With hindsight, Fairhurst’s challenge to the theory of static, traditional society represents a watershed. Firstly, it re-directed the subject to the study of the dynamics of history; secondly, in its acknowledgement of a real lack of evidence for pre-eighteenth century rural settlement, it placed archaeology alongside historical geography at the core of the subject. At the time, this meant giving a key role to excavated evidence in furthering our knowledge of Scotland’s historic rural past. Amongst other things, Fairhurst’s aims for his own excavations at Lix and Rosal included the discovery of evidence for the period before the eighteenth century (Fairhurst 1968; 1969). For the Highlands and Islands, he believed that medieval remains were to be found beneath the visible remains of the region’s many eighteenth and nineteenth century townships. In the south and east, the English paradigm of the‘deserted medieval village’ was considered more appropriate (Fairhurst and Dunbar 1971).