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Notice is hereby given that the Sixth Annual General Meeting of the Members of THE SCAPE TRUST will be held in St Mary’s College Hall, South Street, St Andrews on Monday, 14th May 2007at 10.30 a.m.
Agenda:
1. To approve the minutes of the Second Annual General meeting held on Wednesday 31st May 2006.
2. In accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company:-
2.1 to approve the retiral from office of one third of the directors (to the nearest round number) of the Company. The three remaining original directors to retire and one other determined by lot from those longest-serving in office.
2.2 to re-appoint as a director of the Company any member in respect of whom a written notice of willingness to accept such an appointment has been received.
3. To receive the Chairman's Report and the draft accounts of the Company for the year ended 31st March 2007.
4. To consider the re-appointment Messrs Minto, Finnie, Parsons, Turnbull, Chartered Accountants of St Andrews as Auditors of the Company, and to determine their remuneration.
5. To deal with any other competent business.
SCAPE welcomed a new member of staff – Labhaoise McKenna on the 9th November 2006. Labhaoise is a coastal and marine archaeologist and was previously employed by Wessex Archaeology. She will be working on coastal archaeological projects throughout Scotland with Tom and Katinka.
Between 26th September and 8th October 2006 The SCAPE Trust and Access Archaeology carried out a two-week evaluation of an eroding settlement mound at Baile Sear on the west coast of North Uist. The results of the excavation show that the site is a large settlement site and that the archaeology extends back into the machair behind the frontal dunes. Several stone structures were uncovered including the remains of two circular structures and a possible rectangular building. SCAPE staff are now working on the data and the finds which include quern stones, a mortar, decorated pottery and disarticulated human remains. The site report will be availble in the 'publications' section of this website in due course.
|
Members of Access Archaeology excavating archaeological features at Baile Sear |
Alice Roberts interviews Tom Dawson for the BBC
Coast programme |
The second season of excavation at the eroding Iron Age structures on Unst, Shetland, is due to finish at the end of August. Exciting finds so far this year include a painted pebble found on the floor of one of the buildings and a piece of soapstone shaped to act as a funnel. The dig has attracted many visitors, including a team from the BBC Coast series. Dr Alice Roberts and the film crew spent two days talking to members of the local Shorewatch group and others from the excavation team. As well as discussing the site and general problems of coastal erosion, the skeleton located last year was examined by Alice, a lecturer in anatomy at the University of Bristol. The programme is due to be aired next spring. |
Information on the size and features of Scotland’s 647 sandy beaches is now available from The Beaches of Scotland reports online. The reports are electronic versions of the original historic studies carried out
during 1969-1981, of all Scotland’s sand beaches, including their associated dunes, links and machair areas. Click here to go the relevant page on the SNH website.
An Annual General Meeting of the SCAPE Trust was held on 31st May 2006 at 10.30 am at the head quarters of the National Trust for Scotland, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.
The problem facing the coast of Scotland from erosion is
grave and The SCAPE Trust is therefore delighted to report
that two organisations have generously agreed to support
SCAPE and its work.
The
Crown Estate
 The
Crown Estate will part-fund one of the Project Officer
positions for the next three years, starting in April.
The Crown Estate owns most of intertidal area and a large
part of the coast edge, and will fund the position through
its Marine Stewardship Fund. Part of the funding will
allow Katinka to
arrange a national photographic competition – aimed
at promoting awareness of the problems of coastal
erosion in Scotland. More about this soon!
March 2006
Historic Scotland
 Historic
Scotland is the main organisation
that devotes time and resources to the threat of erosion
to Scotland’s
archaeological heritage. It has agreed to continue to
support The SCAPE Trust by providing funds to help administer
the Shorewatch project and other SCAPE activities. The
help of Historic Scotland has been crucial in helping
SCAPE to develop, and this further support is warmly
welcomed.
March 2006
The directors
of The SCAPE trust would like to thank both organisations
for their generous assistance.
 Two
human leg bones were spotted eroding from a sand dune
at Ardivachar, South Uist last year during a Shorewatch
visit. The bones were reported to the police (who have
to be informed every time human remains are located)
and a visit was made to check whether a crime had been
committed. Once the police were happy
that foul play was not involved, the bones were taken
away by a team from Cardiff University. They were sent
away for radiocarbon dating, and the results have just
been received. They indicate that the skeleton is probably
dated to 605-655AD, putting it in the Pictish period.
The area of discovery will now be monitored to see
if any other human remains start to erode.
