For over 100 years, archaeologists have dug at Whithorn – particularly in the 1980’s and 1990’s this resulted in a huge archive of over 42,000 items, which are now stored at Stranraer Museum.
In 2018, the Whithorn Trust raised funds for original research to be conducted into the archive – particularly the archive of human bone. Funds were awarded by Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund, Dumfries and Galloway LEADER programme 2014-2020, and Museums Galleries Scotland, to fund scientific test to establish radiocarbon dates and carry out stable isotope analysis on the human remains. A collections manager was appointed at Stranraer to recatalogue and re-box the collection to ensure its accessibility for the future. In January 2019, our samples were taken to the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre for testing and the results are contributing to a re-evaluation of the chronology of early Scotland.

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Samples being prepared for testing