Emily Gal

I am an archaeologist based at UHI North, West and Hebrides (Cnoc Soilleir campus) and the UHI Archaeology Institute. I’m a prehistorian with research interests in coastal archaeology and human-environment interactions in Scottish islands, particularly the role of windblown sand in the formation of archaeological sites and landscapes. After studying archaeology at Cardiff University, I worked as a commercial archaeologist before completing a PhD at the University of St Andrews funded by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS). My broader research interests include the later prehistoric settlement and material culture of Atlantic Scotland, and coastal heritage management. More recently my work has been directed towards digital heritage and creative dissemination of archaeological data.

Research Projects

Alongside my teaching commitments, I am also Project Coordinator for the Barra and Harris Unearthed project. The project is funded by Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the SSEN Regional Community Benefit Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. It builds on the learnings and outputs from the award-winning Uist Virtual Archaeology Project, which developed an innovative app, Uist Unearthed (now renamed Outer Hebrides Unearthed). The app contains augmented reality reconstructions of archaeological sites along the Hebridean Way in Uist, and complementary exhibitions.

I supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, and am particularly interested in supervising students with interests in the following;

• Coastal and island archaeology in Scotland
• Environmental change in prehistory
• Digital heritage and creative dissemination of archaeological data

Academic Responsibilities

Module Leader for Archaeology and Local Studies Access course

Module Leader for L8 Digital Heritage

Module Leader for L9 Prehistory of the Highlands and Islands