A project involving an international team led by researchers at the University of Huddersfield, which used ancient DNA to rewrite the history of the Orkney islands, has won a major award by the UK's best-selling archaeology magazine, Current Archaeology.
Winning the Archaeology Awards category of Research Project of the Year 2023, the project was a close collaboration between genetic researchers in Huddersfield and their colleagues across Britain and Europe, and archaeologists living and working in Orkney.
Led by the University's Professor Martin Richards and Dr Ceiridwen Edwards, the work formed part of a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship programme awarded to Professor Richards and Dr Maria Pala in 2015, while the excavations at the Links of Noltland in Orkney, led by Hazel Moore and Graeme Wilson, were funded by Historic Environment Scotland.
The findings revealed that, contrary to popular belief, Orkney was much less insular than had long been assumed. Instead, the islands had experienced large-scale immigration during the Early Bronze Age, which, unusually, was found to have involved mainly women.
Following the University's press release Current Archaeology included the project in a special feature, written by the editor of the magazine, Carly Hilts, and was published on the front cover of their June 2022 issue.
Dr Edwards said: "It is an immense surprise to have won this award and we are very happy that our hard work has been recognised by the archaeological community. It has been absolutely amazing to win. To have been acknowledged is a great honour."
