University of St Andrews - Museum Gallery Studies exhibitions
University of St Andrews - Geosciences - Callanish
In 2010, we collaborated on this project with the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews. Taking advice and guidance from the pre-eminent architectural historian of medieval Scotland, Professor Richard Fawcett, OBE FSA FRSE HonFSAScot and from the School of Classics Professor Rebecca Sweetman. Using scale floor and elevation plans provided by Historic Scotland of the cathedral and its surrounding ecclesiastical buildings, as well as site visits with our specialists, we gained a clear understanding of the site's layout. St Andrews Cathedral was once the largest and most important church in Scotland. In the late fifteenth century, the chronicler Walter Bower described St Andrews Cathedral as ‘the lady and mistress of the whole kingdom’. There has been a religious site in St Andrews since the early Middle Ages. In the 1160s, work began on a vast new cathedral, replacing the church now known as St Rule’s. The rebuilt cathedral was eventually consecrated in July 1318 in the presence of King Robert the Bruce. St Andrews Cathedral served as a major religious centre until 1559, when it was ‘reformed’ by Protestant activists who made a bonfire of its religious images. In the years after the Reformation, the cathedral gradually fell into ruins. When Dr Samuel Johnson visited in the 1770s, he commented on the ‘poor remains’ of a formerly ‘spacious and majestic building’. This reconstruction represents the cathedral around 1318. It was created by researchers at the University of St Andrews. The cathedral site is currently managed by Historic Scotland, and a video of our reconstruction can be seen in their visitor centre.
St Andrews Cathedral was once the largest and most important church in Scotland. In the late fifteenth century the chronicler Walter Bower described St Andrews Cathedral as ‘the lady and mistress of the whole kingdom’. There has been a religious site in St Andrews since the early Middle Ages. In the 1160s work began on a vast new cathedral, replacing the church now known as St Rule’s. The rebuilt cathedral was eventually consecrated in July 1318 in the presence of King Robert the Bruce. St Andrews Cathedral served as a major religious centre until 1559, when it was ‘reformed’ by Protestant activists who made a bonfire of its religious images. In the years after the Reformation the cathedral gradually fell into ruins. When Dr Samuel Johnson visited in the 1770s he commented on the ‘poor remains’ of a formerly ‘spacious and majestic building’. This reconstruction shows the cathedral in about 1318. It was created by researchers at the University of St Andrews. The cathedral site is now managed by Historic Scotland, and a version of the reconstruction can be seen in their visitor centre.
St Andrews, St Salvator's College - 1559
St Salvator's Quad is one of the best known landmarks in St Andrews. For more than five centuries the tall tower of St Salvator's has dominated the local skyline. Yet much of the rest of the design of St Salvator's Quad has been completely transformed in the years since Bishop James Kennedy established a College dedicated to Christ the Saviour in 1450. Now researchers from the University of St Andrews and Smart History take a first look at creating a new 3D digital reconstruction of St Salvator's College as it may have appeared in its medieval heyday. This reconstruction of St Salvator's is the first phase in a wider project to digitally reconstruct the appearance of the whole burgh of St Andrews just before the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation permanently changed the townscape of Scotland's religious capital. Digital Reconstruction and video - Sarah Kennedy - Head of Virtual Visualisations - Smart History Historical Research - Dr Bess Rhodes - - Head of Historical Research - Smart History This phase of the project has been funded by St Andrews University Research Impact. impact.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/
St Salvator's Quad is one of the best known landmarks in St Andrews. For more than five centuries the tall tower of St Salvator's has dominated the local skyline. Yet much of the rest of the design of St Salvator's Quad has been completely transformed in the years since Bishop James Kennedy established a College dedicated to Christ the Saviour in 1450.
Holy Trinity Church was for many years the main place of worship for St Andrews' ordinary residents. It was built in the early fifteenth century, near the residential and trading centre of St Andrews. During the late Middle Ages Holy Trinity was regarded as one of Scotland's leading parish churches and was served by about thirty priests. The interior was richly decorated with stained glass, luxurious fabrics, and statues imported from Flanders. In 1547 Holy Trinity was the scene of the first public sermon of the famous Reformer, John Knox. In 1559, Knox again preached in Holy Trinity, commanding the people of St Andrews to purge the city of "monuments of idolatry". Inspired by Knox's words, the local population rejected Catholicism, tore down statues and altars, and sacked St Andrews Cathedral. At the start of the twentieth century Holy Trinity was extensively remodelled. Today, only the tower and some pillars inside the church survive from the Middle Ages. This project was funded by St Andrews Community Trust.
