Video: Dr David Clarke in conversation with Mark Edmonds

Now on our YouTube Chanel

Hosted by Mark Edmonds

Free but Tickets only – now available, scroll down and click the blue RSVP button to get your ticket which will be emailed to you

In Praise of Orkney’s Rich Archaeological Legacy, through the eyes of generations of the archaeologists involved.

The first in a series of informal conversations between archaeologists of previous generations and those still active in the field today, hosted by Orkney Archaeology Society, will be between Dr David Clarke and Prof Mark Edmonds.

The same interview format will continue at intervals over the next year or so, and hopefully include such names as Prof Sir Colin Renfrew  (Quanterness), Dr Anna Ritchie (Buckquoy and Knap of Howar) Prof Chris Morris (Birsay and Deerness) Prof James Graham Campbell ( Viking silver hoards and Viking pagan graves). Each will be in conversation with well renowned and currently active archaeologists.

We stand on the shoulders of giants in Orkney’s rich archaeological heritage, what better way to recognise this as a fitting legacy project for OAS.

David Clarke is well known in the annals of Orcadian prehistoric archaeology for his work at both Skara Brae and Links of Noltland on Westray in the late 1970s. In this conversation  he will recall some of the experiences , from the relatively recent re-discovery in Stromness Museum of the “Buddo” figure and its significance for the excavations in the 1860s at Skara Brae to the daily experiences during his time in Orkney.

David  has authored several books, and amongst these the 2020 guidebook to Skara Brae is significant in this context. He joined the staff of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1968 and continued with the National Museums of Scotland until his retirement in 2011, as Keeper of Archaeology. His PhD had been undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (completed 1975) under the supervision of Stuart Piggott, another doyen of Scotland’s archaeology.

His role at the Museum included the delivery of major exhibitions including Symbols of Power at the time of Stonehenge (1985), and he was actively involved in the preparation of the Early People gallery for the new building at the NMS. His driving ethos throughout his Museum career has been to foster and develop Public Archaeology and the broader dissemination of  information  on the unparalleled collections of the  National Museum.

If you would like to attend this talk (which will be recorded for later), then please click on the RSVP below. Places are free but limited so if you later find out that you can not attend please let us know by emailing enquiries@orkneyarchaeologysociety.org.uk