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New project to study ‘bog bodies’
A new project, entitled ‘Bog Biographies’ and led by researchers at Coventry University, is aiming to improve understanding of the Iron Age phenomenon of ‘bog bodies’. This period appears to have seen a significant increase in the number of people found buried within these watery graves, and in particular the project will examine evidence for contemporary vegetation, reconstructing lost landscapes and exploring how episodes of environmental change and climatic deterioration might have impacted on prehistoric agriculture.
Dr Michelle Farrell, the project lead, said: ‘I’ve always had a fascination with bogs and their ability to preserve organic remains such as pollen grains, which gives us the chance to analyse how the vegetation and environment have changed over time.’
Assessing the archaeology of ageing
The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) fund has awarded a grant to a University of York project that will focus on the lives and experiences of older adults in prehistoric and Roman Europe. Titled ‘Age-Old Stories’, the project will study how societies valued age, wisdom, and experience over thousands of years.
Project lead Dr Lindsey Büster said: ‘Today, over 11 million people in the UK are aged 65-plus and yet ageism is the most common form of prejudice in Europe, and loneliness is described as a “public health epidemic”. By showing how past societies relied on older adults, the project aims to challenge modern stereotypes and start new conversations about ageing.’
Cathkin Park commemorated
Cathkin Park – a rare example of a late 19th- to early 20th-century football stadium – has recently been given Scheduled Monument status by Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
Situated in Glasgow’s South Side, Cathkin Park is now a public park owned by Glasgow City Council, but it was first used as a football ground by Queen’s Park FC (not to be confused with Queens Park Rangers) in 1883 1884, when it was known as Hampden Park. When Queen’s Park’s successes saw them move to a new ground in 1903, the stadium become disused and as such is now one of only a few from this period to have survived without having undergone any major modernisation – offering important insights into how modern football developed in Scotland.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Photo: Historic Environment Scotland
