The late, and greatly missed, Hugh MacPherson (pictured above) was a keen participant in our archaeological digs on Lismore.
The CELM Board has decided to devote his generous bequest for 2021 to support the three-week dig in September, when we hope to complete the exploration of the Early Church cemetery, guided by the geophysical survey carried out for us in 2019. This year, under the professional supervision of Dr Clare Ellis and Dr Angela Boyle, the leading bone specialist, our aim is to take samples of as many burials as possible, to determine date of burial, age, gender, some aspects of health, and the geographic area of origin. Samples will also go to the Crick Institute in London for DNA analysis as part of the “1000 Ancient British Genomes” Project. (The Institute has offered £10,000-worth of analyses free of charge). All of this will reveal a great deal about Moluag’s Early Church Monastery.
With Hugh’s bequest and a grant from the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, we have secured most of the finance needed for this long dig. As there is still a deficit to make up, we will be starting a Crowd Funding campaign early in July with a target of £2,500. Through the enthusiastic support of Margaret Carasik, the MacDougall McCallum Foundation (USA) has agreed to match any funding attracted, up to £2,500.
Look out for the opportunity to support this exciting project either as a digger (training provided) or by Crowd Funding