Orkney Archaeology Society
Ages of Orkney
Ages of Orkney
Review2024
Buy our
Review
Ages of Orkney
Visit our on-line shop
Visit our On-Line Shop
Ages of Orkney
2025 Calendar
2025 OAS Calendar available
  • Home
  • Brochtoberfest
  • OAS Shop
  • News
  • Events
  • Grants
    • OAS Grants awarded
    • Applying for a grant
  • Information
    • Old Reviews – Free to download
    • Contact Us
    • Our History
    • Committee Details
    • Orkney Archaeology
    • Reading list for Orkney Archaeology
    • Sites in Orkney
    • Volunteering
    • Constitution
    • AGM Minutes
  • Donate
  • Membership
  • Links

Our YouTube Channel

Videos of our Talks

Upcoming Events

May 22
Virtual Event Virtual Event
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

AGM 2025

May 28
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Talk: Changes: A discussion between Nick Card and Mark Edmonds

View Calendar

Categories

  • Brochtoberfest (5)
  • Digital Resources (7)
  • Digs (22)
  • Grants (2)
  • Interesting Orkney Links (11)
  • News (78)
  • OAS Legacy (3)
  • Previous events (22)
  • Talks (25)
  • Things to do (10)
  • Tourism (10)
  • Videos (29)
  • Volunteering (10)
  • Welcome (1)

Archives

  • April 2025 (1)
  • March 2025 (2)
  • February 2025 (3)
  • November 2024 (1)
  • August 2024 (1)
  • June 2024 (2)
  • May 2024 (1)
  • February 2024 (3)
  • November 2023 (2)
  • October 2023 (4)
  • July 2023 (2)
  • June 2023 (1)
  • April 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (2)
  • October 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (3)
  • September 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (4)
  • April 2021 (4)
  • March 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (4)
  • March 2020 (12)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (3)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (5)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (2)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (7)
  • June 2018 (5)
  • February 2018 (5)

Legal stuff

Privacy & Terms
Constitution
Grant Application

 

Our History

The background to Orkney Archaeology Society

The Orkney Archaeology Society is the new name for the Friends of the Orkney Archaeological Trust.  We are the same organisation but in 2008 we changed our name and made some changes to our Constitution which dissolved our formal connection with the Orkney Archaeological Trust (OAT).  Here is the background the formation of the Trust and the Friends, and a brief explanation of why change was needed in 2008.

OAT was founded in 1996 as the result of an initiative by the Orkney Heritage Society to reinvigorate and support the Archaeological Service of Orkney. Since then, the Trust has raised awareness of Orkney’s archaeology and increased Orkney’s ability to protect its past. It has also been instrumental in the provision of a County Archaeologist, the increase in excavations and rescue digs, setting up educational courses and the designation of World Heritage status for Orkney’s Neolithic Heartland.

The Friends began as an integral part of the Trust. By their interest, knowledge and support, the Friends helped OAT to protect and preserve Orkney’s archaeology, and to promote awareness in the general public. The Friends raised considerable funds each year by organising events, and by subscription fees and donations.

However, by 2007, the county Archaeological Service had been passed over from OAT to the Orkney Islands Council and in September 2007 the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) was established. ORCA is part of the Archaeology department of UHI Orkney College and undertakes both the commercial and research services previously provided by the OAT Projects Unit. These developments effectively mean that the work of OAT as supported by the Friends has been passed on to other organisations .  In order to continue to support archaeology in Orkney, it was necessary for the Friends to relinquish their association with OAT and become a fully independent organisation. This was done with the full support of OAT.  The Society now hopes to continue its work fundraising, supporting archaeology in Orkney and providing the public with opportunities to learn about and get involved in archaeology.

OAT  as an entity was formally disbanded in 2011, with its remaining assets being transferred to the Orkney Archaeology Society.

In 2018 we became a SCIO as agreed by the 2016 AGM.

For more information on the way archaeology in Orkney is organised, please see the Orkney Archaeology page.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Facebook

Facebook

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our web site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Contact Us

  • Home
  • Brochtoberfest
  • OAS Shop
  • News
  • Events
  • Grants
  • Information
  • Donate
  • Membership
  • Links
2025 Orkney Archaeology Society. Donna Theme powered by WordPress