History Scotland Magazine: Review - The Landscape of Scotland: A Hidden History

The Landscape of Scotland: A Hidden History

C. R. Wickham-Jones

Tempus, in association with RCAHMS, 2001 pp.255, 33 colour + 122 b/w illustrations, 8 maps + 11 figures. ISBN 0752414844. Paperback, 16.99.

This book has a stunning cover photograph but a misleading title. Its subject might better be described as Archaeology in the Scottish Landscape. The author appears to be trying to deal with three overlapping issues within this volume; evidence for how the landscape we see today has changed from the landscape within which the monuments she describes were created; evidence for how man exploited and changed the landscape he found himself in at any period; and the evidence for both of these topics which survives in the modern landscape. The chapter divisions are: Settlements in the landscape; Farming and other land management; Fortification in the landscape; Industry in the landscape; Crossing the landscape; Ceremony and religion in the landscape; and Burials in the landscape. If the emphasis was to be on landscape, it is my view that it would have been better for each chapter to cover a landscape type rather than classes of monument. Surely as archaeologists we should be trying to move towards a more holistic approach to the past, and should be demonstrating the close links between, for example, settlement and burial?

In each chapter, after a short introduction, a number of sites are presented as examples, in chronological order, with a dedicated section of text and one or more illustrations for each. It is not clear why each chapter did not comprise a flowing text, dealing with each example in turn. The chosen format inevitably leads to repetition, and a lot of blank paper, as each site entry starts on a new page. There follows a chapter on the work of the National Monuments Record for Scotland.

Most of the photographs are selected from the National Monuments Record, and are well chosen, though some lose impact by being reproduced at a relatively small size. There is also a section of 33 colour plates, mostly well chosen, though often quite small. There are also location maps for the sites in each chapter, and a few site plans. There are instances where a modern reconstruction drawing might have helped the layman understand better what is being presented. While the author has deliberately chosen photographs for their quality rather than being up-to-date, it would have been interesting to be given the date each photograph was taken, and perhaps occasionally to have a photograph of the site as it is today, to demonstrate how evidence is being lost. The point that there is so much evidence out there to be recorded and interpreted is perhaps slightly diminished by the use of old photographs. The author has deliberately used less well-known examples, particularly of industrial monuments, to demonstrate how much there is out there, not just the high profile sites. She does not claim to be producing a field guide, nor to have given an even coverage of sites over the country (36% of her chosen sites are in Argyll or the Hebrides, with only one each from Tayside and Fife).

However, having said all this, the author demonstrates both her love for and understanding of archaeology, which she defines refreshingly broadly, and a desire to share this enthusiasm with a wider audience. Perhaps some of what is stated in the concluding chapter might have been better presented in the introduction. The author discusses what archaeology is, and how change is inevitable but can be better managed if we understand the past. Perhaps most importantly, using Rum as an example, she discusses the conflict between nature conservation, with its desire to return to what it sees as a natural landscape by removing what are mainly 19th and 20th century introductions and alterations, and the surviving archaeological evidence for mans presence in and adaptation and exploitation of the landscape over several millennia.

This book is aimed at the intelligent lay reader. It is attractive, easy to read, and would be a suitable present for anyone with an interest in the Scottish landscape, or anyone involved in any form of rural development. But it would be particularly relevant to those involved in the heritage industry or nature conservation, as successful conservation needs to involve an understanding of mans past activities, which only archaeology can provide.

Paula Martin
Independent Scholar