Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd

Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd is a leading independent company providing heritage consultancy and arc

🌉In 2006 Headland turned 10 while excavating in advance of the construction of the Upper Forth Crossing in Clackmannansh...
17/06/2026

🌉In 2006 Headland turned 10 while excavating in advance of the construction of the Upper Forth Crossing in Clackmannanshire. These excavations revealed a range of features including previously unknown evidence for human occupation from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

🛖The most significant discovery on this site was of the largest assemblage of middle Neolithic Impressed Ware ever found in Scotland: at least 206 vessels dating to 3359-3000 BC. A gap of 1000 years then follows, before evidence on site of the earliest known ring-groove roundhouse in Scotland.

⛏️This Middle Neolithic axe head is also special, as it appears that this one was never used as a tool, instead kept as a special possession. It likely came from a quarry near Killin and is one of only 30 known examples from this quarry across the UK.

🔎Countless incredible discoveries were made on this excavation but still so many questions remain – Why did people leave for such a long time? Did they move somewhere nearby or explore further? To learn more about this project, you can read the report via the link below!

https://bit.ly/4ov9kvw

11/06/2026

⚽Football in one form or another has been a part of human life since before records began. Despite differences in the ancient iterations of the game to the one we play today, every version highlights the human instinct to enjoy kicking a ball!

🏺The Romans played Harpastum, a game with not much known about exact rules beyond a need for speed, agility and a small hard ball. It was played on a rectangular field, with teams needing to keep the ball behind their side of the line.

⛪In England, medieval mob-style ‘Shrovetide’ matches entailed entire villages coming together to kick a ball into an opposing community’s church!

🏟️By the 1660s games were played on long streets, with the goal a fence at either end. Then, as roads and travel networks improved people could play against each other more easily, leading to the first football club being established in Edinburgh in 1824.

📜Not long after this, formal rules for the game were drawn up in London in 1863. This has been lauded as one of the most important documents in world history as it allowed everyone, everywhere, to play the exact same game.

🏆Here at Headland, we’re wishing all teams the best of luck in the World Cup. But we can’t help but be a little biased towards our home nations, the birthplace of the modern game. England, Scotland – do your predecessors proud!

🎞️While fantasy flicks like Batman Begins and Narnia dominated screens in 2005, an Iron Age craftworking centre in North...
10/06/2026

🎞️While fantasy flicks like Batman Begins and Narnia dominated screens in 2005, an Iron Age craftworking centre in Northeast Scotland captured the imaginations of Headland staff working at Culduthel.

🔥Culduthel was an industrial and craftworking hub active from the 2nd Century BC to the 2nd Century AD. Our excavations found 17 roundhouses, some domestic and some likely used for iron smelting and smithing.

⚔️One interesting object found was a linchpin, shown above, which suggests that people here were producing parts of chariots! A quern stone was repurposed to become a mould for molten bronze, and the above sword hilt guard was the first of its kind found in Northern Scotland.

🧿A smaller-scale workshop on site made decorative copper alloy metalwork and enamelwork, evidenced above by this cruciform horse harness and this intricate enamelled bow and fantail brooch. Beads made from imported glass ingots were also found here and reveal wide-ranging exchange networks with Rome.

🔗If you’d like to read more about the groundbreaking discoveries made at Culduthel, you can download the book (for free!) here: https://bit.ly/4edjzQB

👷Positions are available within our Geophysics and Exploration department in the UK and Ireland. But did you know that w...
05/06/2026

👷Positions are available within our Geophysics and Exploration department in the UK and Ireland. But did you know that we invest in facilities that reinforce our commitment to putting our people first? We ensure they are supported, cared for, and able to perform at their best on every project.

🚐Due to the nature of geophysical surveys, mobile welfare solutions are essential. We are committed to supporting our teams by providing high-quality, modern facilities wherever they are working. Our fleet of welfare vans ensures that survey teams have immediate access to clean, well-maintained amenities, removing the need to rely on external facilities.

🚰Each unit is fully equipped with toilets, handwashing stations, rest areas, and a reliable supply of drinking water—ensuring our teams can work comfortably as well as meeting H&S requirements.

☀️Wellbeing is important throughout the year. That’s why in summer, air-conditioned cabins provide a cool, comfortable space to rest and recharge, and in the winter months teams benefit from heating and food preparation areas, giving them a warm and welcoming environment whatever the conditions.

💻Details for how to apply can be found on the ‘Current Vacancies’ section of our website. Applications close in July; however, we review applications and conduct interviews on a rolling basis as they are received.

https://bit.ly/HeadlandVacancies

⛪In 2004 on a small island off the coast of Bute, excavations found the largest collection of inscribed and incised slat...
03/06/2026

⛪In 2004 on a small island off the coast of Bute, excavations found the largest collection of inscribed and incised slate fragments ever found from early Medieval Scotland.

✍️From a building where monks-in-training were taught to read and write, we found slates with script, sketches of boats, buildings, animals, people, and geometric motifs, likely done by children aged 7-11!

⚔️The most iconic artefact from this assemblage was the ‘Hostage Stone’, depicting three warriors wearing chainmail and weapons leading a fourth person, possibly someone religious, to their boat. Although not necessarily a ‘Viking’ scene, it speaks volumes about the dangers and fears present for those living here.

🪨Without places of training like this there would be no illuminated manuscripts such as the stunning ‘Book of Kells’. In 2014 the ‘Hostage Stone’ was part of ‘The world in the Viking Age’ exhibition in the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark.

🔗If you’d like to read more about this project, the publication is available to buy here: https://bit.ly/3PEvlvf

29/05/2026

☀️ What a day!

⚡Last Thursday we had the privilege of participating in RSK’s Energy Transition Cup, a football tournament comprising 20 teams from RSK, all raising money for National Energy Action.

⚽ Despite once again coming in last place, Team Headland managed to score two goals this year – two more than last year! Some in our team even managed to bag some prizes in the raffle.

💚Score aside, this was a truly joyful event and an honour to support National Energy Action, working to end fuel poverty in the UK.

🔗More details about the charity and their work can be found here: https://www.nea.org.uk

27/05/2026

☁️2003 saw victory for England in the Rugby World Cup, but for Headland it marked the start of a decade-long project involving consultations, walk-over surveys and excavations. That’s right, it’s Clyde Wind Farm.

🪏Clyde Wind Farm is one of the largest onshore wind farms in Europe, spanning over 50 km2 with 206 turbines. It was a massive project for Headland too, with 84 archaeologists for a total of almost 5000 person days.

👷Initial investigations began in 2007 which enabled us to create a ‘trigger’ map of archaeological potential across the whole wind farm, indicating what level of response was required at any location.

⛰️ An Archaeological Clerk of Works was on-site permanently, to enable fast responses to issues, making sure archaeology could be addressed on equal footing with ecological and environmental concerns.

🔗To learn more about our work at Clyde Wind Farm, you can watch a presentation from our very own Kirsty Dingwall here!

https://bit.ly/3POsW0N

🏛️ One of our Principal Heritage Consultants, Sarah Revans, recently presented a poster at the Preservation of Archaeolo...
22/05/2026

🏛️ One of our Principal Heritage Consultants, Sarah Revans, recently presented a poster at the Preservation of Archaeological Remains in Situ Conference (PARIS 6) in London. This event, hosted by Historic England, explored how pressures like climate change may impact the preservation of archaeological sites in-situ.

🚅 Sarah’s poster, created by Leia Carter from our graphics department, showcased her work for HS2; specifically the complex measures taken to preserve the remains of Grim’s ditch, an Iron Age boundary ditch and the only scheduled monument investigated as part of HS2.

🪨 With close engagement from Historic England and Buckinghamshire Council, over 25,000 m2 of archaeological remains were preserved beneath geotextile and hardcore, resulting in a 5m high engineered embankment, with less than 10mm of compression to the archaeological remains. This will reduce long-term maintenance of the site and the risk of accidental damage.

👏 Well done Sarah!

🗺️ If you’d like to read more about our work at Grim’s Ditch, you can view the StoryMap here: https://bit.ly/4wOnxrq

👑2002 saw celebrations for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, as well as excavations at the Tinto Sand and Gravel Quarry which ...
20/05/2026

👑2002 saw celebrations for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, as well as excavations at the Tinto Sand and Gravel Quarry which provided a glimpse of life in South Lanarkshire during the middle Neolithic and late Bronze Age.

❄️During an exceptionally cold December in 2002, we excavated some middle Neolithic pits containing an assemblage of complex-patterned Impressed Ware, with an emphasis on vessels that showed fingernail marks as decoration.

🛖These pits also contained lithics and a polished stone axe head that had deep scars incised on it, likely from the attachment of a handle. We discovered Bronze Age occupation through the remains of a roundhouse, two possible ring ditches, and three pieces of worked shale. These were probably armlets that may have been made on-site.

🦴A Bronze Age cremation was also found with fragments of the skull and long bone of an adult female, the condition of the bone suggesting the pyre that would have been built may not have been hot enough to fully burn the bone.

🪟While the Tinto findings may be less groundbreaking than other projects, it is small excavations like these that allow us a window into the lives of the people who occupied the land we still live within today. Read more about our projects – large and small – via the link below: https://bit.ly/3PyIbL9

🎞️2001 was a great year for film. The Fellowship of the Ring, Oceans 11, Shrek; all masterpieces released this year. But...
13/05/2026

🎞️2001 was a great year for film. The Fellowship of the Ring, Oceans 11, Shrek; all masterpieces released this year. But up in Aberdeenshire, Headland Archaeology were making some discoveries even more groundbreaking than these films.

🪝Our site at Castle Hill in Banff revealed a significant late medieval coastal processing centre, with the largest collection of medieval fishhooks ever discovered in Scotland.

🐚All originating from one midden dating to the 11th to 13th Century; over 2500 fish bones, 700 marine shells and 24 fishhooks revealed an early fishing industry at the core of the town’s development. Evidence also suggests that by the 15th Century Banff was one of three main towns supplying salmon to Europe!

🐟 Another curious find was this large knife bearing more resemblance to a leatherworking knife than one for processing fish, perhaps it was used for shark skin? This piece of whale bone is also unusual, it has a hole bored into one side and cut marks surrounding it, what do you think this was used for?

🔗 Read more here: https://bit.ly/433BOma

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