As their gates have closed for the season, the Iron Age team at the Scottish Crannog Centre are celebrating a remarkable and hugely successful 10th anniversary year. The buzz began in pre-season, when the Centre formally joined seven other European archaeological open air museums in a Culture 2000 project known as liveARCH (www.liveARCH.eu). The aim of the three year project is to share best practice and skills between partners in Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.
     The Iron Age team went on to offer around 50 events, inspired by archaeological discoveries, ancient traditions relating to festivals, agricultural cycles and the environment, and the craft skills of Tayside's loch-dwellers. In tribute to these ancestors, the Crannog Crew organised a Go Native! Festival to mark the official date of the Centre's 10th anniversary. Opened on the 19th July, the 4 day celebrations featured prehistoric cooking, wood and metal-working, hunting and fishing equipment, textiles and other skills.
     In recognition of the team’s efforts to minimise impact on the environment and to provide visitors with a top quality experience, the Scottish Crannog Centre has been awarded a highly scored Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. These tributes round off an incredibly rewarding year, reflected also in the significant increase in visitors throughout the season, setting a new record with a footfall of nearly 30,000 visitors. The team now face a busy winter of maintenance and the development of new resources and programmes for 2008. Volunteers are always welcome. For further information contact 01887 830583 or www.crannog.co.uk

Source: icPerthsire (30 November 2007)