Orkney Shells
With: Holly Young
Booking required: No
Time:19:30 - 21:00
Contact: Stromness Museum - Email: custodian@stromnessmuseum.org.uk
The Robert Rendall shell collection, which is housed in Stromness Museum, is an incredibly valuable resource to all who are interested by the natural world. This talk will introduce the collection and the man who created it. 
Robert Rendall is a very well-known figure in Orkney and was a man of many skills, talents, and hobbies. Alongside being a skilled poet, a preacher and painter, Rendall was a passionate naturalist. He had a particular love for shells and went on to publish extensively on the subject, with special focus given to the shell species found around Orkney.
Reference collections, such as Robert Rendall’s, are vitally important and contribute to many research projects. As part of this presentation, we will also explore how marine molluscs contributed to historic and prehistoric life and how, as archaeologists, we use shell assemblages and reference collections to examine interactions with the marine world in the past.