Holy Trinity Church in St Andrews has played a major role in Scotland’s religious life since the Middle Ages. It was central to the events of the Scottish Reformation. Indeed, it was at Holy Trinity that the 16th century Protestant leader John Knox first preached in public. Yet even before this, Holy Trinity was a significant Catholic church. In the 1520s Archbishop James Beaton described it as the most important parish church in the country. Over the generations the buildings of Holy Trinity have undergone major changes. Indeed the church was almost completely rebuilt (barring the tower) at the start of the 20th century.
For over 800 years, Market Street has been the commercial heart of the burgh of St Andrews. This reconstruction shows Market Street during the middle of the sixteenth century – a time when St Andrews was a significant trading centre and the religious capital of Scotland. The reconstruction was created by Smart History and the Open Virtual Worlds Team at the University of St Andrews. It is part of an ongoing project to represent digitally the burgh of St Andrews at the time of the Scottish Reformation. During the Middle Ages, Market Street was a place where residents met to exchange goods, gossip, and watch the punishment of wrongdoers. Funding for the Market Street reconstruction was provided by the St Andrews Community Trust and the University of St Andrews’ Covid-19 Restarting Research Funding Scheme. This work was funded as part of 'Enabling Heritage Response to COVID-19 through Virtual Reality Exhibits, Virtual Museum Infrastructure and Capacity Building'.
For over 800 years Market Street has been the commercial heart of the burgh of St Andrews. This reconstruction shows Market Street during the middle of the sixteenth century – a time when St Andrews was a significant trading centre and the religious capital of Scotland. The reconstruction was created by Smart History and the Open Virtual Worlds Team at the University of St Andrews. It is part of an ongoing project to represent digitally the burgh of St Andrews at the time of the Scottish Reformation. During the Middle Ages, Market Street was a place where local residents met to exchange goods, gossip, and watch the punishment of wrongdoers.
A short clip depicting St Andrews Harbour in 1921. A collaborative project with the St Andrews Preservation Trust. Today, the Scottish burgh of St Andrews is best known for its golf courses and ancient university. However, it also has a long maritime history, stretching back into the Middle Ages. For centuries, St Andrews Harbour was a gateway between Fife and the wider world, with ships trading with Scandinavia and Germany, as well as along the east coast of Scotland. By the early twentieth century, ships had grown larger, and the harbour at St Andrews was too small for most trading vessels. However, it remained home to smaller fishing boats. To this day, a limited number of crab and lobster boats still work from the harbour. This short video tour shows how the harbour may have appeared in the 1920s.
So what is important about 1544? In the spring of 1544, the English king Henry VIII ordered a vast army of about fifteen thousand men north to Scotland.1 Acting on instructions from their monarch, the English forces captured and sacked Leith before turning their attention to the burgh of Edinburgh. In a few days of fierce fighting in early May, the English managed to temporarily gain entry to Edinburgh and set fire to sections of the capital. They also sacked the abbey and royal palace at Holyrood, burnt Leith (and tore down the pier in the harbour), and attacked many castles and smaller burghs around Edinburgh and in southern Fife. The English then returned south, part of the forces travelling by sea, and part going by land (where they continued their trail of destruction). Our depiction of Edinburgh and the Canongate was inspired by a drawing in the British Library made by the English military engineer Richard Lee, who accompanied Hertford’s forces in 1544. Lee’s drawing is the earliest moderately realistic picture of Edinburgh and would influence how the English portrayed the Scottish capital into the seventeenth century (a variant of Lee’s illustration is included in John Speed’s atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, published c.1611). It is possible that Lee’s plan was created to explain the outcome of the Edinburgh expedition to Henry VIII of England. On 19 May 1544 the Earl of Hertford informed Henry that he was sending him ‘Master Lee, who I assure your Majesty hath served in the journey both honestly and willingly, [and] doth bring unto your Highness a plat of Leith and Edinburgh so as your Majesty shall perceive the situations of the same, which is undoubtedly set forth as well as is possible.’ This project was kindly funded by Innovate UK.
