Funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the excavation by volunteers from the North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS) and the Nautical Archaeology Society will take place at Loch Achilty about 20 miles north-west of Inverness in September 2025.

A volunteer diver from the Nautical Archaeology Society inspects underwater timbers at the Loch Achilty crannog site (© Duncan Ross)

Crannogs are dwellings found on artificial islands over water and were often composed of brush, stone or timber mounds. They are thought to have been first built around 4000 BC in the Neolithic period and continued to be constructed into the 17th century. 

Recent sampling and testing of underwater timbers already recovered from the site by NOSAS has revealed that part of the crannog was built using an oak timber dated to AD 1046 – 1221, and another dated to AD 1323 – 1421.

These dates suggest the crannog was constructed or modified in the medieval period; however, it’s unclear if it was originally constructed earlier. It is currently unknown whether the crannog was used for centuries or just a short time, if it was reused, or when it was finally abandoned. 

NOSAS volunteers surveying the Loch Achilty crannog site in 2022 (© James McComas)

Known crannogs from the medieval period are rare and therefore very few of them have been studied. There is also minimal knowledge of how Highland crannogs throughout history were constructed or how and why they were used. Suggestions range from dwellings of community leaders and symbols of power to ordinary farmsteads of extended family groups set out on water for protection. 

The NOSAS and Nautical Archaeology Society joint project hopes to ascertain the chronology of the Loch Achilty site from first construction to abandonment. Thanks to the £2,415 grant, they will record the underwater features of the crannog to learn more about the construction method and signs of occupation, find additional timbers for radiocarbon dating and, if suitable, dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) to allow for more precise dating. 

They will also look for organic material such as charcoal to be sampled for paleoenvironmental analysis, which could reveal more about the environment around the loch centuries ago. 

According to the University of Aberdeen’s Dr Michael Stratigos FSAScot, “due to the incredible preservation of this type of material, crannogs store exceptional evidence for what the wider environment and climate was like. As we face the challenges of anthropogenic climate change (i.e. climate change originating in human activity), the information stored on crannogs represents a unique opportunity to offer a long-term perspective on our present situation and how people at different times have coped with climate change in the past”. 

An aerial drone photograph of Loch Achilty crannog (© Andy Hickie)

Richard Guest, Project Lead and amateur archaeologist with NOSAS, said:  

“At the moment, we have dates spanning almost 400 years for a structure on the island. Hopefully the excavation of more timbers will lead to more dates and therefore a sequence for how the crannog was used – more specific dates of sequences could help to provide the story of who built the crannog and who used it.” 

Dr Helen Spencer FSAScot, Head of Research at the Society, said:  

“Crannogs contain some of the best-preserved evidence for life in the past in Scotland and are a critically important part of our settlement history which is one of the reasons why we were so excited about this application.  

We are especially grateful to our thousands of Fellows across the globe, whose subscription fees enable us to distribute these grants each year. If you’d also like to support our work, please consider becoming a Fellow to help cover the cost of high-quality research into Scotland’s past”. 

The Society supports high-quality research and publication relating to Scotland’s past by making several grants and awards twice each year. This round awarded a total of £19,793 was awarded between 12 projects: 

• Robert Halliday Gunning, Brazilian Slavery and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland – archival research into the slavery-linked origins and impacts of the philanthropic legacies of Dr Robert Halliday Gunning (1818-1900) 

• The Cairns Excavation Project – supporting a key season of excavation at this well-preserved site in South Ronaldsay, Orkney spanning the Neolithic to Viking/Norse eras 

• Scottish Convict Transport in the 18th Century – archival research to support an analysis of Scottish sentencing patterns and transportation practices  

• Drawing Abbey Ford Finds – archaeological illustration of finds discovered at Cambuskenneth Abbey Ford, Stirling, dating from c.2500 BC to AD 1500 

• Cultivating Empire, William Jackson Hooker and the Glasgow Botanic Gardens – archival research exploring the early career of the Director of the Gardens (1820-1841) and their development in early 19th-century Britain 

• Glencoe Archaeological Project – post-excavation analyses on material from University of Glasgow’s field school at the 17th–18th-century settlement of Achnacon  

• Loch Achtilly Crannog – an underwater excavation of a rare medieval crannog in the Highlands seeking evidence of its construction methods and signs of occupation and use 

• Lismore Post-Excavation Analysis – post-excavation analyses on finds recently discovered at an Early Church monastic site in the Inner Hebrides 

• Replicating the Kirtomy Bronze Age Horsehair Hat – a professional historical costumier will reconstruct a unique 3,000-year-old hat to understand and demonstrate the technique of its manufacture 

• Trees in Shetland: the Analysis and Dating of Crowd-sourced Waterlogged Wood Remains – a collaborative project to identify waterlogged wood remains from peat deposits to expand knowledge of human-landscape interactions in early prehistoric Shetland 

• Northeast Dendro Framework Project: Burghhead – dendrochronological sampling to produce a chronology for this large early medieval promontory fort in Moray 

• Diversity and Scottish travel in Ottoman Greece: the Case of Mary Hamilton Campbell, Lady Ruthven (1789–1885) – research into the life and work of this hitherto marginalised artist, excavator and collector  

You can read about many of our past Society funded research projects here. 

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland grants are open to everyone, and the next deadline is 30 April 2025.