Wailes Under the direction of Dr. Bernard Wailes, Ms. Elizabeth Ragan will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She and numerous volunteer assistants will conduct an archaeological survey of the South Argyll coastline of Scotland to search for prehistoric seaports. Because the area is extremely large, she will limit her work by focussing on areas with the greatest natural potential to serve this function. These will then be walked over and all cultural remains, both structural and artifactural, will be recorded. Collections will be made of cultural material exposed on the surface and limited excavation will be conducted where concentrations of materials are located. These materials will then be analyzed to determine both cultural affiliation and age. Archaeologists wish to understand how state level societies arise, and on the basis of work done to date, it is known that the State of Scotland appeared ca. the 9th century AD. It was then that groups from the South Argyll region extended their control over the region coincident with Scotland today and archaeologists wish to understand what underlying factors led to this process. The hope is that the conclusions drawn here can be applied to other temperate regions in Europe. It has been hypothesized that trade played a major role in the consolidation of power and, given the extreme difficulty in overland travel in this region, water travel was likely the primary mode of transport. Although an elegant model has been developed, it is difficult to test because very little is known about coastal settlement at this time. Through her survey, Ms. Ragan wishes to collect the data necessary to address this issue. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on the development of state level societies. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
