Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Now the Wars are Over: The Past, Present and Future of Scottish Battlefields

  • Published:
International Journal of Historical Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Battlefield archaeology has provided a new way of appreciating historic battlefields. This paper provides a summary of the long history of warfare and conflict in Scotland which has given rise to a large number of battlefield sites. Recent moves to highlight the archaeological importance of these sites, in the form of Historic Scotland’s Battlefields Inventory are discussed, along with some of the problems associated with the preservation and management of these important cultural sites.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcock, L., and Alcock, E. A. (1996). Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974–84, 5: Excavations and other fieldwork at Forteviot, Perthshire, 1981; B, Excavations at Urquhart Castle, Inverness-shire, 1983; C, Excavations at Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, 1984. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 122: 215–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banks, I., Pollard, T., and Poller, T. (2006). Leith Open Spaces Project (Leith siege works) Geophysics. GUARD report 2200, Glasgow.

  • Cooper, J. (2006). The Heart and the Rose: The Battle of Linlithgow Bridge 1526, Partizan, Essex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, C. (2003). The ’45: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Untold Story of the Jacobite Rising, Cassell, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham, K. (1995). The Border Reivers, Osprey Men-At-Arms, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisele, J. (1997). Third Battle of Newbury. Unpublished paper delivered at Archaeologists and Development Conference, June 14, 1997, Salisbury Museum. <http://www.britarch.ac.uk/info/archdev.html>.

  • Foard, G. (2001). The archaeology of attack: Battles and sieges of the English Civil War. In Freeman, P. W. M., and Pollard, T. (eds.), Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology, British Archaeological Reports (International Series 958), Oxford, pp. 87–104.

  • Foard, G., and Pardita, T. (2005). Scotland’s Historic Fields of Conflict: an Assessment for Historic Scotland, The Battlefields Trust, Norwich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, J. (2005). The Roman Conquest of Scotland: the Battle of Mons Graupius, AD 84, Tempus, Stroud.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, P. W. M., (2001). Issues concerning the archaeology of battlefields. In Freeman, P. W. M. and Pollard, T. (eds.), Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology, British Archaeological Reports (International Series 958), Oxford, pp. 1–10.

  • Freeman, P. W. M., and Pollard, A. (T.) (eds.) (2001). Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology. British Archaeological Reports (International Series 958), Oxford.

  • Harrington, P. (2004). English Civil War Archaeology, English Heritage/B. T Batsford, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutton, W. (1999). The Battle of Bosworth Field, 2nd ed, Tempus, Stroud. 1813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lelong, O., and MacGregor, G. (2008). The Lands of Ancient Lothian, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monographs, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald Fraser, G. (1971). The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Border Reivers, Barrie and Jenkins, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKay, E. (1898). The Battle of Sheriffmuir Related from Original Sources. Stirling.

  • MacSween, A. (2001). Preserving Scotland’s battlefields: Powers, practices and possibilities. In Freeman, P.W.M., and Pollard, T. (eds.), Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology. British Archaeological Reports (International Series 958), Oxford, pp. 291–296.

  • Maxwell, G. S. (1990). A Battle Lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, R., and Main, L. (1997). Stirling ancient bridge (Stirling, Logie parishes), piers of bridge. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 80–81.

  • Patten, W. (1548). The Expedicion Into Scotlande of the most woorthely fortunate Prince Edward, Duke of Somerset. London.

  • Pollard, T. (2003). The value of enmity: re-making and re-visiting historic battlefields in the United States and Britain. Landscapes 4(2): 25–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T. (2005). Culloden Battlefield: Report on Archaeological Investigation. GUARD report 1981, Glasgow.

  • Pollard, T. (2006). Sheriffmuir Battlefield: Data Structure Report, GUARD report 2214, Glasgow.

  • Pollard, T. (2007). Burying the hatchet? The post-conflict appropriation of battlefields. In Purbrick, L. (ed.), Contested Spaces: Representation and the Histories of Conflict, Palgrave MacMillan, London, pp. 121–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T. (2009a). The archaeology of the Siege of Leith, 1560. Journal of Conflict Archaeology 4: 159–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T. (2009b). Culloden: The History and Archaeology of the Last Clan Battle, Pen and Sword, Barnsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T., and Banks, I. (2006). Introduction. In Pollard, T., and Banks, I. (eds.), Past Tense: Studies in the Archaeology of Conflict, Brill Academic, Leiden, pp. vii–xi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T., and Oliver, N. (2002). Two Men in a Trench: Battlefield Archaeology, The Key to Unlocking the Past, Penguin/Michael Joseph, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, T., and Oliver, N. (2003). Two Men in a Trench II: Uncovering the Secrets of British Battlefields, Penguin/Michael Joseph, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid, S. (2004). Battles of the Scottish Lowland, Battlefield Britain, Pen and Sword, Barnsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salway, P. (1993). A History of Roman Britain, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. D., Fox, R. A., Connor, M. A., and Harmon, D. (1989). Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smurthwaite, D. (1995). The Complete Guide to the Battlefields of Britain, Michael Joseph, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, T. (2002). The Towton Battlefield Archaeological Survey Web Site <http://mysite.freeserve.com/Towtonbattlefield>

  • Watson, F., and Anderson, A. (2001). The Battle of Bannockburn. Unpublished report for Stirling Council, Stirling.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Glenn Foard, their colleague on the Historic Scotland Inventory Project, for his input into numerous discussions about the subject.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, University of Glasgow, The Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Tony Pollard & Iain Banks

Authors
  1. Tony Pollard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Iain Banks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tony Pollard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pollard, T., Banks, I. Now the Wars are Over: The Past, Present and Future of Scottish Battlefields. Int J Histor Archaeol 14, 414–441 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-010-0117-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-010-0117-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation