Innovative archaeology app launches new Cill Donnain and Bornais sites
The Uist Unearthed team hosted the launch of two new additions to the app on a bilingual walk and talk from Bornish to Kildonan machair last Saturday (30th July). The app can now be downloaded to smartphones and used to animate archaeology and ancient lives in English and Gaelic at a total of three machair sites in South Uist.
The Bronze Age Roundhouse at Cladh Hallan, Daliburgh, famous in archaeology as the first site to reveal prehistoric mummified remains in the UK, made its debut on the app in 2021. Now the impressive longhouse at Bornais, the largest Viking settlement found in Scotland, and the Iron Age Wheelhouse at Cill Donnain, are freely available to download. Two North Uist sites will launch later this year.
Uist Unearthed is the first UK app to combine archaeological evidence with augmented reality to educate and entertain audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The app allows users to hold their smartphone over a QR code at each site and visit virtual dwellings in their historic heyday.
The team are currently touring a multi-media travelling exhibition, funded by Stòras Uibhist, to promote the app within the Outer Hebrides, and further afield. The exhibition includes immersive VR headsets, 3D printed artefacts and interactive touch screens. The tour was well received by visitors to Kildonan Museum and London’s British Museum during July. Next stop is the National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament in September, as well as smaller venues in Uist.
Dr Emily Gal, Project Coordinator, said: “Our aim is to use tech to engage and enhance awareness of the unassuming, but internationally significant, archaeology tucked away amidst Uist’s stunning landscape. We are re-working academic research from traditional museum and textbook experiences to re-connect audiences to the ancient past in their own language and environment.”
The Uist Virtual Archaeology Project is delivered by archaeologists at UHI Outer Hebrides, in collaboration with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. The project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)’s Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund administered by NatureScot, The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), and Stòras Uibhist.
