the rural landscape in Scotland is largely a creation of the last 250 years; buildings earlier than the eighteenth century have been particularly difficult to locate, and understanding of the earlier landscape lags far behind that of later centuries. Only in particular contexts, such as the Northern and Western Isles in the Norse period, has significant progress been made in this regard; sharply contrasting experiences of land management in the highland and lowland zones over the last two centuries have resulted in a striking imbalance in archaeological survival, with abundant preservation in the highlands and almost total destruction (at least of upstanding monuments) in the lowlands.