CONSERVATIONISTS have accurately recreated the Culloden battlefield using electronic mapping techniques to mark the 275th anniversary of the battle.
Experts say the new technology gives “detailed understanding” of how the landscape looked in 1746 when the final Jacobite Rising “came to a brutal head”.
Culloden, near Inverness, hosted the final fight of the rebellion where the army of Charles Edward Stuart was defeated by a British government force under William Augustus.
On April 16, 1746, around 1500 Jacobites were slain within an hour, crushing the revolt.
National Trust for Scotland said it will unveil the new maps publicly today at an online event. Its head of archaeology Derek Alexander said: “These maps give us the most detailed understanding currently possible of how the landscape looked in 1746.
“Thanks to 21st-century technology, we can use these to get a feel for what soldiers on the battlefield would actually have been able to see of their opponents, their positions and their weaponry.”
Raoul Curtis-Machin, operations manager at Culloden, said the maps “protect Culloden for the future”.
He added: “Their detailed information gives us a clear understanding of how the site has been altered through building and development over the centuries, all of which is invaluable as we strive to retain all that is special about this site that is of such significance to Scotland’s story.”
The event can be accessed at: nts.org.uk/culloden275.
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