Buckham, Susan

Forsyth, Katherine

Foster, Sally

Jeffrey, Stuart

English

Enlighten: Publications

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 9 8 
M
ute stones can 
speak volumes to 
us all, if we choose 
to listen, and 
Scotland has these 
in abundance: prehistoric carvings 
in living rock and on monuments; 
Roman altars, dedication slabs and 
statuary; early Christian cross-
marked stones, Pictish symbol-
stones, cross-slabs and free-
standing crosses; gravestones, tomb 
sculpture and burial monuments of 
all periods; medieval and modern 
architectural sculpture including 
sundials and fountains; and public 
monuments such as war memorials 
and modern carved sculpture. 
Our appreciation of the past 
relies heavily on the survival of 
stone monuments, buildings 
and landscape features. They 
shape our sense of place and 
identity. If carved, this adds 
further dimensions and depth to 
that appreciation and can tell us 
much more about past peoples, 
their identities, beliefs, tastes, 
technologies and lives. If we 
understand the significance of 
these monuments, by thinking and 
working in ‘joined-up’ ways, then 
we can release their potential to 
tell us about the past.
This was our motivation for 
co-ordinating the production of 
Future Thinking on Carved Stones 
in Scotland: A Research Framework, 
now published online as part 
of the Scottish Archaeology 
Research Framework (ScARF) in 
collaboration with the National 
Committee on Carved Stones in 
Scotland (NCCSS). 
This highly visual resource 
aims to link, inspire, mobilise 
and direct the efforts of anyone 
with an interest in carved 
stone monuments in Scotland. 
It is driven by a desire for a 
more strategic approach to the 
opportunities and challenges 
carved stone monuments present. 
Despite including some of 
Scotland’s most iconic monuments 
and most significant contributions 
to European art and culture, the 
significance of this resource is 
often not fully recognised, nor is 
the seriousness of the threats to it.
The NCCSS takes the view that 
addressing the underlying causes 
of both these problems requires 
targeted research into what 
carved stones can tell us about 
both the past (their historical 
context) and the present (social 
value, national and community 
identity). Research is needed also 
into curatorial issues, including 
the identification of best 
practice: for example, auditing 
and monitoring the resource, 
techniques of conservation 
and management, display and 
interpretation, and the role of 
new technologies in all of these.
The heart of the Future Thinking 
on Carved Stones in Scotland 
project was a series of workshops 
to take stock of existing and 
ongoing research and to identify 
priorities for future research. 
Priority was given to two specific 
Sally Foster, Katherine Forsyth, Susan Buckham and 
Stuart Jeffrey invite us to ‘listen to the stones’ and explore 
the significance and potential of Scotland’s carved stone 
monuments through a new online resource
FUTURE THINKING 
on Carved Stones 
in Scotland
Gravestones of 
medieval and later 
date at Kilmore 
churchyard, Dervaig, 
Isle of Mull
HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 9 8 
Carved stones research
areas that seemed particularly 
pressing or potentially fruitful. 
First, digital recording technology, 
a field where Scotland aspires to 
play a leading role, but in which 
the emphasis to date has been on 
data capture rather than research. 
Second, carved stones associated 
with churches, where so many 
are inevitably found. This is 
because changes in the role of 
churches within local communities, 
specifically accelerating 
redundancy and changes of 
ownership, present particular 
threats to carved stones, while 
increasing use of heritage as a 
means of community regeneration 
offers welcome opportunities. 
A third workshop attracted 65 
participants from England, the Isle 
of Man, Scotland and Wales who 
identified the issues of interest 
to them. Subsequently, when it 
came to preparing the research 
framework for publication, over 30 
contributors supplied invaluable 
ideas, advice, images and text, 
not least in the form of nearly 40 
individual case studies.
The online resource
In the research framework we 
have interpreted ‘carved stone 
monuments’ in a broad and 
inclusive manner, aware that 
the boundaries of this category 
are indistinct. By ‘carving’ we 
understand the use of tools to 
remove part of the stone surface, 
using any of a range of techniques, 
including pecking, grinding, 
gouging, cutting, chiselling, 
scratching and polishing. The 
stones in question may thus be 
incised, carved in various degrees 
of relief, or entirely sculptural. 
The level of technical skill and 
artistic ambition exhibited ranges 
greatly. At one end of the spectrum 
are highly accomplished public 
artworks created by teams of 
professional sculptors, at the other 
extreme are informal carvings, 
scratch art, and graffiti created 
by ordinary people, including 
children, for perhaps little more 
than personal enjoyment. 
Similarly, we use the term 
‘monument’ somewhat loosely to 
convey the principle that the item 
should be or have been earthfast or 
otherwise tied to a specific location. 
So, what will you find? After 
an introduction that describes 
our approach, the current state 
of knowledge of carved stones is 