The fort at Eyemouth changed the course of history, and not just that of Scotland, it played a significant role in the relationships between Scotland, England and France. Beginning life as an English fortification, it may have been the first Trace Italienne fort in Britain, reflecting the recent developments in warfare with the introduction of canons and gunpowder, which rendered stone walls very vulnerable. The huge earth banks you can still see today were far more effective at withstanding attack from canons, as they could absorb the impact of the cannon balls. - The SCAPE Trust In the 1980’s Dr David Caldwell conducted excavations at Eyemouth Fort. With his knowledge and archaeological evidence, along with historical research undertaken in the School of History, we have created a virtual representation of how we believe the fort may have looked in 1557. The Eyemouth model recreates the English and French fortifications above the town. Constructed during the ‘Rough Wooing’ in the sixteenth century, Eyemouth Fort played a pivotal role in the relationship between Scotland, England and France. All that remains today are the enormous earthworks, and it can be difficult to understand the remains without seeing them from the air. This reconstruction was part of the Virtual Histories Project for Eyemouth Museum.
In 1072 the small Scottish village of Abernethy was the site of a meeting between the King of Scots, Malcolm Canmore, and William of Normandy (who had recently conquered England). In a show of force William brought a fleet of ships up the River Tay, and Malcolm made an oath of loyalty to the English ruler. Exactly what Malcolm believed he was promising is still debated by historians. At this time Abernethy was an important religious centre, and home to a community of Culdees or Céli Dé (which means ‘client of God’ in Gaelic). The Culdees were Christian holy men who followed a form of religious life developed in Ireland during the Early Middle Ages. Today Abernethy is famous for its tall early medieval round tower – an extraordinary survival from the time of the Culdees. There is only one other tower of this type in Scotland (at Brechin Cathedral), although they are more common in Ireland. The tower probably served as a bell tower and treasury. Researchers from the University of St Andrews’ Open Virtual Worlds team and Smart History collaborated with the Tay Landscape Partnership and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust to recreate how Abernethy might have looked in the 1070s. The resulting digital reconstruction shows the tower, church, and dwellings of the Culdees and their tenants. An interactive virtual reality version of the reconstruction can be explored at the Museum of Abernethy.
This reconstruction was created as part of the Tayside Landscape Partnership in collaboration with Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust. It was part of a project to enable people to discover medieval Perth in the year 1440 through 360° virtual images and fascinating facts. Using leaflets, interpretation panels and QR codes to discover more online about Perth's story. All are located within easy walking distance of each other in the city centre. Perth was one of Scotland's most important medieval royal burghs. Many trade routes met here, and ships arrived on high tides from England and the continent. Perth's craftsmen were rich, skilled and influential, and the markets flourished. While little of medieval Perth survives above ground, there is still evidence of this important past throughout the city centre.
Hillforts feature regularly on the landscape of the Ochil and Sidlaw hills and a number have been excavated and studied in the past. Many of those studies were undertaken by Victorian archaeologists, who had no access to carbon dating, but the sites are likely to have been used over a wide time-frame. Though the occupants of each are likely to have been power-brokers within the local area, none straddled the land like those who ruled from Moncreiffe Hill. The stronghold would have been ideal for security and defence, offering commanding views of approach by land or water.
Forteviot was once a Royal Pictish Kingdom. It is where King Kenneth McAlpin united the gaels and picts. This is a reconsturction of a cemetery created by the picts. The Picts created their cemetery a short distance away from an older ceremonial site, probably reflecting the continued imortance of this location.
Earth houses have a long history in the British Isles. Today many people still admire the picturesque mudwall or ‘cob’ cottages of Devon and Somerset. However, earth was also a popular building material in parts of Scotland, with mudwall dwellings once being common in Dumfriesshire, Angus, and the Carse of Gowrie (beside the River Tay). In the Carse of Gowrie local clays were used for building from pre-historic times through to the nineteenth century. Today about forty clay buildings survive in the Carse of Gowrie. The former school house at Cottown is a particularly fine example of the type of clay building that was once common in the Carse. The Cottown School House was begun in the mid-eighteenth century. However, like many vernacular buildings its form evolved over time. The University of St Andrews’ Open Virtual Worlds team and Smart History collaborated with the Tay Landscape Partnership and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust on a representation of the buildings at Cottown as they may have appeared in the nineteenth century. The Cottown School House is now cared for by the National Trust for Scotland.
Buildings that were “made out of the ground upon which they stood” were once the most common vernacular structures in parts of Scotland.
The Illicit Still Experience engages audiences in the area’s unique history in illegal whisky creation and smuggling. The area is now known for famous – and legitimate – distilleries as well as for it’s beautiful and rugged countryside. Using the latest in VR technology, the exhibit aims to immerse visitors into the virtual lost landscape of Ballanloan, a township in the middle of the whisky trade in the 1800’s. The exhibit lets visitors explore in the open world of the virtual environment as well as learn about the whisky making process. It also has a modern tour of locations that can be found today in the landscape. The creation of the interactive was to educate visitors about the history before discovering the landscape in the area for themselves. It also allows entry to locations that may not be easily accessed by all guests to Tomintoul.
