Previous Evening Talks
Please see below for talks previously held in 2022. From Vikings in Argyll to early Scottish saints, there’s a broad range of historical, cultural and archaeological topics to enjoy.
To view our upcoming talks, please see Evening Talks.
16th November 2023 at 7pm
Carbon Legacy: A Response to the Cursus Monument in Kilmartin Glen
A talk by artist, Lizzie Rose
Artist Lizzie Rose will talk about her multi-disciplinary installation presently exhibited at Kilmartin Museum; a creative response to the Neolithic cursus monument in Kilmartin Glen.
A sharing of thoughts, and the collaborative process of the installation. Inherited Actions and our Influence on the Future: the cursus monument has left us a literal carbon footprint, carbon marks on the landscape that resonate with the human-induced climate crisis.
Charred oak posts are ghosts of a previous human intervention. 375 living trees act as a reminder, restoring what was taken, gifting to the future. Carbonisation reminds us of our ever-impactful actions, and words collate conversations shared and hopes for the future. Can we choose to create alternative monuments and become good ancestors?
375 oak saplings will be planted, as a collaborative action, around the site where the original monument stood, and in the museum grounds, towards the end of the exhibition period, creating a living legacy in Kilmartin Glen.
Thursday, 21st September 2023 at 7pm
Northern Malefice: Witch-Hunting and Witch Beliefs in the Scottish Highlands
Dr Lizanne Henderson
University of Glasgow
Although prosecutions in the Highland region, though far from absent, were fewer than in the Lowlands throughout the period of the witch-hunts, the region produced some of the earliest cases and is infamous for having the last known witch execution in Scotland. This talk will suggest some possibilities as to why there was a marked difference in witch-hunting experiences between the Highlands and Lowlands. It will also explore what the nature of witch belief was in a Highland context through examination of a few selected trials for witchcraft in the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries to again ask if there was anything distinctive about the Highland experience.
Thursday 20th July 2023
7.00pm BST
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
The significance of Argyll’s Temperate Rainforest: Insights into the Past, Present and Future of the Native Woodlands of Argyll
Gordon Gray Stephens
Director of the Native Woods Cooperative (Scotland) Ltd
Gordon Gray Stephens has been involved in the management and restoration of parts of Argyll’s temperate rainforest for over 30 years. He is currently helping to develop landscape scale restoration projects within Argyll, and is also a contributor to the ambitious plans for ecosystem restoration being developed by the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest.
Gordon will talk about elements of the pre history and history of woodland in Argyll, before describing their significance today and the main threats that they face. Finally he will look ahead to the potential to restore and expand this internationally important habitat.
Thursday 15th June 2023
7.00pm BST
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
The Gateway to Gigha…
Casey-Jo Zammit
Isle of Gigha Ranger Service
Find out more about this fascinating island which was purchased by the community in 2002 and what they have achieved since then.
Gigha is a tiny southern Hebridean island, steeped in history and legend. Until now, this community owned island has been overshadowed by its impressive neighbours, Islay and Jura. But in 2020 a new project was launched to revive Gigha’s natural, cultural and historical heritage, by providing a gateway both physically and virtually to Gigha’s past and present.
The Gateway to Gigha Project has dug further into the legends and myths, explored the past and people, and provided access where there once was none and left both resident and visitor fearing the mosaic of pasture, dense woodland and wilds.
This evening talk will travel the Gateway map and delve deeper into some of the island's historical heritage that has been brought to the forefront through the project.
The Isle of Gigha Ranger Service was set up in 2020 by the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust who work to protect the island’s historical and natural heritage.
Thursday, 20th April 2023
7.00pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
The Medieval Burial Monuments and Sculpture
of Kilmartin
Dr David Caldwell
Retired Curator, National Museums Scotland
Back by popular demand! Due to technical difficulties last year, we couldn’t record Dr David Caldwell’s Evening Talk for our YouTube Channel. We’ve received so many requests that David has kindly agreed to repeat it for us!
The burial ground at Kilmartin is home to an important collection of medieval burial monuments, mostly grave slabs that have been identified as local West Highland work of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Our speaker looks at why they were produced and by whom.
Dr David Caldwell is a retired curator who spent 38 years working for the National Museum of Scotland. In the 1990s, he directed excavations at Finlaggan in Islay, the centre of the Lordship of the isles.
Thursday 20th January 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Viking Panic? Looking for the 9-12th centuries in Argyll
Dr. Adrian Maldonado
National Museums Scotland
The story of early medieval Argyll is told through overarching narratives: the arrival of the Scots of Dál Riata; incoming missionaries in the age of saints; and the invasions of the Vikings.
A recent reassessment of the National Museums Scotland collections from this period emphasises how material culture tells a different and more interesting story.
Viking-age settlement in mainland Argyll remains extremely sparse, but this is in part due to our expectations of what the Viking Age looks like in Scotland: a replacement of the status quo with new Scandinavian-style settlements and burials.
Much of the evidence for the 9-11th centuries in this area is from small finds and hoards, often in existing settlements. There is also an understudied corpus of early Christian sculpture belonging to this period, alongside reliquaries and shrines which show the growth of the church and cult of saints even after the age of raids.
