Archives - Page 2

  • A time of change: Mesolithic occupation at Cramond, Edinburgh during the 9th millennium BC
    Vol. 103 (2023)

    A time of change: Mesolithic occupation at Cramond, Edinburgh during the 9th millennium BC

    Authors: John A Lawson, Alan Saville and Rob Engl

    Contributors: Andrew Bicket, Rosie Bishop, Valerie Dean and Mhairi Hastie

    Summary: In 1995 small-scale excavations undertaken at Cramond, Edinburgh revealed a number of pit and post hole features related to temporary or intermittent Mesolithic occupation. These features and associated deposits produced sizeable assemblages of charred plant remains and lithic material.

    Cramond appears to be the first of an increasing number of securely dated narrow-blade microlithic sites excavated in recent times along the Forth Littoral. Together with substantial house sites such as Echline Fields, East Barns and Howick, Cramond produced a narrow-blade microlithic industry associated with occupation during the mid-9th millennium BC. As such it remains the earliest narrow-blade type assemblage yet discovered in Britain and provides a jumping off point for the discussion of Mesolithic responses to a rapidly changing environment in terms of population movement and technological change.

    Keywords: narrow blade, scraper, flint, microlith, microburin, chert, quartz, hazelnut

    Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Mesolithic

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  • Riddle’s Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh: a merchant’s house fit for a king
    Vol. 102 (2023)

    Riddle’s Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh: a merchant’s house fit for a king

    Author: Michael Cressey

    Contributors: Anne Crone, Karen Dundas, Christina Hills and Alasdair Ross

    Summary: Riddle’s Court, a former merchant’s house situated off the Royal Mile, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, underwent major refurbishment and transformation into the Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning from 2015 to 2017. The results from historical research, building survey and architectural watching briefs are as yet unparalleled, as no other building on the Royal Mile has received the level of historical and archaeological research carried out at Riddle’s Court.

    In the late 16th century much of the Royal Mile was a plethora of mainly stone and timber-framed houses. However, Riddle’s Court was an amalgam of predominantly ashlar and rubble construction with tall thatched roofs with dormer windows. Slate was a later addition in the early 18th century. The interior of the complex was furnished with several turnpike staircases of which only one now survives. During the 17th and 18th centuries Riddle’s Court was bedecked with all the fine trappings of a country mansion house and was occupied by major and minor aristocracy until the late 18th century. The status of the building was further elevated by its earlier royal connections that led to its partial remodelling for ceremonial purposes. A legacy of a lavish royal banquet in honour of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England) and his bride Queen Anne of Denmark was a painted ceiling in the so-called ‘King’s Chamber’ which commemorated their royal union. This ornate and historically significant painted beam and board ceiling was discovered in the 1960s during a period of building renovation by Edinburgh City Council. The ceiling was restored and is a focal point among a large collection of ornate plaster and painted ceilings. Subsequent removal of more modern lined ceilings during the present refurbishment led to the discovery of three more painted beam and board ceilings, and a concealed fireplace and bread oven that are rare survivors within not only the Royal Mile but elsewhere in Scotland. The presence of so much hitherto unrecorded artwork has significantly raised the importance of the Court’s North Block.

    Keywords: Royal Mile, tenement, courtyard, merchant, royalty, painted ceiling, timber, dendrochronology

    Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Periods: post-medieval

    Canmore ID: 52291

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  • The New Street Gasworks, Caltongate: archaeological investigation of a major power production complex in the heart of Edinburgh and its significance in the industrial development of Britain
    Vol. 101 (2022)

    The New Street Gasworks, Caltongate: archaeological investigation of a major power production complex in the heart of Edinburgh and its significance in the industrial development of Britain

    Authors: Dawn McLaren, Mike Roy and Donald Wilson

    Contributors: Dennis Gallagher, George R Haggarty, Andrew Morrison, Jackaline Robertson, Lynne Roy, Diana Sproat, Clare Thomas and Ian West

    Summary: An extensive programme of archaeological fieldwork between August 2006 and May 2008 in the area of the former New Street Gasworks and New Street Bus Depot, Canongate, Edinburgh revealed remains of one of the earliest and most significant gasworks in Britain. As well as patches of medieval and post-medieval backland soils and post-medieval structures that pre-dated the establishment of the New Street works in the first quarter of the 19th century, substantial structural remains of the various phases of this industrial undertaking were recorded, along with a suite of associated artefacts.

