Roderick (Rod) McCullagh retired in 2016 after 17 years with Historic Scotland (latterly Historic Environment Scotland), the state heritage service in Scotland, working with heritage bureaucrats, professional and community archaeologists, monuments owners, tourists, and the general public to advance the protection, conservation, understanding, and enjoyment of ancient monuments in Scotland. A major part of his work within Historic Scotland was the management of a budget paying for research and “rescue” excavations, analysis (including radiocarbon dating), and publication (a primary obligation in Scotland). Prior to this, after graduating in Archaeology and Prehistory at Sheffield University and Archaeological Sciences at Bradford University, he spent 24 years working as field archaeologist in Scotland, England, Wales, Norway, and Sweden. His main focus of archaeological interest, prior to joining Historic Scotland, was in the prehistoric land use and settlement of highland and island Scotland. Beyond his day job, he has been one of the organizers of an annual lecture series (eight seminars and a day-seminar per year) focusing on all aspects of the archaeology of Scotland between 1000 B.C. and A.D. 1000. For the last three years he has also jointly organized sessions at the annual conference of the European Association of Archaeologists looking at the architecture and use of domestic spaces in prehistoric Europe.
