PEOPLE who lived on Britain's most remote island, St Kilda, were never an isolated "lost tribe" but were actually connected to a network of mainland communities for 3000 years, according to a Scottish archaeologist.
The St Kilda archipelago is the remotest - and windiest - outpost of the British Isles, 41 miles west of Benbecula and 112 miles off the Scottish mainland.
St Kilda was inhabited for thousands of years before the last 36 islanders were famously evacuated from Hirta - largest island in the archipelago - to the mainland at their own request in 1930.
George Geddes, Archaeologist at Historic Environment Scotland, said that although St Kilda is referred to as the "islands at the edge of the world", its inhabitants were never removed from civilisation.
Mr Geddes, who spent nine months on the islands as co-author of a new book, said: “St Kilda is one of the most mythologised and misunderstood places on earth.
"Most of us view the islands with the romantic notion of the people as a lost tribe, removed from civilisation. What we have discovered is that this was never really the case.
"Throughout its human history, St Kilda has always been connected to a network of communities scattered across the north western seaboard and Highlands of Scotland.
"For a long time, for instance, St Kilda was effectively part of a farm, along with another island, Pabbay, owned by the Macleod chiefs -- just like any other Highland community.
“What makes these islands so remarkable is not their distance from ‘civilisation’, but rather their enduring capacity to remain a living part of Scotland over the course of some 3,000 years.”
Mr Geddes new book, "St Kilda: The Last and Outmost Isle", published Monday challenges idea of iconic archipelago as a lost world.
The archaeologist, and co-author Angela Gannon, spent over nine months living and working on the islands as part of an eight year project to research its rich and diverse history.
The book combines the results of the most detailed archaeological survey of the islands ever undertaken, complete with rare and previously unpublished late 19th and early 20th century images of the archipelago and its people.
* "St Kilda: The Last and Outmost Isle" is priced at £25.00 and is available to purchase at all major book stockists.
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