This video was created in conjunction with Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust and the University of St Andrews, School of Computer Science, Open Virtual Worlds Research Team as a Student Project in the Summer of 2019. For more information on the project, visit http://pkht.org.uk/projects/current-projects/glenshee/. Glenshee, in north-east Perth and Kinross, is a beautiful and distinctive landscape that is remarkably rich in archaeological remains - from prehistoric stone circles and burial cairns to Pictish longhouses, and the fermtouns and sheilings of the 19th century. The Glenshee Archaeology Project was developed by Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and delivered in partnership with Northlight Heritage between 2012 and 2017. Through ‘citizen science’, the project aimed to address the neglected narrative of north-east Perth and Kinross, uncover the fascinating story of prehistoric and early historic life in Glenshee and share this with residents and visitors. The initial thrust of the project was concerned with the so-called 'Pitcarmick' style buildings in the uplands around the glen and investigated several rare Pictish turf and stone longhouses dating to around 500-1000 AD. It also explored related features of the wider landscape, such as clearance cairns, trackways and boundaries. The Pitcarmick buildings were first identified in the uplands of north-east Perthshire in the late 1980's (RCAHMS 1990). Their date, function and relationship to other archaeological sites remains poorly understood, as very few have been excavated, the notable exception being the site in Strathardle (Carver et al 2013) from which the group takes its name. The site-type is important as early medieval buildings are rarely found elsewhere in Scotland, with the exception of Viking settlement in the Outer Isles (ScARF 2010). Like Pitcarmick, the Lair site comprises a relatively dispersed settlement of long-houses around an earlier prehistoric settlement (itself consisting of round houses of probable late Bronze Age or possibly Iron Age date). These are all set around a ring-cairn of probable earlier Bronze Age date.
During the early nineteenth century crofters driven out from their original homes settled on common land at Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. They established a community which became known as the Bennachie colony. The inhabitants of the colony undertook work such as quarrying, building dry stone walls, and small-scale farming. In the mid-nineteenth century more than 50 people lived at Bennachie. However, they were technically regarded as squatters. During the late nineteenth century local landlords made efforts to clear the community. The person to live in the colony was George Esson, who died in 1939. Researchers from the University of St Andrews’ Open Virtual Worlds team and Smart History worked with the local conservation group the Bailies of Bennachie to represent the appearance of the colony at its height in the mid-nineteenth century. The project also recorded stories about the community. A trail app is available to guide visitors around Bennachie, linking the modern landscape with representations of its historic appearance .Using historical research, digital reconstructions, archaeology, stories song and theater, the app reveals the lives of these incredible people for current and future generations to appreciate. The project was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the inhabitants of many small farming communities in the Scottish Highlands were forced to leave their homes. Under the guise of improvement, landlords drove out traditional subsistence farmers and created a much less densely occupied landscape. One of the communities affected by this process of ‘clearance’ was the township of Caen in Sutherland. Caen was located in the lower part of the Strath of Kildonan. This area was cleared particularly brutally by representatives of the Duke of Sutherland between 1813 and 1819. Several families resisted the clearances, and soldiers were sent from Fort George to maintain order. Today, only a few foundations indicate where a thriving farming community once stood.
The settlement of Caen is located a few miles north of the fishing village of Helmsdale along the Strath of Kildonan road. It is located in a narrow valley along the banks of a tumbling burn that flows into the Helmsdale River.
During the Iron Age the Strath of Kildonan in Sutherland was home to many small farming communities. The relatively mild climate of this period enabled the cultivation of barley, wheat, and oats, and the keeping of horses, sheep, and cattle. Although much of the land had been cleared for agriculture, areas of woodland survived (providing shelter for deer, wild boar, and wolves). The Iron Age residents of Kildonan lived in circular roundhouses, made of stone and turf, with conical thatched roofs. Hut circles from these long ago dwellings can still be seen today. More than 350 hut circles have been identified in Kildonan. The roundhouses provided shelter for humans and animals. They were focused around a central hearth, with bays for sleeping and stalls for animals towards the walls of the house. Roundhouses were common throughout the British Isles. However, many of the roundhouses in Kildonan have specific regional variations – including passageways in the walls. This reconstruction shows how roundhouses near Caen in the Strath of Kildonan may have looked about 2000 years ago. The dwellings are set within a wider landscape, which was already profoundly shaped by human activity. Partial deforestation, and the impact of growing crops and grazing animals, made this Iron Age environment far from its original wild state. A project between Timespan Museum, a cultural organisation in Helmsdale, a village in the very northeast of Scotland, local, global and planetary ambitions to weaponise culture for social change and the University of St Andrews as part of CINE project. CINE - a collaborative digital heritage project between 9 partners and 10 associated partners from Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland. The Lead Partner is Museum Nord. The project is funded by the Northern and Arctic Periphery Programme.