    These works have permitted the exploration of the industrial heritage of Edinburgh, as well as revealing important evidence of the medieval and post-medieval occupation of the Canongate. This is the first major excavation of an urban gasworks in Scotland and has enabled an examination of how these gasworks functioned and how they expanded with the introduction of more efficient systems and new technology.

    Keywords: gasworks, technology, industrial

    Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Periods: medieval, post-medieval, Modern

    Canmore ID: 52212 and 191564

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  • The excavation of a prehistoric settlement at Lower Slackbuie, Inverness
    Vol. 100 (2022)

    The excavation of a prehistoric settlement at Lower Slackbuie, Inverness

    Authors: Claire Christie and Magnar Dalland

    Contributors: Laura Bailey, Owain Scholma-Mason and Hugo Anderson-Whymark

    Summary: The expansion of Inverness southwards has led to the uncovering of a landscape rich in archaeological activity, dating from the Neolithic period onwards. The abundance of archaeological evidence as been interpreted as indicating that the area was a hub for prehistoric activity (Hatherley & Murray 2021). The excavation of an area at Lower Slackbuie by Headland Archaeology in 2019 revealed evidence for Neolithic activity overlain by a series of seven roundhouses and a palisade enclosure. The later prehistoric activity likely occurred from the middle-late Bronze Age through to the Iron Age. The site at Lower Slackbuie can be linked to neighbouring sites, adding to an increasingly vibrant picture of prehistoric activity that took place south of Inverness.

    Keywords: Grooved Ware, axe, roundhouse, palisade, Carinated Bowl, bangle, scraper, flax, linseed

    Location: Highland, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age 

    Canmore ID: 364065

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  • toggle of transparent aquamarine glass

    Two Iron Age duns in western Scotland: excavations at Barnluasgan and Balure, North Knapdale, Argyll
    Vol. 99 (2022)

    Two Iron Age duns in western Scotland: excavations at Barnluasgan and Balure, North Knapdale, Argyll

    Author: Roddy Regan and Ewan Campbell

    Contributors: Torben Bjarke Ballin, Michael Cressey, Mhairi Hastie, Susanna Kirk and Alison Sheridan

    Summary: This report discusses the excavation of two stone-walled duns situated in North Knapdale, Argyll and Bute, led by Kilmartin Museum. Substantial areas of both sites were excavated, providing a good stratigraphic record of the development of the structures. Both sites proved to be multiphase, and six radiocarbon dates established a fairly restricted period of occupation for both in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC and the first centuries AD. These dates are important contributions to an ongoing debate on the chronology of duns and forts in Argyll as there are so few reliable dates for this class of monument. At Barnluasgan an oval structure enclosing a craggy knoll was replaced by a smaller circular one. At Balure, in contrast, a primary circular structure had a series of successive enclosures added. Both circular structures had internal post holes and hearths, suggesting they were roofed ‘dun-houses’. No intramural features were seen, but median wall faces were present. Artefacts were sparse, as is usual on sites of this period, but included an unusual decorated rotary quern, and rare glass toggles. There are detailed reports on the artefacts and on the palaeobotanical remains. The landscape context of the sites is explored, and a discussion places the sites in this context and in relation to debates on classification of stone-walled structures in Atlantic Scotland.

    Keywords: dun, Atlantic roundhouse, Argyll, landscape, quern, glass toggle

    Location: Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Iron Age

    Canmore IDs: 39168 (Barnluasgan), 290103 (Balure)

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  • Excavations outside the Roman fort on the Antonine Wall at Croy Hill, 1975–8
    Vol. 98 (2022)

    Excavations outside the Roman fort on the Antonine Wall at Croy Hill, 1975–8

    Author: William S Hanson

    Contributors: Lindsay Allason-Jones, Donal Bateson, Paul Bidwell, Louisa Campbell, Sally Cottam, Alexandra Croom, Brenda M Dickinson, Mark Gillings, Brian R Hartley, Katharine F Hartley, Louise Hird, Dorothy A Lunt, Ann MacSween, Jennifer Price, Anne S Robertson, David E Robinson, Hannelore Rose, David Williams, Dene Wright and Archie Young