March 2006
SCAPE is currently managing three coastal surveys, and all
are nearing completion.
Once finished, all reports will be made available on
the coastal survey webpage.
Remains of wooden boat at Aberlady
View of the west coast of Colonsay
Loch Carnan, South Uist
 A
survey of the coast from North Berwick to the English border
is being undertaken by EASE Archaeology. The survey includes
a second look at part of the East Lothian coast, originally
examined ten years ago, to see how much has changed.
SCAPE
are completing a survey of the islands of Colonsay and
Oronsay, Inner Hebrides. Although famous for their Viking
discoveries and Mesolitic shell mounds, the main things
recorded have been a series of modified rock shelters and
caves.
GUARD
are finishing a desk-based assessment of the east coast
of North and South Uist and Benbecula, Western Isles. They
are studying maps, aerial photographs and previous archaeological
records to help assess the potential for archaeological
discoveries (see the Shorewatch website: 'Information
about archaeology' page on how to find out about
archaeology in your area). They are also examining the
coast edge to see how prone the area is to erosion.
A very well-preserved skeleton has been located during the SCAPE-led excavation
at Sandwick, Unst, Shetland. The skeleton was lying on its back and was
buried with its knees together. A polished stone disk had been placed by
its head and four interlaced rings (two metal and two bone or ivory) placed
by its arm. The skeleton was buried after the abandonment of the structures
that are the main focus of the excavation, but is still thought to be Late
Iron Age in date due to the finds associated with it. Images
of it are available on the project website.
September 2005
Information about the excavation
of eroding remains at Sandwick Bay, Unst, Shetland
can now be viewed at a new website. The website,
designed by Ingrid Shearer of GUARD, contains
pages on the progress of the excavation, shows
members of the excavation team, has a kids
page and includes an extensive image gallery.
The website can be viewed at www.shorewatch.co.uk/unst
August 2005
The Coastal Zone Assessment
Surveys of the coast of North and South Uist,
Benbecula and Grimsay have now been completed.
The surveys were set up by SCAPE and funded by
Historic Scotland after the devastating storms
that hit the Western Isles in January 2005. The
report on the South Uist, Benbecula and Grimsay
survey, undertaken by EASE Archaeology, is
available here. The North Uist survey report,
undertaken by CFA Archaeology, is almost finished
and will be available soon.
March 2005
The terrible storms of January 2005
had a devastating effect on many parts of the west coast
of Scotland. Particularly badly affected were the Hebridean
islands of Benbecula and North and South Uist. The west
coasts of these islands are mainly composed of sand dunes
and machair, and the strong westerly winds and extraordinary
high tides radically altered the coast in many places.
The SCAPE Trust, in collaboration with Comhairle nan
Eilean Siar, had submitted a proposal to Historic Scotland
to survey the coasts of North Uist and Benbecula before
the storms hit. After the storms, they received numerous
reports of archaeological sites that had been damaged
by the gales. Many fragile sites lay exposed on beaches
or visible in eroding dune faces. Recognising that many
sites were now under grave threat, Historic Scotland
decided to commission the surveys with immediate effect,
adding South Uist to the places to be examined, and deciding
to concentrate on the west coasts of these islands. The
surveys are currently underway, with CFA Archaeology
undertaking the survey of North Uist and EASE Archaeology
working on Benbecula and South Uist.
© SCAPE February 2005
Since 1996, Historic Scotland has
commissioned a series of surveys of parts of the Scottish
coast. Teams of archaeologists have worked with geomorphologists
to record the:
• archaeological
sites
• geology and geomorphology
• erosion class
Some of the surveys quadrupled the number of recorded sites, and the reports
also provided an assessment of the condition of the sites, together with
recommendations for further work. Although these reports contain a wealth
of valuable information, there was limited distribution, with paper copies
available for consultation at the offices of the local authority archaeologists;
Historic Scotland; or the National Monuments Record for Scotland. No digital
copies of the reports undertaken before 2001 were available, meaning that
anyone wishing to view the reports had to travel to their local Sites and
Monuments Record or to Edinburgh. This is about to change, as SCAPE, funded
by Historic Scotland, is producing .pdf versions of all of the reports.
The master copies are being scanned by hand to produce these copies. As
the digital files are so large, the reports are being broken down into
chapters, each of which can be either opened on-line or downloaded onto
your computer. As copies are available, they will be placed on the publications
web pages. To see which areas have been surveyed, and which reports are
available click here.
© SCAPE |
