It can be tempting to regard western Scotland as a peripheral or marginal area for human settlement, as a cultural backwater where ideas were received rather than places where innovations occurred.
However, prior to the urbanisation of Scotland the balance of population throughout the country was more even, especially during the earlier periods of human colonisation when the range of coastal and other natural resources in the Hebrides would have made them desirable for settlement.  The prehistoric societies in the islands were not only able to survive in this landscape but engaged in the construction of great monuments, such has chambered tombs, stone circles and monumental houses, while in the Historic period the islands occupied a pivotal place in the Norse and Medieval Kingdom of the Isles. Settlement continued to thrive in the region throughout the Late Medieval and Historic Periods culminating in the Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, with the depopulation of entire townships and wide tracts of land.

Join us and explore a wide range of archaeological sites and monuments in Skye & Lochalsh, set within an inspiring landscape.  Let our team archaeologists guide you around some of the well-preserved sites, or join us on one of our landscape surveys and find and record new sites of your own.  In doing so, you will help us to record large areas of prehistoric and historic landscapes of Skye, providing additional information to our rapidly expanding Sites and Monuments Record.

For those who wish to explore the archaeology, wildlife and scenery off the beaten track, try one of our walking & archaeology holidays.  The amount of walking varies from day to day, up to a maximum of ten miles, depending on the terrain and the amount of survey work planned.

Conditions underfoot can be rough and muddy on these excursions, while the locations of the settlements now provide a feeling of remoteness and isolation.  However, the effort required in reaching these sites is rewarded by well-preserved archaeology, spectacular wildlife and grand scenery.