If we include the evidence for the earliest Romanesque chapels and churches of the 12th century, we can trace the forging of a Gaelic-Norse milieu unique to this area.
Thursday 24th February 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
The rent book: An insight into the economic relationship between MacDougall Chiefs and their tenants during the mid-17th Century
Jennifer Shaw
Archive volunteer, Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds
This fascinating document was discovered in the main house at Dunollie in 2017, tucked away in a locked drawer of the MacDougall family’s monuments chest. The find was quite a breath-taking one, as the contents of the drawer, let alone the Rent Book, were not known in living memory. Our excellent and dedicated volunteer archivist, Jennifer Shaw, spent over a year meticulously transcribing the contents, which were written in secretary hand. The rent book opens up a whole new insight into the economic relationship between the MacDougall Clan Chiefs and their tenants preceding the Jacobite era in Scotland.
If you would like to attend this talk, please sign up using the form below.
Thursday 17th March 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Making saints: a brief guide
Rosemary Power
Research Associate, National University of Ireland, Galway
Who are the early saints of Scotland and Ireland? How did they become saints? What was their role? How did they live? Why were they revered? Did they exist at all? Where do they fit with pilgrim paths of the past? A brief tour for St Patrick's Day of saints known and unknown, imported and native, Martin, Brendan, Columcille, Odhran, Adamnon, and a few more.
Thursday 19th May 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
What’s that Bird?
Pete Creech and Oly Hemmings
Heart Of Argyll Wildlife
How good are you at identifying our feathered friends? Are they always too far away, hidden in the undergrowth or just small and brown? Oly Hemmings and Pete Creech from The Heart and Argyll Wildlife Organisation will take you through some simple methods of identifying birds by their songs, calls, shapes and colours.
Thursday 2nd June 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Cowboys and Indians? A Study of Violence in south-east Scotland c. AD 400 to c. AD 800
Dr. Angela Boyle
Freelance Osteoarchaeologist
The information recovered from the study of human remains can allow us to challenge many of the traditionally held perceptions of past societies. Current multi-facetted research into the evidence for violence in early medieval Scotland will be used to demonstrate this proposition. During the period in question, south-east Scotland experienced several dramatic events including the end of Roman rule, the Anglian invasion and the commencement of Viking attacks.
Osteological analysis of more than 300 skeletons, many of which were excavated in the 19th and first half of the 20th century has demonstrated a high prevalence of violence with particular concentrations on the Pictish frontier in and around the Firth of Forth. What does this tell us about the relationships between Angles, Britons and Picts and the nature of conflict in the area? This research incorporates much material which hitherto has not been examined and the work is complimented by new radiocarbon dates, isotope and aDNA analysis alongside XRF analysis of injuries.
Thursday 16th May 2022
7.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Cord, Cloth and Clothing - a View from Kilmartin
Dr. Susannah Harris
University of Glasgow
Fibrous artefacts, such as cord, textiles and clothing are highly perishable materials that are rarely preserved in the archaeological record - making them incredibly precious and rare.
This contrasts to the central role they once played in the assemblages of people’s daily lives. Investigating traces that have survived the millennia, we examine the earliest evidence of cord and fabrics from Kilmartin Glen and Scotland more widely, then consider how these fibrous materials shaped people’s experience of life and death in the Bronze Age.
Thursday 21st July 2022
6.00 pm
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Metal Detecting and Treasure Trove in Scotland
Sophie Flynn
Treasure Trove in Scotland
Did you know that in Scotland, archaeological artefacts found by members of the public are considered 'Treasure Trove' and can be claimed to enable them to end up in museums. But what is Treasure Trove, and how do you make sure you're following the rules and metal detecting responsibly, in a way the helps us all to learn more about Scotland's history? The Treasure Trove Unit are responsible for recording and processing finds made by detectorists all over Scotland, and we'll be giving an online lecture on Thursday 21st July at 6pm so that we can tell you more about what we do and why. We will introduce you to what Treasure Trove is, how the system works, and what it means for new and established detectorists alike.
Thursday 28th July 2022
6.00 pm
Scottish Traveller History and Heritage
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Davie Donaldson
Scottish Traveller Advocate and Social Justice Campaigner
Scottish Travellers – Nawken in their own language – are one of Scotland's indigenous peoples. The community has been a part of Scotland's landscape, travelling the country's highways and by-ways, for at least the last nine hundred years. Though many of today's Travellers are settled, travelling is still a key part of their identity; with communities expressing deep-rooted belonging within stopping places, highlighting the importance these places have in the teaching and retaining of ancient oral histories.
This heritage has yet to be fully acknowledged within Scotland, and the meaning of these places is not known by Settled communities. This compounds the marginalisation of Scottish Traveller communities who recite oral histories in their processes of making place sacred, reconnecting them as individuals with both their ancestors and the physical landscape.
However, by not making visible the stories, songs and experience of Scottish Traveller stopping places, it also disempowers wider Scottish society from having the opportunity to learn the deep knowledge of our landscape, and how Scottish Travellers have helped shape Scotland's story.
