Simple Search
The free-text search will search database records for Monuments, Events, Designations and Sources from the Highland Historic Environment Record. Just choose which record type you wish to search.
If you know the HER number for a site you can type it directly into the Search bar. Ensure you use the prefixes: ‘MHG’ for Monuments, ‘EHG’ for Events, ‘DHG’ for Designations and ‘SHG’ for Sources.
Advanced Record Search
The advanced record search is a more structured way of searching the Highland Historic Environment Record, where specific monument and find types can be searched in combination with period and parish.
For details on the specific terms used in the database please visit the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage, specifically the FISH Vocabularies.
Site type - Monuments on the Highland Historic Environment Record are indexed against the Historic England Thesaurus of site types which has been enhanced with terms for uniquely Scottish sites and also for more localised site types in the Highlands. Just start typing and automated suggestions should appear.
Find type - This tool allows you to search for specific objects that have been found as random Findspots and/or have been found associated with Monuments and are linked to the relevant records. Just start typing and automated suggestions should appear.
Parish - A dropdown list of the parishes within the Highlands. Although parishes are no longer used for administrative/local government purposes in Scotland they are still used as a convenient way for us to locate archaeological sites. The boundaries we use are those as were frozen as a result of local government reorganisation in the early-mid 1970s.
Time period - This date can be used on its own if you just want to search a single period or as the start date if you want to search over multiple periods.
Time period end - This date is used as the end date if you are searching over multiple periods.
Time period overlap - This button enables you to choose if you only want to see records that fall exclusively within the date range you have specified or if you want to see all records that fall within the date range even if they overlap into the previous or following periods.
Sort results by – There is a drop-down list of Name (A-Z) and (Z-A), Period (earliest) and Period (latest) and Reference (A-Z) and Reference (Z-A) which refers to the database Monument record number beginning with the prefix ‘MHG’.