North of Scotland Archaeological Society

20 Year Celebrations

Download Conference Weekend application form here

NOSAS started in 1998, see the About NOSAS tab. A lot has happened since! NOSAS now has more than 125 members, and provides a range of activities, meetings and archaeological projects. We thought it time to celebrate.

The focus of our proposed celebration will be the weekend of 23^rd -25^th March 2018. That weekend will include the following events. Please click on the links for more information.

Friday afternoon – 1400: a walk around Muirtown Basin on the Caledonian Canal. See the Blog post here and further info here.
Friday evening - 1800: buffet meal, Highland Council Chambers
Friday evening - 1900: Fraser Hunter, Curator of National Museums of Scotland: What did the Romans ever do for the Highlands?
Saturday 0930-1700 – a Conference in Highland Council Chambers Inverness, see below. The aim of the conference is to review 20 years of Highland’s community archaeology, and to peer into the next 20 years. What will change? What will we be doing then?
- Details of the conference speakers can be found here.
Saturday evening – 1830 fpr 1900: a conference dinner in the Mercure Hotel, Inverness
Sunday – 1030-1730: a guided field trip, led by Meryl Marshall, in the company of Eve Boyle (Historic Environment Scotland) at Inverlaidnan and Sluggan Bridge, south of Inverness. Further info here.

Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards:

20 Years of NOSAS & Community Archaeology in the Highlands

Highland Council Chambers, Inverness

Morning Session: Looking Backwards Chair - Roland Spencer-Jones, NOSAS

Meryl Marshall, NOSAS - 20 Years of NOSAS
Susan Kruse, ARCH - ARCH and the Community
Tanja Romankiewicz, University of Edinburgh - Rounding up Roundhouses - stories both known and unknown
Dave McBain, Historic Assynt – another 20-year celebration
Nick Lindsay, Clyne Heritage Society - Clyne Heritage, and Brora Salt Pans
NOSAS Slide-show - Activities and People

Afternoon Session: Looking Forwards Chair - Andy Heald, AOC

Graeme Cavers, AOC - The Future of Surveying
Lisa Brown, Historic Environment Scotland - The Future Science of Archaeology
Lynne & Lachlan McKeggie, Highland Archaeology Services - The Future for Excavation
Tom Dawson, SCAPE - The Future of Archaeology and the Media
Panel Discussion with the above speakers: What place does the amateur archaeologist have in this bold new future?

Full details of the conference can be found here. Further details on the speakers here. And a copy of a flyer that you might like to distribute among your friends and organisation here.

In addition, NOSAS is undertaking a number of field trips towards a new publication called Old Routes through Highlands. You can read more details about the publication - here. There is a new blog post by Meryl on one of the proposed routes - Walking the old “Fish Road”: Aultguish Inn to Little Garve Bridge.

Check out the NOSAS Newsletters and Archives, the NOSAS Blog, and our extensive collection of Past Survey Reports to find out just some of what we've been up to over the years.