Small island groups present archaeologists with the opportunity to study the sustainability and resilience of changing complex socioecological systems over time. Did the small islands off the western coast of Britain between Scotland and Northern Ireland lack resilience in the face of waves of colonisation and socioeconomic events from the Iron Age to the 19th Century? Can we measure the tempo, resilience, fragility and connectivity of these islands and how did they go from being a core to a periphery over the last three millennia – with a particularly detailed focus on the last 1500 years. It is believed that during this period the islands underwent dramatic population, social and cultural changes, which we believe can be deciphered from their landscape archaeology, soils and lake sediments.