In 1746 the Battle of Culloden ushered in one of the greatest transformations in the history of Scottish society. It was a signal event in Scottish history. Bonnie Prince Charlie's attempt to retake the British throne for his side of the family and produce a Scottish king almost worked.

He had defeated British government forces in several encounters when the battle occurred. The British used his own tactics on him and defeated his army, sending Charlie into hiding in the moors of Scotland and beginning a massive manhunt for him.

After months of chase, the British were closing in, when a young woman named Flora MacDonald helped him escape by disguising him as a woman. MacDonald, who risked her life rescuing the prince, has become a national heroine in Scotland and her home an historic monument.

So it is no surprise that University of Sheffield archaeologist James Symonds is excavating Flora's homestead on South Uist.

But Symonds is interested in more than just the MacDonald story. For, in the period following the battle, the English, in an attempt to civilize the "Wild Scots," introduced social changes that forced farmers from their ancestral, commonly held lands, and ultimately led to the disintegration of the clan system and the infamous Highland Clearances that emptied the countryside and provoked mass emigration to the New World.

Symonds wants your help to reconstruct what happened in Scotland during the turbulent years following Culloden. There were massive changes in the economy and farming, with evidence here of the seaweed harvesting that at one point was the mainstay of the lowland economy.

Volunteers survey dykes, sheep enclosures, and other features for clues to the history of land-use and settlement stretching back to Viking times. You'll work in a breathtaking treeless landscape stretching from moorlands and lonely mountain peaks to machair or shell soils sheltering endemic plants, a region where Symonds asserts, "On a dry day there is nowhere more beautiful."

P L E A S E . N O T E : Team dates and other project logistics are subject to change. Please consult with the Earthwatch office nearest you before purchasing airline tickets or making other travel arrangements.

Used with permission of Earthwatch