Heritage, Community and Sustainability: Researching the Later Historical Archaeology of Colonsay

Communities that are good at learning are more resilient, responsive to change and sustainable. We propose a project to bring together a network of community, university and heritage sector researchers to investigate the late medieval and early modern archaeological heritage of Colonsay in Argyll, and to research the social learning processes this entails. Co-producing heritage knowledge in this way will enhance the learning capacity and sustainability of the island community and contribute to understanding of the heritage and sustainability link. Colonsay was once the centre of a maritime kingdom associated with the Lord of the Isles and has a unique cultural heritage that is little explored. Today it is one of Scotland's most remote and fragile communities. While there is considerable local interest in developing the heritage of the island, financial and human resource capacity is limited and there is a clear need for initiatives to enhance community capacity to ensure the island is self-sustaining and resilient to future challenges. Working closely with community partners we will run a programme of community-based learning and knowledge exchange in archaeological and landscape survey field methodologies. This will include a detailed desk-based assessment of documentary, cartographic and illustrative resources; a detailed programme of landscape survey, and an archaeological investigation of a number of targeted sites. Key outcomes will include a cultural landscape archive to generate an online resource and a physical community mounted exhibition, and enhanced community capacity to access future community heritage funding. A parallel qualitative research study of social learning will develop evaluative and theoretical frameworks to link heritage social learning to enhance adaptive capacity and resilience. This rich co-production process will add significantly to understanding of the late medieval early modern archaeology of the region; create a valuable community heritage resource to contribute to future community-led heritage tourism projects; and, enhance community learning capacity and understanding of heritage and sustainability.

The project will be developed in partnership with the local community and as a result relationships have already been established with interested parties. An initial archaeological dig was undertaken at Dun Cholla on 18th June 2012 and involved the local primary school and community stakeholders. Community representatives from Colonsay were also involved in a workshop weekend organised by University of Ulster in Kilmartin in September 2012. This brought representatives from groups involved in the earlier Phase 1 AHRC Connecting Communities (CC) call (Millstrand Primary, Portrush; Bushmills Folklore and History Group; Ballintoy Historical Society and Tayvallich Primary School, Argyll) together to discuss their work and build a stronger network for future participation. It is envisaged that this network of community groups (currently funded through All Our Stories-AOS) will integrate into this proposed project and participate in its fieldwork and workshop programme. Having previously established this network enables the immediate integration of the projects and expands the potential impact of both.
The primary beneficiaries of this project will be the Colonsay and Oransay community as the project is designed to significantly enhance their understanding of the built cultural heritage of the island and allow them to develop their own capacity to investigate their past landscape histories. This project will provide an excellent training environment not only for the local community but for Queens University Students who will benefit through their involvement in archaeological investigation and geophysical survey fieldwork. Both groups will be able to gain practical experience in landscape survey techniques, archaeological excavation and interpretation of heritage sites.
Such an intensive project will serve as an exemplar of how a landscape and community-specific project will operate, providing a model of best practice for other communities to learn from. Little is known about the historical archaeologies of this whole region with few investigations having taken place to date. This work will significantly enhance our understandings of the later historical period in Colonsay and it is envisaged that the programme of project activities and training will result in the production of a cultural heritage archive. This archive coupled with enhanced community capacity can facilitate the continuation of heritage focused activities on Colonsay thereby providing an enhanced attraction for visitors, promoting sustainable heritage tourism and contributing to regeneration and economic development of Colonsay. Letters of support for the project are included from the Colonsay and Oransay Heritage Trust (COHT), Colonsay Estate, Colonsay Development Company, Colonsay Primary School and Kilmartin House Museum
The Colonsay and Oransay community will also benefit through the production of a co-authored monograph and poster display based on the research undertaken during the project. This will bring together archaeological, heritage, social science, geographic and lay expertise and build on the approach of working 'with' communities. The broader academic community will benefit through the dissemination of academic research papers across the archaeological community and in the production of analytical frameworks to assess social learning for heritage knowledge co-production and enhanced adaptive capacity.