RCAHMS: The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Hoy and Waas
Date August 1979 - May 1981
Event ID 1156604
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1156604
The records of archaeological sites included in the RCAHMS list for Hoy and Waas, published in 1989, were revised in May 2023. This task included updates to their location, classification and period, the creation of digital site-area polygons and the arrangement of site descriptions under a project heading. Revision was undertaken by Darroch Bratt and managed by George Geddes, HES. The text below is taken from the original report and outlines its scope and staffing.
'This list of sites and monuments on Hoy and Waas, the sixth list for Orkney in this series, has been prepared by Dr R G Lamb, the Archaeological Officer of the Orkney Heritage Society. The archaeological survey of Orkney has been made possible by a generous annual grant to the Orkney Heritage Society by Occidental of Britain Inc., and the project is also supported by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and the Orkney Islands Council.
The introduction and the entries describing the monuments have been edited by Mr GS Maxwell and Dr J N G Ritchie of the staff of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in order to bring them broadly into line with the format adopted for the Archaeological Sites and Monuments Series produced by the Commission. The introductory section dealing with military history has been contributed by Mr R Mowat, the industrial section by Mr G J Douglas and Mr G P Stell. The assistance of the following colleagues in the preparation of this List is gratefully acknowledged: Mrs Christine Allan, Mr J L Davidson, Mr G J Douglas, Mr I F C Fleming, Mrs L M Ferguson, Miss M McDonald, Mr R Mowat, Mrs D M Murray, Mr G P Stell and Mr J B Stevenson. Mrs L Linge, Scottish Development Department. Ancient Monuments Division, advised on the scheduled sites. In addition to his work on the typescript, Dr Ritchie also visited several sites in the field, and gave encouragement to the survey of
the Whaness Burn complex. It was carried out with the help of Patience Atkinson, Kathleen Hogarth and Andi Ross, and special thanks are due to Keith Fairclough, Hoy Warden for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who discovered and reported two new sites, HY20SW 18 at Whaness Burn, and also HY20SW 19, a site which would never have been found in the course of normal archaeological exploration. Mr Jamie Ashmore discovered and identified site ND38NW 18 at Cantick Head. The special help of Mr J Cload, Hackness Battery, is gratefully acknowledged.
Field-work on Flotta was not possible in late 1988 nor could work on the island of
Graemsay be undertaken'.
