GUARD Archaeologists offering guidance to one of the volunteers during the previous community work at Bannockburn © Callum Bennets @ Maverick Photo Agency

GUARD Archaeology will be revisiting the battlefield of Bannockburn this year, assisting the National Trust for Scotland’s People, Plants, Medicine and Lore Project at the Bannockburn Battlefield Centre.

This exciting new community project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, forms part of the 2017 celebrations for the “Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology” that explores how our relationship with the natural environment has changed over the last 700 years.

The project will work with local schools, community groups and the general public to put the Bannockburn landscape into context and discover how plants have been used down the generations. There will be practical opportunities to carry out experimental archaeology providing a greater understanding of how plants in the landscape would have been preserved.

A physic garden will also be created in the grounds of the visitor centre which will enable the local community to learn about the importance of cultivating medicinal herbs in the past. Local school pupils will explore the use of physic gardens through storytelling, art and literacy, as well as creating their own traditional remedies safely. They will share their knowledge with the wider community through guided tours and designing information panels. Visitors to the Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Centre will be able to explore the physic garden through observation, smell and touch and gain an appreciation of the knowledge needed by soldiers to survive in their natural environment.

GUARD Archaeologists will be on hand to offer guidance on the excavation of test pits and a metal-detecting survey, as well as a programme of school and volunteer training and activities.

Anyone interested in taking part during the weekend of 25-26 March 2017 should either contact Warren Bailie at GUARD Archaeology or simply turn up on the day.