During the nineteenth century the village of Helmsdale in Sutherland was one of the largest centres for herring fishing in Scotland. The village and harbour were built around 1818 as part of efforts at economic development by the Sutherland Estate. The new fishing port was intended to provide employment and housing for families who had been forcibly driven out from farms in the Kildonan area during the Highland clearances. This reconstruction shows how Helmsdale may have looked in about 1890, when the herring trade was still thriving. Fish was unloaded on the shore and then taken along to the curing yards, where it was processed and packed into barrels for transport to other parts of the United Kingdom and overseas. Herring from Helmsdale was sent as far away as the West Indies – where in the early nineteenth century it formed part of the diet of slaves working on the plantations. The modern Timespan centre is on the site of the nineteenth century curing yard represented in this reconstruction.
Helmsdale, a fishing village on the North East coast of Scotland.
"In the late medieval period, Loch Finlaggan in Islay of the Inner Hebrides was an important power base. The two islands of Eilean Mor (or Large Isle) and Eilean na Comhairle (or Council Isle) on the loch were the site of a major residence of the Lords of the Isles, who governed the Hebrides and parts of mainland Scotland and Ulster. A complex of buildings spanned the two islands, connected by a causeway, and served as the administrative and ceremonial centre. Research has revealed the comfort and wealth of the area, with dogs wearing decorative collars, and the Lords and their followers enjoying music, imported wine and board games. The lordship was traditionally held by the MacDonald family, who rule stretched from Antrim in Ireland to the north east of Scotland. Drawing on the findings of the Finlaggan Archaeological Project, researchers at the University of St Andrews and Smart History have created a new digital reconstruction of Finlaggan as it may have appeared in the fifteenth century – in the latter phase of its medieval glory days. During this period, the Scottish kings were trying to reign in the influence of the MacDonalds. In the 1490s, for instance, James IV sent a military expedition to sack Finlaggan, destroying many of the buildings. The site subsequently sank into obscurity.
ase. The two islands of Eilean Mor (or Large Isle) and Eilean na Comhairle (or Council Isle) on Loch Finlaggan were the site of a major residence of the Lords of the Isles – who governed the Hebrides and parts of mainland Scotland and Ulster. Since the early 1990s, the Finlaggan Archaeological Project (led by Dr David Caldwell), in collaboration with the National Museum of Scotland and the Finlaggan Trust, has been seeking to understand Finlaggan’s extraordinary past – uncovering evidence of this site’s residential, administrative, and ceremonial significance.
Jurassic Skye was created as part of an exclusive video, ' Skye Story' created for the AROS Centre on Skye. Cupido started 1st of September 2018. As part of the 'Skye Story', we reconstructed various periods to tell the story of evolution on the island of Skye. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. CUPIDO intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is co-funded by the North Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. The partnership has 14 partners from 7 regions in 6 countries around the North Sea. All in regions with an ageing population, due to both urbanisation and changing demography, and with municipalities that struggle to maintain a basic level of services and common functions. The new approach is to lift forward culture as a driver in local & regional development policies and to explore its potential. Culture in the context of CUPIDO is cultural activities (art, dance, music) as well as cultural heritage. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. The project intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is mainly about the commercialisation of the cultural sector that contributes towards creating vibrant, sustainable rural municipalities/communities that attract people to live, work and enjoy life. The project offers its partners an opportunity to jointly share resources, knowledge and expertise to commercialise the cultural sector. It enables insight into new business approaches, stimulates the development of products and services, and aims at an average of five new start-ups per area and support to existing SME's. Follow CUPIDO in social media #cupidoNSR.
