One of the UK’s leading forensic archaeologists is helping to set up a museum on an island in the Inner Hebrides.
Local historian Sylvia Beaton, who moved to Rum four years ago, has enlisted the help of Professor John Hunter in her efforts to open the Museum of Rum in the island’s former visitor centre.
The 40-year-old has spent the past four years researching the history of the island and met Prof Hunter while he was visiting Rum carrying out research for a chapter in his latest book on the Small Isles.
He asked her to help him with the local history of the area and, in return, he has pledged to help her secure funding and publicity for the museum, which she is hoping to open next summer.
Mrs Beaton said: “The aim of the museum is to open up the forgotten history of Rum, the history that’s been masked over by the Bullough empire, who owned Rum from 1888 to 1956.
“At the moment, tourists tend only to come and see Kinloch Castle, which was built in 1900, but there is so much more real history here.
“The museum will be a tool to educate people on Rum’s rich, diverse cultural heritage.
“It will cover everything from the Mesolithic site of 8,500 years ago, to the Picts, the first Christians, the Vikings and the first Clans, who once lived here. It will also chart current history as it happens.”
She is also hoping that Prof Hunter, who is one of the commissioners of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, will be able to help her arrange a temporary feature exhibition of the original Mesolithic finds at Farm Fields on Rum.
These included flints and bloodstone worked into tools and burnt hazelnut shells that were carbon dated as being 8,500 years old.
Meanwhile, exhibits will include replicas of the Mesolithic artefacts and various artists’ impressions, together with artefacts that have been discovered during the excavation of a local Blackhouse and other sites on the island.
There will also be photographs and information on local historical monuments that tourists can visit and a who’s who of the people who have lived on Rum, including where they lived and what they did.
Mrs Beaton said: “This is a huge undertaking. It will start small and will be a constant work in progress as new information is uncovered.”
“I’m delighted that Prof Hunter has agreed to get involved with the project.”