Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016966
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016966
This souterrain was discovered as a result of stone clearance in 1949 and excavated by Dr FT Wainwright in 1949 and 1950. The shape of the souterrain was compared by Wainwright to that of a banana, with the entrance forming the stalk and the main curved chamber the banana itself. The short narrow passage leads down to the twin jambs of the entrance doorway; the souterrain was constructed with massive boulders at the base of the corbelled side-walls and with rougher stone-work, now partly reconstructed, forming the upper courses. Large flat slabs formed an irregular paving with a central drain for about two-thirds of its length. The drain was not an original feature of the souterrain construction, but was essential because the surrounding boulder clay did not allow water to run off naturally. But even the drain was not sufficient, and the souterrain was eventually abandoned; the roof and the upper courses of the wall appear to have been removed and the passage filled with earth.
Four surface structures, which were in use at the same time as the final phase of use of the souterrain, are visible on its south-west side. Only part of the northwest structure survives, but part of a broken rotary quern was found in the floor and a large cup-and-ring marked slab was found set into the wall. In the north-east corner of the adjacent structure there was a stone bench comprising a large flat slab supported by uprights; apart from another quern fragment, sherds and animal bones were found. The major feature of the third structure was a 'fire-bowl' with a well preserved 'draught-vent' underneath the paving; among the debris was part of a Roman amphora and a pitted stone, which was probably used to produce fire. A narrow structure led from this series of surface buildings directly to the souterrain itself but it is likely that this and the adjacent structure were not in use after the souterrain was filled in. A stone-lined tank originally lined with clay in order to make it watertight may still be seen a little to the south.
Just how the souterrain and the surface structures should be interpreted in the light of the evidence from Newmill discussed in the Introduction is uncertain; on the one hand it seems not improbable that the roof of the souterrain itself was of timber rather than flat slabs, on the other hand the sophistication of the timber house at Newmill makes it unlikely that the surface features at Ardestie were roofed with individual timber and thatch wigwams as is sometimes suggested as a reconstruction. Another interpretation might be that the surface structures indicate paved industrial areas just outside the main roofed area involving activities that were perhaps hazardous (the 'fire-bowl') or noxious (a stone bench associated perhaps with butchery).
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
