophysical Survey in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Area, 2002-2011, by Amanda Brend, Nick Card, Jane Downes, Mark Edmonds and James Moore, is available in bookshops, priced £35. Click here to read a review.
This was a bumper year for Orkney archaeology at the CA Awards with two of the four awards going to projects in the county.
The award for Research Project of the Year went to the University of Huddersfield/EASE Archaeology’s genetic analysis of human remains at the Links of Noltland in Westray.
The project, Prehistoric pioneers: how female migrants changed the face of Bronze Age Orkney, revealed evidence of a female-dominated migration into the islands during the Bronze Age.