Using archaeological survey data and PointCloud scan data, we have created an accurate 3D interactive reconstruction of Fethaland fishing station as it would have looked in 1890, this gives a better understanding of the history of this site and presents data in a fun interactive way. The site of this old fishing station is being lost to coastal erosion, and the model is a way of preserving this part of our history, before it is lost to the sea. Fethaland lies within two bays at the northern tip of Northmavine and is the farthest north point of Shetland mainland. Fethaland, has a long history of human settlement, spanning from prehistoric times right up until the twentieth century, when the fishing station, established during the 15th and 16th centuries, became redundant. This haaf (deep-sea) fishing station was at one time the busiest in Shetland, with around 60 boats operating from here. The season was short: from June until August. The workers were accommodated in lodges. These huts were drystone with roofs of wood and turf that were removed at the end of each season to protect them from damage by winter storms. The fish were split open and dried on the pebble beach before being exported to market. From the 17th century herring was also brought ashore and salted. This Virtual Histories Project has been a collaboration between The University of St Andrews, Open Virtual Worlds Group based at School of Computer Science, School of History, and the SCAPE Trust and Shetland Museum & Archive.
We created the very successful 'Virtual St Kilda' exhibit for Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum, North Uist in 2014 and again as an updated exhibit with improved technologies and graphics 10 years later in 2024. St Kilda was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1986 for its natural heritage, and extended in 2004 to include its surrounding marine environment and in 2005 to recognise its importance as a cultural landscape. St Kilda is one of the few World Heritage Sites to hold mixed status for its natural and cultural qualities. St Kilda is of Outstanding Universal Value for its exceptional natural beauty and significant habitats. It is unique in the very high bird densities that occur in a relatively small area, linked to its range of complex and varied ecological niches. The complex ecological dynamic in the marine zones is essential to the maintenance of both marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The cultural landscape is an outstanding example of land use resulting from a type of subsistence economy based on the products of birds, agriculture and sheep farming and reflecting age-old traditions. The built structures and field systems, the cleits and the traditional stone houses bear testimony to over two millennia of human occupation in extreme conditions. The National Trust for Scotland owns the archipelago of St Kilda and manages it, in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage, Historic Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council), Ministry of Defense and its agents QinetiQ.
The Skriðuklaustur cloister was the last one to be founded during Iceland’s Catholic period, i.e. shortly before the country’s 16th-century Reformation. It was thus active for less than six decades, and could scarcely be said to have flourished for more than about four decades. The deed of gift is still preserved whereby the couple Sesselja Þorsteinsdóttir and the local sheriff Hallsteinn Þorsteinsson, who lived on the other side of this valley at Víðivellir ytri, donated Skriða farm as the site for a cloister. Although this deed was signed on 8 June 1500, it is considered certain that the cloister was founded sooner, probably in 1493 when Stefán Jónsson, bishop at Skálholt, came on his first visitation to this valley. A legend tells of a 15th-century miracle here in the valley of Fljótsdalur. As was often the case, the Valþjófsstaðir priest rode his horse along the valley in order to attend to a dying parishioner. When he arrived, he discovered that he had lost everything he needed for the last sacrament, Extreme Unction, so a farm boy was sent looking. Following the well-worn trail, he was passing below the farmhouses at Skriða when he noticed the wine chalice standing full of wine on a grassy hummock, with the paten over it holding the bread. This was considered to be a miracle which, according to the legend, was commemorated by building a chapel here, with its altar located where the hummock had been. Somewhat later, the cloister was founded here.
Skriðuklaustur was the last Catholic monastery to be founded in Iceland before the Reformation. In June 1500 the farm of Skriða (in the valley of Fljótsdalur in eastern Iceland) was given to a community of Augustinian canons. However, there had already been religious activity on the site for some years before the official grant. According to local legend, a fifteenth-century priest was going to visit a dying man in the valley of Fljótsdalur when he realised he had lost the bread and wine needed for the sacrament. A boy was sent out to look and miraculously found a full chalice of wine, and a paten holding the bread, standing on the grass by the farm at Skriða. A chapel was built on the site where the bread and wine were found. Later, the Augustinians located their church in the same place. During the mid-sixteenth century religious change was imposed on Iceland by Christian III of Denmark. The Danish government forcibly introduced Protestantism, and in 1554 the monastery at Skriðuklaustur was closed and the lands given to a Lutheran pastor. The buildings occupied by the Augustinians fell into ruins, although the church continued in use for some generations. The site was eventually deconsecrated in 1792. In the early twentieth century the writer Gunnar Gunnarsson bought Skriðuklaustur and built a house not far from the monastic remains. Both the monastic site and the house are now part of a cultural institute which is open to the public.
Laconia Acropolis Virtual Archaeology (LAVA) Project
The Laconia Acropolis Virtual Archaeology project (LAVA) is a cooperative archaeological learning environment developed to address the need for students to be able to engage with realistic archaeological excavation scenarios. The practice of fieldwork lies at the heart of archaeology, yet poses particular problems for the learning of the subject. The opportunities for students to gain real-world fieldwork experience are limited. Even when available, the roles that students can play, and responsibilities that they can take, are constrained. The system helps students collaborate in exploring virtual archaeological excavations and facilitates their construction of an improved understanding of the subject.
