Amateur archaeology update What’s the story with... amateur archaeology?

A new scheme called Scotland's Rural Past Project has just been launched by Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson. It's an attempt by Scottish cultural heritage agencies to give expert help to amateurs willing to augment the efforts of professionals. There is now funding to pay for training sessions and other costs. Around 40 groups in Scotland will have access to support. Turner says: "There is an enormous amount we don't know. For instance, we've done a lot of excavation work on St Kilda in the past few years and some of the evidence we are finding fundamentally challenges the written accounts of how people lived."