Bringing a landscape to life? Researching and managing ‘The Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ World Heritage Site

Abstract

Since a part of Orkney was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1999, a Management Plan and Research Agenda have been prepared, and an active programme of research is being pursued. The approach taken to the research will be outlined. The results of this research will be described as illustrative of methods that can be adopted elsewhere and of how very quickly our knowledge and understanding of the place is changing. The challenge arising as to how this research feeds into management and interpretation of the Site will be discussed, as will the wider management issues concerning ownership and access.

Keywords:

• Orkney
• World Heritage Site
• Neolithic
• landscape
• geophysical survey
• archaeology

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge with thanks the support and funding from Historic Scotland and Orkney Islands Council for the Orkney WHS research, although it should be noted that the views expressed are those of the authors and not of these organizations. Thanks go to James Moore for preparing the illustrations and for helpful comments, and to Paul Sharman and the anonymous referees for their constructive comments and suggestions. Any inaccuracies or errors are of course the responsibility of the authors.