critically assessed, as is heritage 
and conservation in relation to 
carved stone monuments. This 
review is broadly chronological 
(many people do want to focus 
on a particular period or theme, 
and historically speaking this is a 
more familiar approach to carved 
stones) and is a great starting place 
for understanding what we already 
know and what issues arise from 
this knowledge, not least where the 
gaps in our understanding lie.
But when it comes to the way 
forward we adopted a thematic 
approach, on the basis that this 
better reflects the ways that carved 
stones are used and approached 
in practice, and therefore this 
offers the best hope of making a 
difference: creating knowledge 
and understanding, understanding 
value, securing for the future, and 
engaging and experiencing. This 
is also an approach that celebrates 
and embraces the multi-period, 
multi-theme and multi-disciplinary 
nature of carved stone study and 
mitigates against narrow and 
blinkered ‘silo’ thinking. 
An overarching approach 
to carved stones offers the 
opportunity for a new way of 
thinking about them, without 
adhering to any established and 
outmoded frame of reference. In 
many ways carved stones are a 
touchstone for wider attitudes to 
the historic environment and to 
heritage practices because they 
cross so many boundaries and 
therefore expose so many issues. 
They invite, indeed demand, 
interdisciplinary and cross-
cutting approaches. 
There is a merit to looking 
outside of what we are familiar 
with to identify new methods 
and questions. Those working 
on gravestones can learn from 
those working on prehistoric rock 
carvings, and vice versa. The 
opportunities for cross-fertilisation 
are not just theoretical but also 
technical and practical. Issues 
such as erosion and how to best 
conserve and present carved 
stones, or how to record them, 
are hardly period-specific. That 
is not to say that different types 
of carvings do not have some 
particular problems.
The framework ends with a 
vision for the future, considering 
what success will look like. It 
is accompanied by extensive 
bibliographies, which offer a useful 
resource in their own right, detailed 
summaries of the workshops and, 
of course, the splendid range of 
short case studies we were offered. 
These illustrate many facets of the 
diversity, significance and potential 
of carved stones, including their 
significance to contemporary 
society and communities.
From top: AOC 
Archaeology’s digital 
scanning of the 
prehistoric rock 
art at Ormaig 
near Kilmartin; 
Pictish Eagle Stone, 
Strathpeffer
HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 PB 10 
FURTHER 
READING
Future Thinking on Carved Stones 
in Scotland: A Research Framework 
can be accessed (and downloaded 
from) http://scot.sh/hscarved
Overall, the framework’s 
structure is designed to draw 
out a holistic understanding of 
the value and significance of 
Scotland’s carved stone heritage 
in the 21st century, and reflect on 
what this knowledge then offers 
us. This emphasis on the different 
ways in which carved stones are 
valued provides the best hope of 
making a difference, to carved 
stone studies and to the multiple 
communities that treasure them. 
To this end the framework 
identifies research principles, 
problems, practices, and ideas for 
projects, some enhancing existing 
initiatives and others suggesting 
new directions. 
Materiality, cultural biography 
and landscape recur as 
particularly helpful lenses for 
exploring carved stones and 
their context, while it is clear 
that digital technology still has 
considerable future potential to 
answer our questions. 
The future
The online resource has a 
wiki-format, meaning users can 
continue to breathe life into it so 
that it continues to reflect current 
practice and research priorities 
as these inevitably develop over 
time. We hope, then, that this is 
just the beginning of a process of 
broadening engagement. Ongoing 
communication and capacity 
Above: Future Thinking on Carved Stones 
in Scotland project banner
Left: Nigel Ruckley tests the geology of 
carved stones on the Isle of Oronsay
Below, left: Moray Burial Research Group 
recording buried tombstones at Birnie 
churchyard
building is crucial. 
There is much existing data, 
research, knowledge, experience 
and enthusiasm across the many 
existing communities of interest 
that can be readily brought together 
and utilised. We do not claim to 
have captured everything! But new 
directions and more significant 
investments of effort in particular 
areas are also needed. There is a 
role for everyone... for starters, 
we look forward to you reading 
Future Thinking on Carved Stones in 
Scotland and adding your comments 
and ideas online.
Sally Foster is Lecturer in Heritage 
and Conservation at the University 
of Stirling, where Susan Buckham 
is an Honorary Research Fellow. 
Katherine Forsyth is Reader (Celtic 
and Gaelic) at the University of 
Glasgow. Stuart Jeffrey is Research 
Fellow in International Heritage 
Visualisation at the Digital Design 
Studio of the Glasgow School of Art. 
The project was funded by the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh and a grant 
from Historic Environment Scotland 
to the National Committee on Carved 
Stones in Scotland
Website: www.carvedstones.scot
www.historyscotland.com