Our Dunscaith reconstruction is part of an exclusive video ' Skye Story' created for the AROS Centre on Skye. Cupido started 1st of September 2018. As part of the 'Skye Story', we reconstructed various periods to tell the story of evolution on the island of Skye. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. CUPIDO intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is co-funded by the North Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. The partnership has 14 partners from 7 regions in 6 countries around the North Sea. All in regions with an ageing population, due to both urbanisation and changing demography, and with municipalities that struggle to maintain a basic level of services and common functions. The new approach is to lift forward culture as a driver in local & regional development policies and to explore its potential. Culture in the context of CUPIDO is cultural activities (art, dance, music) as well as cultural heritage. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. The project intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is mainly about the commercialisation of the cultural sector that contributes towards creating vibrant, sustainable rural municipalities/communities that attract people to live, work and enjoy life. The project offers its partners an opportunity to jointly share resources, knowledge and expertise to commercialise the cultural sector. It enables insight into new business approaches, stimulates the development of products and services, and aims at an average of five new start-ups per area and support to existing SME's. Follow CUPIDO in social media #cupidoNSR.
Loch na h-Airde Viking Dockyard - The 12th c. Viking Dockyard on Skye
Our Viking Dockyard reconstruction was part of an exclusive video ' Skye Story' created for the AROS Centre on Skye. Cupido started 1st of September 2018. As part of the 'Skye Story', we reconstructed various periods to tell the story of evolution on the island of Skye. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. CUPIDO intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is co-funded by the North Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. The partnership has 14 partners from 7 regions in 6 countries around the North Sea. All in regions with an ageing population, due to both urbanisation and changing demography, and with municipalities that struggle to maintain a basic level of services and common functions. The new approach is to lift forward culture as a driver in local & regional development policies and to explore its potential. Culture in the context of CUPIDO is cultural activities (art, dance, music) as well as cultural heritage. The project's overall objective is to develop new business opportunities in the cultural and cultural heritage sector around the North Sea, to reinforce the economic position, competitiveness and social cohesion of local rural communities in areas with a declining population. The project intends to strengthen a viable and sustainable future economy, based on the social historic role and core qualities and values of the involved regions, cities and local communities. CUPIDO is mainly about the commercialisation of the cultural sector that contributes towards creating vibrant, sustainable rural municipalities/communities that attract people to live, work and enjoy life. The project offers its partners an opportunity to jointly share resources, knowledge and expertise to commercialise the cultural sector. It enables insight into new business approaches, stimulates the development of products and services, and aims at an average of five new start-ups per area and support to existing SME's. Follow CUPIDO in social media #cupidoNSR.
Loch na h-Airde - Viking Dockyard on Skye
The Berwickshire Marine Reserve was established in the 1980s to protect the remarkable coastal waters between Eyemouth and St Abbs Head. This area of the Scottish coastline is home to a remarkable mix of marine life, including grey seals, bottlenose dolphins, and minke whales. Underwater kelp forests are home to many species of fish and extraordinary creature such as sea urchins, starfish, and sea slugs. To highlight the diversity of underwater habitats the Berwickshire Marine Reserve collaborated with the University of St Andrews’ Open Virtual Worlds team and Smart History on a digital representation of three different marine environments. The team digitally represented a kelp forest, a sandy sea-floor, and a more rocky marine environment. The underwater models were informed by a Seabed Interpretation Project undertaken by the University of St Andrews and Blue Marine Foundation. Previews of the digital environments can be viewed on YouTube. A fuller virtual reality experience has been created for use at St Abbs Visitor Centre and to demonstrate at schools and community events. The project received funding from the Scottish Borders Local Action Group.
The site of Dun an Sticir on North Uist forms a reminder of how different societies adapted and reused structures over time. About 2000 years ago a broch was built on a man-made island in Loch an Sticir. Brochs were relatively tall circular buildings which were used as dwellings and defensive structures by the inhabitants of Northern and Western Scotland during the Iron Age. Dun an Sticir appears to have continued to be inhabited during the Viking period. In the High Middle Ages the (by then very ancient) broch was converted into a small hall or tower house. The Open Virtual Worlds team and Smart History worked with Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre to create a reconstruction of how Dun an Sticir may have appeared during the Iron Age.