    Summary: Large-scale rescue excavation beyond the guardianship area around the Roman fort on the Antonine Wall at Croy Hill (NGR: NS 7335 7652) was undertaken over four summers (1975–8), funded by a predecessor to Historic Environment Scotland. The aims of the excavation were to identify any potential civil settlement associated with the fort and to confirm the character and date of a pre-fort enclosure identified by Sir George Macdonald in the 1930s.

    The latter proved to be a camp associated with the building of the Antonine Wall, not an earlier Flavian fort as previously postulated. A civil settlement was shown to lie within the guardianship area on a plateau immediately to the west of the fort, though only one timber structure extended into the excavated area. However, a curvilinear trackway wound its way down the hill from the settlement towards a southern road that bypassed the fort. The trackway was defined by substantial ditches that contained a large quantity and wide variety of artefactual material washed down from the settlement, predominantly after its abandonment. The bypass road, which showed signs of at least two phases of construction, was traced for a distance of some 275m. The area on either side of it to the east of the fort was divided up by a system of fence lines and ditches into fields or compounds, one of which contained a pottery kiln, another a cremation burial.

    Field observation during the excavation led to the suggestion that a fortlet lay some 80m west of the fort. This was confirmed by limited excavation within the guardianship area. The construction of the fortlet was shown to have been contemporary with the Antonine Wall.

    Keywords: Antonine Wall, fort, fortlet, bypass road, civil settlement, land divisions

    Location: North Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Roman, later prehistoric

    Canmore ID: 45875 

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  • a hand holding a flint

    Prehistoric communities of the River Dee: Mesolithic and other lithic scatter sites of central Deeside, Aberdeenshire
    Vol. 97 (2021)

    Prehistoric communities of the River Dee: Mesolithic and other lithic scatter sites of central Deeside, Aberdeenshire

    Author: Caroline Wickham-Jones

    Contributors: Richard Bates, Alison Cameron, Ann Clarke, Diane Collinson, Sheila Duthie, Tim Kinnaird, Gordon Noble, Irvine Ross, Heather Sabnis and Richard Tipping

    Summary: This volume presents the results of archaeological fieldwork undertaken along the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, by the Mesolithic Deeside voluntary community archaeology group between 2017 and 2019. A total of 42 fields were investigated, from which over 11,000 lithics were recovered, representing at least 15 archaeological sites and a span of human activity covering some 10,000 years from around 12,000 BC to c 2000 BC. Finds from the Late Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age were present. Work comprised fieldwalking, test pitting, specialist analysis, and small-scale excavation. The investigation described here is significant not just for the light it throws on the early prehistoric populations along the River Dee but also for the methodology by which investigation was undertaken, as this provides a potential model for work in other areas. Both aspects are covered in the report.

    The River Dee flows between postglacial gravel and sand terraces, the structure of which has played an important role for the early settlers of the area, and this is covered in some detail in order to provide the physical background framework for the sites. There are also sections on more specialised geophysical and geoscience techniques where these were undertaken, together with a summary of research on the palaeoenvironmental conditions throughout the millennia of prehistory. The artefactual evidence comprises lithic assemblages which were all catalogued as fieldwork progressed; the contents of each site are presented, together with more detailed analysis of the finds from test pitted sites. Finally, given the rich archaeological record from the area, the results of the present project are set into the wider context of the evidence for prehistoric settlement along the river, and there is consideration of future directions for further fieldwork.

    While all authors have contributed to the whole volume, individual sections that present specialist work by specific teams have been attributed. The distribution maps and GIS are the work of Irvine Ross.

    Dates given are calibrated BC dates. The Nethermills Farm NM4 dates are calibrated using the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit calibration program OxCal 4 (Bronk Ramsey 2009) and their date ranges are calibrated using the IntCal13 atmospheric calibration curve (Reimer et al 2013). Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was used to profile sediment accumulations on some of the sites and obtain information relating to site formation, but it was not used for dating in any of the projects.