Future thinking on carved stones

Enlighten

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 9 8 Mute stones can speak volumes to us all, if we choose to listen, and Scotland has these in abundance: prehistoric carvings in living rock and on monuments; Roman altars, dedication slabs and statuary; early Christian cross-marked stones, Pictish symbol-stones, cross-slabs and free-standing crosses; gravestones, tomb sculpture and burial monuments of all periods; medieval and modern architectural sculpture including sundials and fountains; and public monuments such as war memorials and modern carved sculpture. Our appreciation of the past relies heavily on the survival of stone monuments, buildings and landscape features. They shape our sense of place and identity. If carved, this adds further dimensions and depth to that appreciation and can tell us much more about past peoples, their identities, beliefs, tastes, technologies and lives. If we understand the significance of these monuments, by thinking and working in ‘joined-up’ ways, then we can release their potential to tell us about the past.This was our motivation for co-ordinating the production of Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework, now published online as part of the Scottish Archaeology Research Framework (ScARF) in collaboration with the National Committee on Carved Stones in Scotland (NCCSS). This highly visual resource aims to link, inspire, mobilise and direct the efforts of anyone with an interest in carved stone monuments in Scotland. It is driven by a desire for a more strategic approach to the opportunities and challenges carved stone monuments present. Despite including some of Scotland’s most iconic monuments and most significant contributions to European art and culture, the significance of this resource is often not fully recognised, nor is the seriousness of the threats to it.The NCCSS takes the view that addressing the underlying causes of both these problems requires targeted research into what carved stones can tell us about both the past (their historical context) and the present (social value, national and community identity). Research is needed also into curatorial issues, including the identification of best practice: for example, auditing and monitoring the resource, techniques of conservation and management, display and interpretation, and the role of new technologies in all of these.The heart of the Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland project was a series of workshops to take stock of existing and ongoing research and to identify priorities for future research. Priority was given to two specific Sally Foster, Katherine Forsyth, Susan Buckham and Stuart Jeffrey invite us to ‘listen to the stones’ and explore the significance and potential of Scotland’s carved stone monuments through a new online resourceFUTURE THINKING on Carved Stones in ScotlandGravestones of medieval and later date at Kilmore churchyard, Dervaig, Isle of MullHISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 9 8 Carved stones researchareas that seemed particularly pressing or potentially fruitful. First, digital recording technology, a field where Scotland aspires to play a leading role, but in which the emphasis to date has been on data capture rather than research. Second, carved stones associated with churches, where so many are inevitably found. This is because changes in the role of churches within local communities, specifically accelerating redundancy and changes of ownership, present particular threats to carved stones, while increasing use of heritage as a means of community regeneration offers welcome opportunities. A third workshop attracted 65 participants from England, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales who identified the issues of interest to them. Subsequently, when it came to preparing the research framework for publication, over 30 contributors supplied invaluable ideas, advice, images and text, not least in the form of nearly 40 individual case studies.The online resourceIn the research framework we have interpreted ‘carved stone monuments’ in a broad and inclusive manner, aware that the boundaries of this category are indistinct. By ‘carving’ we understand the use of tools to remove part of the stone surface, using any of a range of techniques, including pecking, grinding, gouging, cutting, chiselling, scratching and polishing. The stones in question may thus be incised, carved in various degrees of relief, or entirely sculptural. The level of technical skill and artistic ambition exhibited ranges greatly. At one end of the spectrum are highly accomplished public artworks created by teams of professional sculptors, at the other extreme are informal carvings, scratch art, and graffiti created by ordinary people, including children, for perhaps little more than personal enjoyment. Similarly, we use the term ‘monument’ somewhat loosely to convey the principle that the item should be or have been earthfast or otherwise tied to a specific location. So, what will you find? After an introduction that describes our approach, the current state of knowledge of carved stones is critically assessed, as is heritage and conservation in relation to carved stone monuments. This review is