Dun an Sticir is an example of how in mediaeval times the original Iron Age 'brochs', hollow walled windowless fortifications often built on islands and reached by a tricky causeway, were later adapted for more domestic purposes. The building of brochs for defensive purposes seems to date from 500 BC. Over the previous thousand years cooler climactic changes had encouraged layers of peat to gradually move downhill, overgrazing had taken its toll, and land for cultivation had become scarcer, forcing people to migrate to the lower ground. Duns comprised a single outer rounded wall, forming a tall tower often rising to 40 feet, mirrored internally by a second curving wall enclosing an inner chamber. This was a relatively straightforward fortification to build in order to protect your land. Erskine Beveridge also found evidence at Dun an Sticir of a gallery six feet above ground level. Remains of two huts where livestock could have been protected could also be seen. The rectangular stone structure built within the walls using the stone available, with its door and window, dates from the mediaeval period. A second island, Eilean na Mi-Chomhairle (the Island of Bad Council), is linked to Dun an Sticir (the Dun of the Skulker) by a causeway. Both Gaelic names suggest a darker and less peaceful era.
Working with the Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP) – members of the MAP Project, Davide Zori Phd and Professor Jesse Byock. Mosfell is in the region East of Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2007, (Scandinavian Section, and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA) was awarded a five-year grant from Arcadia, administered by CMRS, to complete and document the research of the first eleven years of the Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP), an interdisciplinary research project employing the tools of archaeology, history, anthropology, forensics, environmental sciences, and saga studies. MAP is constructing a comprehensive picture of human habitation and environmental change in the Mosfell region of western Iceland during the Middle Ages. The story of how the archaeological research into the farm at Hrísbrú, which was the home of the Mossfellsdælingar – a powerful Viking family of leaders, warrioirs, farmers and legal specialists, can be illuminated through the stories found in the later Sagas and other historical writings of the Icelanders. Using the data that was gathered during that time, we created a 3D reconstruction scale model of the site as it would have been around 1063.
Mosfell is in the region East of Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2007, (Scandinavian Section, and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA) was awarded a five-year grant from Arcadia, administered by CMRS, to complete and document the research of the first eleven years of the Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP), an interdisciplinary research project employing the tools of archaeology, history, anthropology, forensics, environmental sciences, and saga studies. MAP is constructing a comprehensive picture of human habitation and environmental change in the Mosfell region of western Iceland during the Middle Ages.
The Augustinian Abbey of Scone – 1390
Scone Abbey, a historic Augustinian abbey in Scotland, was founded in the 12th century and elevated to an abbey in 1169. The abbey was destroyed by a mob from Dundee during the Reformation in 1559. The site of the Abbey now lies under the front lawn of Scone Palace, but one thing remains: Moot Hill, where Scottish Kings were crowned on the Stone of Destiny. The precise location of Scone Abbey had long remained a mystery, but in July 2007, archaeologists pinpointed the location using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology. Scone Abbey’s structure was revealed to be larger than had once been imagined, and the exact location was pinpointed.
Our depiction of Edinburgh and the Canongate was inspired by a drawing in the British Library made by the English military engineer Richard Lee, who accompanied Hertford’s forces in 1544. Lee’s drawing is the earliest moderately realistic picture of Edinburgh and would influence how the English portrayed the Scottish capital into the seventeenth century (a variant of Lee’s illustration is included in John Speed’s atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, published c.1611). It is possible that Lee’s plan was created to explain the outcome of the Edinburgh expedition to Henry VIII of England. On 19 May 1544 the Earl of Hertford informed Henry that he was sending him ‘Master Lee, who I assure your Majesty hath served in the journey both honestly and willingly, [and] doth bring unto your Highness a plat of Leith and Edinburgh so as your Majesty shall perceive the situations of the same, which is undoubtedly set forth as well as is possible.’
Our depiction of Edinburgh and the Canongate was inspired by a drawing in the British Library made by the English military engineer Richard Lee, who accompanied Hertford’s forces in 1544. Lee’s drawing is the earliest moderately realistic picture of Edinburgh and would influence how the English portrayed the Scottish capital into the seventeenth century (a variant of Lee’s illustration is included in John Speed’s atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, published c.1611). It is possible that Lee’s plan was created to explain the outcome of the Edinburgh expedition to Henry VIII of England. On 19 May 1544 the Earl of Hertford informed Henry that he was sending him ‘Master Lee, who I assure your Majesty hath served in the journey both honestly and willingly, [and] doth bring unto your Highness a plat of Leith and Edinburgh so as your Majesty shall perceive the situations of the same, which is undoubtedly set forth as well as is possible.’ The project was funded by Innovate UK.