The Scottish Palaeoecological Archive Database provides information on sites in Scotland where the natural archives of peat bogs, mires and lochs preserve evidence of past environments and environmental change. The University of Edinburgh and Historic Scotland are jointly involved in the development of the SPA database as a national resource, available through the medium of the World-Wide Web.
Palaeoecology is the study of ancient life.
It aims to reconstruct how past ecosystems worked and how the environment has changed through time. By gaining an understanding of how the environment has changed over time we may gain a better explanation for the environment of today. This database therefore concentrates upon those sites where pollen evidence has been recovered although the addition of other classes of palaeoecological data will be possible in the future. It is important you are aware of the Copyright Restrictions on the use of the SPA Database, before trying to access it. We greatly value your comments, both on the utility and functionality of the system and on the data records held.