BENNACHIE LANDSCAPES: INVESTIGATING COMMUNITIES PAST AND PRESENT AT THE COLONY SITE

"Ongoing research at the Colony site, on the iconic hill of Bennachie in northeast Scotland, is bringing historic and contemporary communities closer together. A collaborative effort between the Bailies of Bennachie, a local community group, and the University of Aberdeen, is helping to shed light on the history of this 19th century farming community; a place locally celebrated for its crofter-colonists and their struggle with neighbouring landlords. The project has two interlinked objectives; the first is related to the history of the colony, while the second is related to the process of undertaking research in the context of community heritage initiatives.

Little is known about community relations among the 'common' people of 19th-century rural Scotland, and what is known tends to play on very generic stereotypes. As the Colony provides a fascinating window on local historical processes, our research will use archaeological and historical methods to go beyond the more clichéd understandings of this period. In this context our goals are to find out about community relationships within the settlement, focusing in particular on local hierarchies, social relationships, and local ways of thinking and working. The ruins of the settlement will be uncovered, surveyed and subjected to archaeological excavation and environmental analysis, and these findings will be fully contextualized in relation to period-related settlements in the broader landscape. In addition we will examine related historical records in order to provide complimentary evidence about the local character of life in the Colony and how it compared with settlements beyond.

Significantly, the project is about much more than historical inquiry; it also aims to provide insights into the process of creating knowledge about the past, specifically in the context of community heritage initiatives. We will track the means by which knowledge is produced in our archaeological and historical research through participant observation and through structured interviews with a broad range of community members. The object will be to learn more about how relationships created through doing heritage research affect the way that knowledge about the past is used in new settings. Ultimately our research seeks to provide inspiration and guidance to allow future projects, including ongoing work at Bennachie, to be more effective and to engage with community more fully.

The outcomes of the project will be felt in both academic and community circles. Peer reviewed publications will provide the results of our findings from both the historical and community learning elements of the project. Moreover, publically accessible publications, including a website, will provide community user groups with valuable information to facilitate like-minded projects well beyond the region. Finally, a major new exhibition on both strands of our research at the Bennachie Visitor Centre will provide an important new focus for heritage learning."