Andante Travels

Introduction

We have created a different kind of archaeological holiday for our two new British programmes and feel excited to be offering them.  Here in the West of Scotland we have invited archaeologists who are or have been researching or working along the Antonine Wall; in Argyll along the west coast; through the Highlands of Inverness and into Perth to come and give us their own introduction to their sites and areas.

We cover a lot of ground and there will be some long drives but this will be an adventurous archaeological journey through the glorious and dramatic landscapes of the Highlands and Islands. This challenging environment was the stimulus for all manner of ingenious responses by the early local population.  ‘Crannogs’, dwellings built on small islands or on stilts in the lochs; ‘brochs’, fortified towers with walls so thick that people could walk around inside them and so high that they could do so on many storeys, and ‘duns’, smaller fortified tower/farmsteads, were built here.

We follow Scotland’s story through the prehistoric and early Pictish peoples, to the arrival of the Romans, discovering her early ambition to take all of Britain, and seeing the archaeological evidence of her failed attempt to do so. We have included a visit to the tiny island of Iona and the monastery founded by St Columba who brought Christianity to Scotland from Ireland.

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival in Edinburgh
18.30 Meet for drinks and introductory lecture by Professor Trevor Watkins before dinner in the Radisson hotel.

Day 2 - Introduction to Edinburgh
Morning guided walk around Edinburgh.  Free time to find your own lunch before meeting at the National Museum for a guided introduction to the archaeology galleries.

Day 3 - The Antonine Wall
Start bright and early by loading up the small coach or mini-buses to meet Professor David Breeze at Cairnpapple Hill, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Scotland with far reaching views, which must have been a significant factor in its original siting (below). Originally a cremation cemetery with an arc of seven holes, then an oval ring of 24 standing stones, later a Bronze Age cairn and a double henge monument was created on the hilltop. The site is an excellent example of how the techniques of archaeology enable the unravelling of the past. We continue now to explore some of the sites along the Antonine Wall. Many stretches of the turf Wall and ditch and its forts and fortlets are still discernable in rural areas despite the fact that much of it lies under heavy modern settlement.  Tracing the wall is interesting in itself, but sites such as the fort at Rough Castle are very rewarding indeed, with clear extensions to the fort, and excavated outworks such as “lilia”, the flower shaped systems of pits into which sharpened piles were driven, against attack.  Turn north in the late afternoon for our drive along Loch Lomond up to Loch Melfort. We will break the journey at Inverary.

Day 4 Prehistory in the Kilmartin Glen
One of the richest archaeological zones in Scotland Kilmartin Glen is like an open air museum spread over a few square miles. We will see standing stones; stone circles; chambered cairns; areas of rock carvings; and other sites. This was clearly the centre of settlement and ritual over thousands of years. The final visit is likely to be to the hilltop stronghold at Dunadd, thought to be a royal centre for the early Scottish kings, possibly even the place of their investiture. It is a short scramble up to the fort, and the reward is a 360 degree panorama over the surrounding countryside. We will be shown around by Roddy Regan who has been surveying (400 new sites discovered!) and excavating here over a number of years.

Day 5 Iona and Early Christianity
Iona is a delight. We reach this tiny island, surrounded by beaches of white sand, via the long island of Mull, so there are two ferry crossings from the mainland. There are few houses on Iona, and the local services have a distinct element of time-warp about them, but the whole place is dominated by the abbey of St Columba – the missionary from Ireland who brought Christianity to Scotland and who settled on Iona in AD563 and built his monastery here. His cell lies close to the Abbey church and excavations here have shown it to have had a sea pebble floor, a rock cut bed and the stone supports for a seat.

Day 6 The Duns and Brochs of the Iron Age
We leave Loch Melfort and drive north past Oban following the coast inland in the direction of Skye. Our route will take us through some very beautiful and remote countryside to meet Steven Birch in the gentle glen in which Iron Age people built three fortified towers which stand alone. We visit Dun Telve (below) and Dun Troddan. Then make the famous crossing to Skye where Dr Birch shows us Dun Beag.

Day 7 The Western Isles – Lewis and Harris
Drive north to Uig to take the ferry across to the Isle of Harris and drive north into Lewis to see the Standing Stones of Callanish – a unique and complex cross-shaped setting of tall, thin stones with outlying stone circles and with a passage grave near its centre. Some kind of astronomical purpose seems evident. There is much to discuss! We then drive to the Broch at Carloway, one of the most complete and certainly one of the most impressively situated of any of the Iron Age fortified brochs of Scotland.  Depending on our local guide, we may find time to see minor sites around the island, and, time allowing, visit the Black House Museum here, which safeguards and showcases a way of life which has now died out on the islands.

Day 8  The Highlands and the Crannog Centre
Leaving Skye, we now drive south-east across the Highlands, crossing the bottom of Loch Ness in order to settle in to our hotel in Kenmoor.  This is a long but beautiful drive and we should arrive in time for a late lunch. This afternoon we meet Dr Nicholas Dixon, founder of the Scottish Crannog Centre round the corner on Loch Tay.  Nick will lead us around the Loch where several crannogs have been found, and introduce the centre, the reconstructed crannog, and his theories on the role of crannogs.

Day 9
Our last morning spent considering the Gask Ridge and the Roman fort at Ardoch, an army base in Flavian and Antonine times, the defences of which are still clearly visible.  Drop off at Edinburgh airport for 16.00 and city by 17.30.

Included

Guide Lecturers - include
Professor Trevor Watkins, introcductory lecture
Dr Trevor Cowie - National Museum of Edinburgh
Professor David Breeze OBE - Cairnpapple Hill and Antonine
Roddy Regan - Kilmartin Glen
Steven Birch - the Duns of Glenelg and Skye
Dr Nicholas Dixon - Scottish Crannog Centre and Loch Tay
Further guides to be confirmed.

Travel Arrangements
Meet at the Radisson Hotel, Edinburgh

Local Travel
Private a/c coach or possibly by two minibuses
(We are hoping to be able to travel in mini-buses, giving us access to sites in more remote areas, and perhaps an even more intimate encounter with rural Scotland, but this has still to be confirmed).

Meals
All meals included except lunch Days 2 & 8; drinks (except water) are not

Entries & tips
Entry to all sites in programme; tips included.

Hotels

2 nights in a very good 4* hotel on the Royal Mile Edinburgh;

3 nights in a delightful hotel on Loch Melfort;

2 nights in a comfortable hotel in Portree, Skye;

1 night a charming hotel in Kenmore on Loch Tay

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