At a third of the total area of the City of Ottawa, the Orkney Islands, off the north east coast of Scotland, are unique in their preservation of Neolithic archaeology, and home to the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. The Neolithic of Orkney has regularly been investigated by archaeologists for over 150 years. This talk not only aims to situate the Neolithic of Orkney within the broader regional monumental manifestations of the Neolithic such as Stonehenge in England and the Brú na Bóinne Complex in Ireland, but it also aims to examine how investigations the Orcadian Neolithic influenced broader archaeological interpretations of the past and the practice of doing archaeology. This presentation draws on recent research by the speaker including oral history interviews with Orcadian archaeologists while also drawing on the  numerous publications of recent archaeological projects in Orkney and beyond.   

 
Dr. Kerns is originally from Colorado. While attending the University of Colorado as an undergraduate he undertook a double major in Anthropology and History graduating Cum Laude. After finishing his undergraduate he went on to complete two Master’s degrees, one from the University of Manchester in  Neolithic Archaeology and the other from the University of Bristol in Landscape Archaeology. He recently passed his Doctoral defense at the University of Southampton. His doctoral research focused on the histories of archaeological inquiry into the Orcadian Neolithic since World War II. Beyond his doctoral research, he has 15 years experience in commercial archaeology in the USA and Canada. He has also directed excavations at an Iron Age cave site in the Mendip Hills south of Bristol, England and has participated in several excavations of Neolithic sites in England and Scotland including at Stonehenge and the Ness of Brodgar. Dr. Kerns’s research interests go beyond disciplinary histories and include the transition to agricultural lifeways, prehistoric land-use patterns, mapping soil preservation characteristics, and the application of new technologies to archaeological investigations. He currently works for Golder Associates as a field technician and has recently joined the OAS Ottawa Executive Board.