By Sophie Durbin
As a UHI Archaeology Institute PhD student, studying part-time by distance, primarily concerned with remoteness as a lens for engaging with the burial assemblages of early medieval Orkney, I spend a lot of time an ocean away from my subject matter in Minnesota. Nevertheless, I consider on site research in Orkney to be an essential part of my work.
In July, I travelled to Scotland for a research visit generously funded by the Dorothy Dunnett Society. My trip included a stopover in Rousay to participate in the Skaill excavation, time in Kirkwall, and a day in Edinburgh to meet with staff at National Museums Scotland.
I found tremendous value in travelling to Rousay to spend time at Skaill. Despite being a PhD Archaeology student, my work up until now has consisted mostly of desk research, with little experience in excavation contexts. Truly digging in a trench for the first time inspired me to pursue more field experiences moving forward, and to hopefully return to Skaill next year.
On the Saturday afternoon of my visit, I peeled away from the dig site to walk along the coast to the find site for the Westness cemetery, which contains graves from both Pictish and Norse populations that once inhabited the island.
While this was only an 11-minute walk from Skaill, I felt a world away. The sky, wind, and horizon were all around me; being there, it was easier to imagine how people may have arrived at a funeral by boat, and to consider how the island of Eynhallow would have played into the landscape. The boundlessness of the experience led me to conclude that I would be focusing on this particular site as one of my case studies for the PhD, a conclusion that felt like both a revelation and an inevitability.
Back in Kirkwall, I spent a day with my supervisors Dr Antonia Thomas, Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon and Dr Siobhan Cooke-Miller visiting refreshed Orkney Museum galleries, the Orkney Archive, and the Sites and Monument Records office at the UHI Archaeology Institute. We also spent ample time discussing future directions I may take in my PhD. The face-to-face conversation and graciously individualised attention was unparalleled and made me glad, as always, to have chosen UHI to pursue my postgraduate work.
At National Museums Scotland, I met with Dr Adrian Maldonado, who kindly first showed me finds from Westness at the NMS Collections Centre. We then moved to the museum’s main location on Chambers Street and walked through the museum galleries to see other finds as they are displayed.
This was where I finally encountered the Westness brooch pin, an object I have been entranced with for years and which played a major role in the case studies I considered for my MA in Contemporary Art and Archaeology. Considering these objects carefully in person, I considered aspects I had not fully grasped when looking at photos online, however high quality. I look forward to implementing these observations into my research moving forward.
As part of my award follow-up I will also be contributing an article summarising my experience to Whispering Gallery, the official magazine of the Dorothy Dunnett Society. I encourage other UHI students to consider applying for this award in the coming year and thank the society for their kind support, without which I could not have made this trip.
We’d be delighted to hear from anyone considering a self-funded MRes or PhD. Our research themes and topics are outlined here and if any of those are of interest, contact Professor Jane Downes for more information.
