Walking Lochbrow: Experiencing a landscape through the feet
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 08/03/2019

Walking forms a key aspect of the practice of the Lochbrow Landscape Project, an archaeological survey project based in Dumfries and Galloway. Since 2010, the project has been investigating the landscape and setting of a cropmark prehistoric complex using a variety of non-destructive survey techniques. From the outset a number of different forms of walking have been employed, ranging from the intense back and forth of geophysical survey to repeated walking between recording points for experiential survey, directed walking around the monument complex when taking visitors around the site to wider landscape walking. In their own way, each form of walking has contributed to the way in which the sites and landscapes which form the focus of this project have come to be known and understood. This paper is a personal reflection on the intimate connection and evolving perspectives that this walking has had on the author and the resulting interpretations of Lochbrow. It is argued that different forms of walking produce differing relationships and types of knowing. This in turn influences the archaeological narratives we create, in effect creating an understanding at least partially formulated through the feet. 

Kirsty Millican (Historic Environment Scotland)