Archaeology Notes

Event ID 837221

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/837221

NT27SE 93 2764 7282

See also NT27SE 251, NT27SE 252, NT27SE 3959.

See also under general views (NT27SE 197).

(NT 2757 7278) Hill Fort (NR)

OS 6" map, (1966)

A fort, some 20 acres in extent, occupies the summit of Arthur's Seat, the subsidiary summit, Crow Hill, also being incorporated. Three parts of the perimeter are bordered only by the steep flanks of the hill, although some defences may well originally have followed at least some of this line. The only easy approach, from the E, is blocked by the ruins of two formidable stone walls, 375 yards long, the best preserved parts lying S of the path leading to the peak, on the flank of Crow Hill. Immediately S of the path, and W of this region, later enclosures have obscured the lines of the walls and penetrated into the interior of the fort. No traces of dwellings exist within the fort, but this area has all been ploughed, so any remains of either timber-framed or stone-built houses which may have existed, have been obliterated. Feachem (1965) suggests that the 'hill-top may have been occupied in pre-Roman times, if not later' while Stevenson, by analogy with the outer works of Dalmahoy fort (NT16NW 1) tentatively suggests a Dark Age date.

R B K Stevenson 1949; RCAHMS 1951; R W Feachem 1963; 1965.

Centred NT 2770 7298. Situated on a saddle some 150m E of the summit are the scanty remains of a fort generally as described by previous information.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (S F S) 8 December 1975.

Scheduled as part of Holyrood Abbey, Palace Gardens and Park (December 1994).

(Undated) information from Historic Scotland.

NT 276 729. Excavation was undertaken in advance of the proposed construction of a length of stone-pitched path on the eastern approaches to the summit of Arthur's Seat. This path is to run inside the area enclosed by two ramparts which have been previously suggested as being Early Historic in date by R B K Stevenson. The investigation comprised the excavation in January 1995 of seven closely-spaced trenches along the length of the proposed new path, the lower end of which ran along the inside of the inner rampart. An eighth trench was excavated through the rampart to examine its structure and provide a possible date for its construction.

In the trenches adjacent to the rampart, the rubble core was exposed. The trench through the rampart revealed that the rubble forming the rampart core was at least 1.2m high. A possible collapsed outer wall face was located, making the exposed section of rampart at least 5.4m wide. No archaeologically significant artefacts were recovered from the core of the rampart or below this, and the date of its construction remains unknown. A later dyke, c0.65m wide and one course high, had been built on top of the rampart rubble. This dyke appears to be part of a rectilinear enclosure, situated in the slight valley between the summits of Arthur's Seat and Crow Hill to the SW, which contains traces of cultivation. Erosion was apparent along the entire length of the proposed path line. The upper, steeper section had eroded down to bedrock in many places. Downslope, however, buried turf lines indicated that this erosion was episodic and artefacts suggested that it had occured in the last 200 years.

A full report will be lodged with NMRS.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland.

D Alexander 1995.

(Location cited as NT 276 729). The fort on Arthur's Seat was attributed to the early Historic period by Stevenson on the evidence of its similarity with the outer works at Dalmahoy (NT16NW 1). It is defined by two parallel banks cutting off the main [natural] approaches to the summit from the NE; these incorporate several natural outcropping crags and hillocks. The remainder of the circuit is assumed to have been formed by the natural defences of cliffs, possibly with the addition of slighter walls which no longer survive. The NW ends of the defensive banks are overlain by a pair of later stone and turf enclosures, the larger of which appears to have enclosed cultivated ground. With an enclosed area of about 8ha, the fort falls within Feachem's category of 'minor oppida', a category which awaits systematic study but may be chronologically diagnostic.

In 1995, visitor erosion of the approaches from the NE was countered by ground consolidation and path construction ('stone-pitching') over an area measuring about 60m by 2m within the putative interior and adjacent to the NW terminus of the inner bank. Preliminary survey was carried out (by M Collard for City of Edinburgh District Council Archaeology Service) and excavation (in January 1995) by [Edinburgh University] Centre for Field Archaeology.

Seven trenches were excavated along the line of the path and an eighth through the inner rampart; deeper local cuttings were excavated within three of the former. Features uncovered included a large spread of rampart rubble, the possible collapsed outer face of a rampart, later stone dykes, and modern erosion deposits. All the artifacts recovered were of modern origin. The terraced rampart measured at least 5.4m in thickness by up to 1.2m in height, and was comparable with the later terrace rampart at Traprain Law (NT57SE 1.00); the possible collapsed wall face was distinguished by the presence of stones larger than those found in the core. Excavation also confirmed Stevenson's interpretation of the faced dyke on the summit of the rampart mound as a later addition. It probably relates to the area of cultivation and the rectangular enclosures, which were noted as 'old fences' on the OS map of 1881.

D Alexander 1997.