ORCA - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Project Officer and Geophysics
• Project Officer for Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology
• Projects Officer

Amanda works as a Project Officer for Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology. Since completing an undergraduate degree at the University of St Andrews and a postgraduate degree at the University of Glasgow, ....see more Area of expertise: geophysical survey, air photograph interpretation and archaeological illustration Amanda works as a Project Officer for Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology. Since completing an undergraduate degree at the University of St Andrews and a postgraduate degree at the University of Glasgow, she has worked on various commercial and research excavations throughout Scotland and northern England, and has excavated extensively in the Northern Isles on a range of sites, dating from the Neolithic to Medieval periods, as well on the community-based SCAPE projects on Unst and Bressay in Shetland. She has experience of a broad range of archaeological skills besides excavation, including archaeological illustration, geophysical survey and air-photo interpretation. Amanda is currently completing a part-time PhD with the University of Durham. Research Interests Amanda's main research interests are the potential of aerial photography for exploring the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age landscapes of eastern Scotland. Through exploring the use of aerial photographs in archaeology she has developed an interest in visual culture in general and the relationship between art, aesthetics and archaeology in particular.

Job Titles:

• Additional Staff Member

Job Titles:

• Additional Staff Member

Job Titles:

• Additional Staff Member

Job Titles:

• Professor

After graduating from Glasgow University in 1989 with a BSc Hons degree in Archaeology, Crane developed a career as a field archaeologist working predominately in the Fens of East Anglia ...see more

Job Titles:

• Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist

Dan's career in archaeology spans over 15 years starting with a First Class Honours degree in Archaeological Science from the University of Sheffield finishing in 2000. He worked in commercial archaeology throughout the UK until completing an MA in Archaeological Practice with distinction at the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute in 2008. Since then he has worked for ORCA as a Project Officer (commercial, research and community projects) and a Teaching Officer for the archaeology department. Dan completed a three-year community training project (2009-2011) with his Hoy and South Walls Landscape Project, funded by the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme (HLF). Since 2015, Dan has held the new post of Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist with the Archaeology Institute and is responsible for developing, implementing and managing community archaeology projects in the Highlands and Islands region. Dan also teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate modules, develops short courses and works with numerous community stakeholder groups and local schools. The post also involves developing and managing the Archaeology Institute volunteer and work placement programme. Key achievements have been to engage new groups, such as youth and schools, in archaeology and develop social media outreach. Dan is research active in Landscape Archaeology, Contemporary Archaeology, Art/Archaeology and experimental creative practice in archaeology. This includes a number of residencies, collaborative/independent projects and workshops, and also conference attendance, conference speaking and publication output.

Job Titles:

• Director of the Ness of Brodgar and LEADER Development Project
• Senior Projects Manager

Nick has worked widely throughout Britain since graduating from Glasgow University with an MA Honours Archaeology. Over the last decade he has directed and managed a wide range of both research and commercial projects for the Orkney Archaeological Trust and latterly for the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology of the University of Highlands and Islands (ORCA). He also contributes to various teaching modules within the Archaeology Department of the University of the Highlands and Islands and has assisted with the establishment of an Archaeology Institute within the University of the Highlands and Islands. Since the inscription of Orkney's World Heritage Site (WHS) the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, he has been involved in research and fieldwork relating to the sites: as director of the excavations at Bookan Chambered Tomb; as co-ordinator of the WHS geophysics programme; and as a major contributor to the Research Agenda. His interests lie in all aspects of the prehistory of Britain and the Highlands and Islands with particular reference to the Neolithic. He has also co-directed the major excavations at the extensive Bronze Age cemetery of the Knowes of Trotty and the Iron Age complex at Mine Howe. Since 2004 Nick has directed the Ness of Brodgar excavations in the very heart of the WHS. This project has evolved from several seasons of small-scale test trenches and evaluations to large scale excavation that has become internationally recognised and reported widely in both the popular and academic press including the cover article in National Geographic August 2014. In 2009 the Ness was recognised by the American Institute of Archaeology; in 2011 it won the Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year; and in 2012 was awarded the international Andante Travel Archaeology Award, having been runner up in 2008. Nick has lectured widely in the UK and abroad at all levels on the Ness excavations, the WHS and Orcadian archaeology in general. Since 2010 he has also undertaken four mini-lecture tours of the USA speaking by invitation to a number of institutions including the Smithsonian, Harvard Clubs of DC and NY, the Sorbonne, the British Museum, the Australian Museum, the AIA in Salem, Oregon, the George Bush Memorial Library in Texas, and the Explorers Club in DC. Recently he was awarded the Samuel Kress lectureship for 2016-17 by the Archaeological Institute of America.

