South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, is home to hundreds of archaeological sites spanning thousands of years of occupation. Despite this rich heritage, incredible preservation conditions, and decades of illuminating archaeological research, there is very little for people to see on the ground. As a result, wider public awareness of, and engagement with, the island’s unique prehistoric and early historic-period heritage is not what it could be. This is something that the Uist Unearthed project has set out to address by reimagining some of these archaeological sites using cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology. The result has been a new app and an exhibition – but how did these come about?
An island rich in archaeology
People have been living in South Uist for millennia, leaving behind them archaeological sites of local, national, and international significance. It should come as no surprise, then, that there has also been a long history of excavation and research on the island, most notably the SEARCH project: a collaboration between Cardiff University and the University of Sheffield that ran between 1988 and 2002. This research initiative included excavation of some of Scotland’s most significant prehistoric and early historic-period sites. The Bronze Age settlement at Cladh Hallan, for example, revealed evidence for complex burial practices hitherto unknown and unidentified elsewhere in Europe (see CA 382). A few miles up the beach, geophysical survey helped the team identify one of Scotland’s largest Viking trading sites at Bornais.
We have the machair – a series of environmental zones on the island’s west side, formed from windblown, calcareous (marine shell) sand – to thank for the excellent survival of archaeological remains in South Uist (its high pH value greatly aids bone preservation, too). The dynamic nature of this shifting landscape has seen features – including entire settlements – being covered for centuries, protecting deeply stratified deposits. This environment became an important part of the settled landscape at the beginning of the Bronze Age approximately 4,000 years ago, and for much of prehistory the machair was a desirable place to live – a busy, bustling landscape, alive with the sound of birdsong, people, and animals.
