We are looking for a senior project officer to join our busy team at Orkney College UHI. ORCA is the UHI Archaeology Institute’s archaeological projects unit and part of Orkney Islands Council. It is highly active and provides a wide range of land-based and marine archaeological services across Scotland’s Highlands and Islands and beyond. Applicants for the Senior Archaeological Project Officer post should have a proven track record in commercial archaeology and be able to take a leading role in a range of complex projects, as well as taking full responsibility for a range of smaller archae ..read more

Dates have been set for the rest of the Tombs of the Isles launch events in Orkney’s North Isles – including a new date for Westray, which had to be postponed this week. The talks will introduce Orkney’s Neolithic cairns, while the drop-in events will allow folk to discuss their island’s tombs, view artefacts and explore the creation of island-specific “tomb archives”. Getting the ball rolling is Stronsay, where a team from the UHI Archaeology Institute will be visiting on February 23-24 – the talk in the community hall on the Wednesday night (7.30-9pm) and the drop-in event the following d ..read more

A job vacancy at the UHI Archaeology Institute is a fantastic opportunity to get involved with the world-renowned archaeology of Orkney and northern Scotland. The Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) is the UHI Archaeology Institute’s archaeological projects unit and part of Orkney Islands Council. Based at Orkney College UHI, in Kirkwall, ORCA is highly active and provides a wide range of land-based and marine archaeological services across Scotland’s Highlands and Islands and beyond. We are looking for applications to the post of Senior Project Manager at the busy unit. So, if yo ..read more

Quoyness chambered cairn, Sanday. (Sigurd Towrie) The next two launch events for the Tombs of the Isles project take place in Sanday and Westray next month. Led by the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), part of the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, Tombs of the Isles was commissioned by the North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS). The project will see a programme of research, walks, workshops and archaeological fieldwork (survey, geophysics, excavation) investigate some of the most iconic tombs in the North Isles of Orkney and bring the lesse ..read more

The Swartigill team 2019 The community archaeology excavation at the Burn of Swartigill is now nearing completion for this season. The dig itself is organised by the Yarrows Heritage Trust in collaboration with the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and ORCA Archaeology. Rick Barton, Project Officer with ORCA Archaeology, talks us through the finds of the week….. ​ We have begun our third and final week of excavation for this season at the Burn of Swartigill in Thrumster, Caithness, and it’s time for an update from week two. The theme has been one of rubble r ..read more

Opening the site up for the season The University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, in partnership with the Yarrows Heritage Trust and ORCA Archaeology, have completed their first week of excavation at the community dig, near the Burn of Swartigill. Rick Barton, Project Officer with ORCA Archaeology, talks us through the first week at this intriguing dig in Caithness, Scotland We are at the end of the first week of excavation at the Burn of Swartigill. The covers and tyres came off to reveal that the site had survived well over the winter. The team wasted no time, extending ..read more

The in-situ saddle quern looking towards Kirkwall, Orkney. (Ragnhild Ljosland) Chris Gee with the massive saddle quern revealed by ploughing earlier this month. (Ragnhild Ljosland) A huge prehistoric quernstone is the latest evidence of an Early Neolithic settlement on the outskirts of Kirkwall, Orkney. Ploughing near Saverock, St Ola, earlier this month uncovered the saddle quern and brought it to the surface of the field. It was spotted by Chris Gee, a project officer at ORCA, who has fieldwalked the site, after spring ploughing, since 2014. Aided by volunteers and Archaeology Institute ..read more

The Big Tree in Kirkwall ​The University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and ORCA Archaeology teamed up with Robert Gordon University to begin a series of collaborative projects using advanced digital technology to record heritage across Orkney. On the suggestion of pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School from a heritage workshop last year, the team decided that part of the initial pilot project would involve laser scanning the Big Tree in the centre of Kirkwall. ​The Big Tree is something of an icon in Orkney and is in fact a 200 year old sycamore tree that has been a meetin ..read more

Old wind turbine base at Burgar Hill West Mainland. Photo: Dan Lee. Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology based at Orkney College UHI is looking for volunteers to join the team undertaking the exciting new Orkney Energy Landscapes Project. Join us on the 28th March to complete archaeological recording of the turbine sites at Burgar Hill and Costa Head on 18th April 2020. We will start the surveys at 10.00am and finish by 16.00 on both days. Full training will be given and you do not need any experience of surveying, recording or archaeology. As ever, in March and early April, be prepared ..read more

Wind Turbine Burgar Hill, Orkney. Photo: Dan Lee The Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) based at Orkney College has received a grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Orkney Energy Landscapes Project. The work will be carried out in partnership with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. This exciting new project explores the past, present and future of energy production and the role of energy in shaping the identity of island communities. ORCA’s Lifelong Learning and Outreach Ar ..read more