    Locations: Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Late Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age

    Keywords: lithic scatter, fieldwalking, stone tool, community archaeology

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  • ‘A home by the sea’: the excavation of a robust Mesolithic house of the late 9th millennium BC at East Barns, East Lothian
    Vol. 96 (2021)

    ‘A home by the sea’: the excavation of a robust Mesolithic house of the late 9th millennium BC at East Barns, East Lothian

    Authors: Rob Engl and John Gooder

    Contributors: Clare Ellis, Randolph Donahue and Adrian Evans

    Summary: In 2001 excavation works undertaken in advance of quarrying at East Barns, East Lothian (NGR: NT 7121 7686), revealed the substantial remains of a robust Mesolithic house structure, securely dated to the late 9th millennium BC. The house was situated within a large, natural hollow whose gradual infilling had effectively sealed the archaeological deposits. The house consisted of a sub-circular sunken floor with the remains of a westfacing entrance and two concentric angled post rings, suggesting episodes of replacement if not actual rebuilding. The remains of interior furniture were also recorded in the form of post holes, a platform, and three probable hearth features. A charred deposit of occupation debris rich in lithics sealed many of the structural features around the internal perimeter of the house. The distribution of this deposit appeared to reflect informal refuse toss/drop zones formed during the occupation of the structure and suggests some form of internal spatial organisation.

    The house at East Barns joins an increasing group of substantial analogous sites related to Early Mesolithic activity in Scotland and northern England. These substantial house sites reflect increasing socio-economic, cultural and chronological complexity during the Mesolithic. As such the site allows provisional hypotheses to be formed about the scale and nature of Early Mesolithic social and economic adaptation around the North Sea Basin.

    Locations: East Lothian, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Mesolithic

    Keywords: prehistoric structure, lithics, chert, chalcedony, blade, scraper, social adaptation, economic adaptation

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  • pieces of ancient pottery

    Bronze Age and Iron Age archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: an investigation of structures and funerary practices
    Vol. 95 (2021)

    Bronze Age and Iron Age archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: an investigation of structures and funerary practices

    Authors: Sue McGalliard and Donald Wilson

    Contributors: Laura Bailey, Hilary E M Cool, Gemma Cruickshanks, Fraser Hunter, Colin Wallace and Michael Wallace

    Summary: Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire (NGR: NJ 7707 1809). Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was also identified. A large roundhouse and souterrain dominated the site in the 1st or 2nd century AD. Material culture associated with the Iron Age structures suggested a degree of status to the occupation there. 

    Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

    Periods: Middle Bronze Age, Middle Iron Age

    Keywords: souterrain, roundhouse, cremation, urn, prehistoric settlement, prehistoric structure, cemetery

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  • The Calanais Fields Project: excavation of a prehistoric sub-peat field system at Calanais, Isle of Lewis, 1999–2000
    Vol. 94 (2021)

    The Calanais Fields Project: excavation of a prehistoric sub-peat field system at Calanais, Isle of Lewis, 1999–2000

    Authors: Melanie Johnson, Catherine Flitcroft and Lucy Verrill

    Contributors: Mhairi Hastie, Anthony Newton, Adrian Tams and Graeme Warren

    Summary: Excavations at Calanais, Isle of Lewis (NGR: NB 2125 3265) in 1999 and 2000, through the University of Edinburgh, revealed fragments of a prehistoric field system buried beneath blanket peat. Stone structures including buildings, walls, clearance cairns and heaps and cobbled surfaces were identified and excavated. Environmental analyses indicate that these features, associated with a buried soil, represent prehistoric farming activity, and radiocarbon determinations indicate that they are likely to be no later than Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age in origin. This excavation is important as it is one of very few recent prehistoric excavations in the Hebrides on the blacklands instead of machair, in addition to showing evidence for an agricultural landscape in close proximity to a major ritual monument (Calanais Standing Stones).

    This paper is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Owen (1979–2017), who brought so much joy to the excavations.

    Location: Western Isles, Scotland, UK

    Period: Late Bronze Age

    Keywords: peat, pollen, palaeosol, phosphate, pumice, prehistoric agriculture

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