This presentation will explore the ancient connection that Scottish Travellers have with the landscape, focusing on key locations (such as the Tinkers Heart) and their meaning to the community. The session will use both archival material and contemporary oral history to empower the audience to better understand Scottish Traveller history and experience within the landscape.
Thursday 18th August 2022
6.00 pm
Kilmartin v Cochno: Scotland's biggest rock art sites
This talk is now available to watch on our YouTube Channel
Dr. Kenny Brophy
University of Glasgow
In this talk Kenny will reflect on his own programme of fieldwork at the rock art sites of Cochno Stone and West Dunbartonshire, and compare and contrast these sites with the much better-known examples from Kilmartin Glen.
As part of this he will report on his research into the archives of the ‘godfather’ of rock art studies in Scotland, Ronald Morris, where there are unpublished revelations on some of the most famous rock art sites in Scotland.
Thursday 6th October 2022
7.00 pm
The Rocks of Argyll
Jim Malcolm
Kilmartin Museum Guide
An informal discussion from one of Kilmartin Museum's longest-serving volunteers, Jim Malcolm. There is a wide and varied assemblage of rock types in Argyll from every geological period. If you have ever wondered what they are and how they formed then this talk is for you. It won't be overly technical and full of jargon. Jim graduated in 1974 with a degree in Geology and entered the teaching profession where he was fortunate to teach the subject to GCSE and A Level. That will give you a clue as to the level of understanding required – not a lot!
It's a fascinating story that might just blow your mind!
Thursday 17th November 2022
7.00 pm
Placenames, Politics, Settlement and Society in Medieval Argyll, c.AD400–1400
Dr Russell Ó Ríagáin
Queen's University Belfast
This lecture will take a broad view of the evidence that placenames can provide for exploring the history of Atlantic Scotland by investigating them in tandem with historical and archaeological evidence. Having begun with an introduction to sources and methods, it will continue by using placenames to locate the group of dynasties collectively referred to as the Dál Riata, drawing on a range of sources: annals and chronicles, saints' lives, genealogies, and collections of medieval scholarship. Developments in the ecclesiastical landscape will also be treated. The lecture will then examine what seems to be the biggest rupture in the settlement history of the region, which saw the decline of the use of long traditions of enclosed settlement and the appearance of a large number of farm names derived from Old Norse rather than Gaelic. It will then move onto an era bookended by the emergence of Somerled of Argyll, his sons and their descendants, and closed by the settlement of the Great Cause in the time of the Bruces and Stewarts. Taking such a long-term approach has many benefits, as it emphasises the cycles of change at work over several centuries and throws up some surprising results, as will be discussed.
Thursday 19th January 2023
7.00 pm
Situating Viking Age Memorialisation in Southwest Scotland and the Irish Sea Area
Dr Danica Ramsey-Brimberg
Early medieval southwestern Scotland has long been an area in which interactions between different groups of people occurred, creating a distinct place with a vibrant culture. The Viking Age was a particularly impactful period from the turn of the ninth century to the eleventh century. Combining textual references with physical forms of evidence, particularly burials and sculpture, reveals how much of an impact the Viking Age had on the modern-day areas of Dumfries and Galloway. Different groups introduced a mixture of ideas and practices directly from Scandinavia and other areas of the Viking Age world, including the Irish Sea area and up along the coast of western Scotland. However, elements were also fused together, creating entirely new entities unique to Dumfries, Galloway, and their surrounding area. By looking closely, these ideas and practices underscore southwest Scotland significant position amid the larger landscape of the Viking Age world and reflect the transforming and hybridizing society of southwest Scotland.
Thursday 23rd February 2023
7.00 pm
Sacrifice, scrap or something else? Practices of metalwork deposition in Late Bronze Age Britain and Ireland
Dr Matthew Knight
National Museums Scotland
Throughout the Bronze Age, large quantities of metal artefacts were deposited across Europe. Interpretations often centre around whether these deposits may have been sacrificial offerings to deities or else discarded scrap metal intended for recycling. These grand ideas mask the individual decisions local communities made when depositing their objects, such as how objects were treated or what places were chosen. These were practices that allowed people to manage the world in which they lived. This talk will approach Late Bronze Age metalwork deposits made in Argyll and Bute and set them in the wider context of Bronze Age Britain and Ireland to highlight regional variations in approaches to deposition across time and space.
Thursday 16th March 2023
7.00 pm
"Talking torcs: South to North? or North to South?"
Dr. Tess Machling
Independent Researcher
Tess is an archaeologist and researcher, based in St Albans, and has been investigating Iron Age gold torcs since 2015. Working with a team of goldsmiths, silversmiths, replica makers and jewellers – and looking at the torcs from a craft perspective - it has been discovered that many torcs were not cast as was previously assumed, but are instead made of gold sheet.
This talk will look at these findings and examine whether, in light of several northern British torc finds, the previously assumed place of manufacture in East Anglia can be supported. Focussing on the torcs found at Netherurd and Blair Drummond, Tess will aim to show that it is equally possible that torcs were made somewhere else in the UK, with a number of influences beyond East Anglia affecting their design!