Job Titles:

• P.M
• Senior Project Officer
• Senior Projects Manager for ORCA Marine

Paul has been the Senior Projects Manager for ORCA Marine since 2011, prior to which he was a Senior Projects Officer in ORCA. He has been a professional archaeologist for 30 years, after gaining an Honours degree in Archaeology....see more Paul has been the Senior Projects Manager for ORCA Marine since 2011, prior to which he was a Senior Projects Officer in ORCA. He has been a professional archaeologist for more than 30 years, after gaining an Honours degree in Archaeology at Durham University and a post-graduate qualification in Post-Excavation Studies at Leicester University. Between 1978 and 1983 he excavated all over the UK, and since then has worked almost exclusively in Scotland, on sites dating from the Neolithic to the Second World War, except for except for occasional work on sites and survey projects in Greece, Egypt and Jordan. He has worked extensively in Scottish commercial archaeology on all manner of watching briefs, evaluations, excavations, walkover surveys, landscape surveys and standing building surveys, and produced many desk-based surveys and archaeological impact assessments for inclusion in environmental statements, both on and off-shore. He has authored many technical reports for clients and published refereed articles in archaeological monographs and journals. Research Interests Paul has a particular research interest in and has published several articles on prehistoric and Norse soapstone artefacts from the Northern Isles. He is involved in archaeological research projects on various Bronze Age, Iron Age, Norse and Medieval sites in the Northern Isles, and in fieldwork techniques and post-excavation studies. Paul has research interests in various aspects of marine and maritime heritage, coastal change, connectivity and how people inhabit their maritime worlds. Another major strand of Paul's research includes methods and approaches to the archaeological and cultural heritage aspects of environmental impact assessments, both on and offshore, especially in identifying and evaluating the historic environment and potential impacts on it. This research is especially relevant in application to sustainability issues, renewable energy and other construction developments. Paul is part of the Jarash Hinterland Survey project in Jordan, the objectives of which are to identify, record and make mitigation and management recommendations for archaeological sites threatened with destruction by rapid urban expansion around the internationally important site of ancient Gerasa. It also aims to provide a richer basis for understanding the hinterland of the city and the relationship between city and country. And it gets Paul to somewhere hot and sunny now and again. Sharman, P.M. (1999) ‘The Steatite' in Owen, O.A. and Lowe, C.E. Kebister, Shetland: the archaeology of a prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval farmstead, Edinburgh, 168-178. (Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series 14).

Job Titles:

• Senior Project Manager

Pete joined ORCA in August 2017 and has a wide range of experience in the commercial archaeology sector. Having worked for Southampton City Archaeology Unit during the 1980's, Pete co-founded Southern Archaeolgical Services Ltd in 1990 and expanded the business from 6 to 20 employees. In 2005 he moved to Scotland and became part of the management team for Golspie Recycling and Environmental Action Network which provided kerbside recycling in large parts of Sutherland. Pete founded Archaeology North in 2010 and bought Highland Archaeology Services in 2016, expanding the company from 2 to 8 FTE.

Job Titles:

• Project Officer
• Archaeological Project and Teaching Officer

Rick Barton has worked in archaeology for over 15 years, with the majority of that time spent in the Northern Isles of Scotland. During his time studying archaeology at the University of Bradford, he acquired a large amount of field work experience in Shetland and contributed to the Old Scatness and Jarshof Environs projects as a student and eventually as a supervisor. As part of his training he worked for Oxford Archaeology on several major infrastructure projects, including the M6 toll road construction. He graduated from the University of Bradford in 2003 with a 2:1 honours degree in Archaeology and a Diploma of Professional Archaeology. After graduation he worked with the University of Bradford as a supervisor on numerous projects and as course demonstrator, as well as continuing his involvement with the Old Scatness Project. In 2005 he became a freelance archaeologist in Shetland providing consultation and archaeological services for developments ranging in scale from small private developments to large scale infrastructure projects. He has also been involved in numerous community projects working the Scape Trust and local community groups in Shetland, Orkney and the Scottish Mainland. In 2009 he took over the position of Viking Unst Project Coordinator for the Shetland Amenity Trust. In late 2009 he began working for the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology as a supply Project Officer as well as continuing to provide freelance archaeological services. During this time he has worked as the lead on several major developments in Shetland, focussing on the Laggan Tormore Project and the construction the Shetland Gas Plant and pipelines. In 2015 he took up the post of Project and Teaching Officer with ORCA, based at Orkney College UHI and continues to work on a variety of projects in the Northern Isles and Northern Scotland.

Job Titles:

• Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist

Sean studied archaeology at the University of Liverpool, graduating with a BA Honours degree in 1991. After gaining some experience in commercial archaeology, he completed a MSc in ‘Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy' at the University of Sheffield.....see more

Staffin, Skye (2015 - present). Excavation, outreach. Client: Staffin Community Trust (Funding: Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, Highland Council)