The excavation of pit circles at Romancamp Gate, Fochabers, Moray, 1990
Postholes Fence Lines, Pit, Funerary Structures, Postholes Radiocarbon, Flint Tools, Ceremonial, Round Houses, Pits, Radiocarbon, Flint, Charcoal, cropmark
Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age
Abstract
The excavation was undertaken with the funding and support of Grampian Regional Council to test hypotheses relating to the interpretation of cropmark pit circles: were they Neolithic or Bronze Age ceremonial or funerary structures, or were they Iron Age houses, and to what extent could the two classifications be differentiated on aerial photographs? The excavation revealed the remains of four circles (between 8.5 m and 11.5 m in diameter) of large post- holes, fence lines (one with a gate), and many other pits and post-holes. Radiocarbon dates place the post circles late in the first millennium BC uncal. The pit circles may be interpreted as the main structural elements of four substantial round houses, two of which burned down. Flint tools of the Mesolithic period were recovered.
