Excavation of a cropmark enclosure at Brixwold, Dalhousie Mains, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian

Abstract

Excavation recorded a large, sub-rectangular, ditched enclosure, previously identified from aerial photographic evidence as a cropmark. The deep U-shaped ditch contained waterlogged deposits with preserved organic materials. The radiocarbon dates obtained from waterlogged seeds in the ditch indicate two phases of activity, one in the fourth to second centuries BC and one in the first to second centuries AD. Analyses of the macroplant and insect assemblages from these deposits have provided evidence of the environment within, and immediately surrounding, the ditch as well as some slight evidence of human activity. No significant features or artefacts were recorded in the interior, probably as a result of extensive plough damage. A hollow feature with possible floor layers and a hearth was excavated outwith the south-west perimeter of the enclosure and is tentatively identified as a remnant sunken house floor. There are separately authored reports on: `The macroplant assemblage' by T Holden (395--6); `The invertebrate assemblage' by H Kenward, F Large, J Carrott & M Issitt (396--400); `Flint' by Thomas Rees (400); and `Animal bone' by Tanya O'Sullivan (400--1).