Excavation

Date March 2013 - October 2014

Event ID 1010853

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1010853

NJ 5354 6392 As part of the Northern Picts Project surveys and excavations have been undertaken in an area stretching from Aberdeenshire to Easter Ross targeting sites that can help contextualize the character of society in the early medieval period in northern Pictland.

In 1838, on the Ley Farm a silver hoard dating to the Pictish period was discovered. The 19th-century accounts suggest numerous items were found, but of these artefacts only three survive today in the National Museum of Scotland. The silver hoard was buried in association with Gaulcross North, one of two stone circles which were removed in the 1830s when the silver hoard was found.

In March 2013 a geophysical survey was conducted in the field where the stone circles and the hoard were found but no features were discovered. At the same time a metal detector survey was conducted and with this method over 80 silver pieces were discovered in the ploughsoil, mapped and recorded. Following these surveys a 30 x 30m trench was opened where the densest concentration of artefacts was located. This trench revealed a single shallow feature close to the centre of the artefact distribution. However, no in situ silver or datable deposits were found. Close to this feature another small feature was discovered which contained small fragments of cremated bone. Charcoal from this feature was dated to the Early Iron Age (SUERC-48413 2473±34; 765–415 cal BC 95.4%).

A second trench (5 x 5m) was opened over the location of the northern stone circle. This trench was targeted to try and identify the last recorded position of the final standing stone of Gaulcross North stone circle. In the trench few cut features were recorded. Two of these were shallow pits containing stones and charcoal. The charcoal fill in one of the pits has been

dated to the early 4th millennium BC (SUERC-48408 5073±34; 3960–3790 cal BC 95.4%), the adjacent pit fill has been dated to the Mid Bronze Age (SUERC-48409 3302±34; 1670–1500 cal BC 95.4%). This later pit may be related to the stone circle.

Another 12 x 25m trench was subsequently excavated in October 2014 to link the previous two trenches and to cover the projected position of the original silver finds as recorded by Cramond in the 1860s. No silver objects were found and only three small pit features were discovered and await dating and analysis. Two of these pit features contained datable material.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen Development Trust in partnership with the Tarbat Discovery Centre

Gordon Noble, Martin Goldberg, Oskar G Sveinbjarnarson and Alistair Mcpherson – University of Aberdeen and National Museum Scotland

(Source: DES)