Transcript: VFT 3: Kilmartin Glen - Interview with Sharon
Webb, Curator & Director, Kilmartin House Museum
Q1: Who are the major stakeholders in the archaeology at Kilmartin Glen?
Ok, well, I’m Sharon Webb and I’m the Director and Curator of the Kilmartin House Museum. In terms of
who the major stakeholders are in the archaeology of Kilmartin we have many stakeholders and I would say
maybe if we divide them up into groups as I think some people are members of more than one group.
So we could start with the national agencies, people like Historic Scotland who own a number of properties
in care in the area and there’s also lost of scheduled ancient monuments in this area too which may be on
private landowner’s ground which of course Historic Scotland have a role in ensuring that these are
preserved for the future and also give permission for any work to be done on them or around them.
Then there’s also agencies like Scottish Natural Heritage who are also landowners in this area and also have
archaeological monuments and archaeological deposits on ground that they own, all of which is actually
National Nature Reserve and we know for sure that there are at least two or three major prehistoric sites
buried underneath Moine Mhor peat bog.
Then there’s also agencies like Forestry Commission Scotland who own quite a lot of land in the area and
they have archaeological monuments on their ground.
Then it comes down to people who feel ownership or empathy with the archaeology in terms of actual
monuments. The locals, and there’s also a national and international community of people who would
maybe consider themselves to be stakeholders, possibly in a little looser sense in the archaeology.
Then there’s also students and also other museums who own archaeological objects that have been found
in this area - the National Museum of Scotland for example; Glasgow museums as well.
And then finally, we come down to probably Kilmartin House Museum which would feel itself to be a
stakeholder in the archaeology in the sense that we own collections from the glen in terms of
archaeological objects. We also keep and manage archives about the archaeology and also assemblages, so
not every object that is excavated in an assemblage would ever be displayable and some of it’s held for
research purposes but obviously we also have a role in ensuring that the stakeholders speak to each other
and also try to help to resolve any conflicts that might occur between…perhaps somebody’s wanting to use
the landscape in a way that might not be in the best interests of the archaeology but also obviously
because there’s a number of businesses that would maybe consider themselves to be stakeholders in the
archaeology in terms of tourism businesses; so, accommodation providers and those sorts of people.
So it’s a very varied tapestry shall we say.
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