Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
Contact Details
E-mail - tcd@st-andrews.ac.uk
Telephone - +44 (0)1334 467172
Fax - +44 (0)1334 462914
Research Interests
Tom Dawson is a Research Fellow researching coastal archaeology and the threats posed by coastal processes. He works closely with Historic Scotland to gather information on the scale of the problem around Scotland and has managed the recent programme of Coastal Zone Assessment Surveys. He has also analysed results from previous surveys and is helping to rewrite guidelines for future surveys. Tom has a strong interest in community archaeology and promoting archaeology as widely as possible. He has set up several web sites and has run a national photographic competition entitled Capturing the Coastline. He manages the award-winning Shorewatch Project, which works with local communities to locate and record eroding archaeological sites. Tom has managed numerous survey projects and four Shorewatch excavations (Unst and Bressay on Shetland, Baile Sear in the Western Isles and Brora in Sutherland). He has also explored novel ways of working with threatened archaeological sites, including relocating the eroding Bressay site to the local Heritage Centre.
Tom is the Managing Director of SCAPE (Scottish Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion); was a director of the Bardsey Island Trust until 2008; and is a member of the Scottish Oceans Institute.
Main Publications
- Dawson T, Lelong O & Shearer I Local Community Groups and Aeolian Archaeology: Shorewatch and the Experience of the Shetland Community Archaeology Project (Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports, in press)
- interbottom S J, Dawson T, Hansom J & Rennie A, Remote Sensing of Scottish Aeolian Landscapes (Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports, in press)
- Dawson T and Stentoft K ‘The implications of climate change on coastal heritage in Northern Europe’ in (ed) Mizoguchi T The environmental histories of Europe and Japan (Nagoya University, 2008)
- Dawson T and Winterbottom S J ‘Testing the use of multi-spectral imagery for detecting buried archaeology in sand dune-dominated systems’ in Jones, R E and Sharpe, L (eds) Going over Old Ground: Perspectives on archaeological geophysical and geochemical survey in Scotland. (BAR British Series, 2006)
- Winterbottom S J & Dawson T ‘Airborne multi-spectral prospection for buried archaeology in mobile sand dominated systems’ (Archaeological Prospection, 2005)
- Dawson T (ed) Coastal Archaeology and Erosion in Scotland, (Historic Scotland, 2003)
- Fraser S M, Gilmour, S and Dawson T ‘Shorewatch: Monitoring Scotland’s Coastal Archaeology’ in Dawson, T (ed) Coastal Archaeology and Erosion in Scotland,(Historic Scotland, 2003)
- Ashmore P & Dawson T. A Strategy for Scotland’s Coasts and Inshore Waters – Historic Environment (Scottish Coastal Forum/Scottish Executive, 2002)
Recent commissioned reports
- Dawson, T A Review of the Coastal Zone Assessment Surveys of Scotland, 1996-2007: Methods and collected data (unpublished report for Historic Scotland, 2008)
- Dawson, T Archaeology and Coastal Erosion in Scotland: the current state of knowledge and future directions (unpublished report for Historic Scotland, 2006)
Contributions to:
- Towards a Strategy for Scotland’s Marine Historic Environment: Discussion paper in association with the marine taskforce of the Built Environment Forum of Scotland’, (Historic Scotland, 2009)
- A strategy for Scotland’s coast and inshore waters (Scottish Coastal Forum, 2004)
