Archaeological housework: Excavating the avocational archaeological atelier of Fiona Gorman, Isle of Arran, Scotland 

Nyree Finlay

Part excavation and part house clearance, this contemporary archaeological collection study documents the recovery of an unusual heritage assemblage. It involved the recording of domestic workrooms on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Central to the analysis is the stratigraphy of a forgotten worktable and repurposed containers.

Belonging to Fiona Gorman, avocational archaeologist and former art teacher, the collection comprises an extensive assemblage of found objects. Along with friends she discovered significant new prehistoric sites on Arran through systematic field-walking and landscape reconnaissance. Other items in the collection reveal the convivial and inter-generational attraction of stone gathering with close friends and family and creation of museum displays.

A celebration of recreational heritage participation, it documents domestic curation and repeat cataloguing practices. A unique collection of later dementia works prompts exploration of earlier embodied traces in creative display practices alongside the art and archaeology of assemblage making. 

Archaeological housework promotes archaeology as affective care and explores the wider disciplinary neglect of its materialities and indoor practices through one woman’s passion for art, archaeology and the ancient landscapes of her island home.

This book will be published open access under a CC BY-NC Licence.

Publication date: Winter 2025