broadly chronological (many people do want to focus on a particular period or theme, and historically speaking this is a more familiar approach to carved stones) and is a great starting place for understanding what we already know and what issues arise from this knowledge, not least where the gaps in our understanding lie.But when it comes to the way forward we adopted a thematic approach, on the basis that this better reflects the ways that carved stones are used and approached in practice, and therefore this offers the best hope of making a difference: creating knowledge and understanding, understanding value, securing for the future, and engaging and experiencing. This is also an approach that celebrates and embraces the multi-period, multi-theme and multi-disciplinary nature of carved stone study and mitigates against narrow and blinkered ‘silo’ thinking. An overarching approach to carved stones offers the opportunity for a new way of thinking about them, without adhering to any established and outmoded frame of reference. In many ways carved stones are a touchstone for wider attitudes to the historic environment and to heritage practices because they cross so many boundaries and therefore expose so many issues. They invite, indeed demand, interdisciplinary and cross-cutting approaches. There is a merit to looking outside of what we are familiar with to identify new methods and questions. Those working on gravestones can learn from those working on prehistoric rock carvings, and vice versa. The opportunities for cross-fertilisation are not just theoretical but also technical and practical. Issues such as erosion and how to best conserve and present carved stones, or how to record them, are hardly period-specific. That is not to say that different types of carvings do not have some particular problems.The framework ends with a vision for the future, considering what success will look like. It is accompanied by extensive bibliographies, which offer a useful resource in their own right, detailed summaries of the workshops and, of course, the splendid range of short case studies we were offered. These illustrate many facets of the diversity, significance and potential of carved stones, including their significance to contemporary society and communities.From top: AOC Archaeology’s digital scanning of the prehistoric rock art at Ormaig near Kilmartin; Pictish Eagle Stone, StrathpefferHISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 PB 10 FURTHER READINGFuture Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland: A Research Framework can be accessed (and downloaded from) http://scot.sh/hscarvedOverall, the framework’s structure is designed to draw out a holistic understanding of the value and significance of Scotland’s carved stone heritage in the 21st century, and reflect on what this knowledge then offers us. This emphasis on the different ways in which carved stones are valued provides the best hope of making a difference, to carved stone studies and to the multiple communities that treasure them. To this end the framework identifies research principles, problems, practices, and ideas for projects, some enhancing existing initiatives and others suggesting new directions. Materiality, cultural biography and landscape recur as particularly helpful lenses for exploring carved stones and their context, while it is clear that digital technology still has considerable future potential to answer our questions. The futureThe online resource has a wiki-format, meaning users can continue to breathe life into it so that it continues to reflect current practice and research priorities as these inevitably develop over time. We hope, then, that this is just the beginning of a process of broadening engagement. Ongoing communication and capacity Above: Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland project bannerLeft: Nigel Ruckley tests the geology of carved stones on the Isle of OronsayBelow, left: Moray Burial Research Group recording buried tombstones at Birnie churchyardbuilding is crucial. There is much existing data, research, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm across the many existing communities of interest that can be readily brought together and utilised. We do not claim to have captured everything! But new directions and more significant investments of effort in particular areas are also needed. There is a role for everyone... for starters, we look forward to you reading Future Thinking on Carved Stones in Scotland and adding your comments and ideas online.Sally Foster is Lecturer in Heritage and Conservation at the University of Stirling, where Susan Buckham is an Honorary Research Fellow. Katherine Forsyth is Reader (Celtic and Gaelic) at the University of Glasgow. Stuart Jeffrey is Research Fellow in International Heritage Visualisation at the Digital Design Studio of the Glasgow School of Art. The project was funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a grant from Historic Environment Scotland to the National Committee on Carved Stones in ScotlandWebsite: www.carvedstones.scotwww.historyscotland.com

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/129965/7/129965.pdf

Future thinking on carved stones

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