Excavation
Date May 2016 - October 2016
Event ID 1022376
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1022376
NJ 5131 2642 A fifth season work was undertaken, May – October 2016, at Druminnor Castle. Highlights included the total excavation of the surviving parts of an early corndrying kiln, radiocarbon dated to between 1035 and 1207 cal AD (SUERC-67036 [GU40768] courtesy of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service), from a carbonised grain of oat. Bulk samples have been sent for processing and it is hoped that a second date from this material will confirm and improve on the accuracy of the first date. The floor of the kiln contained two substantial postholes and a third that was, apparently, unused at the time of the kiln’s destruction. This structural evidence may help in understanding how the kiln was used.
Trench extensions made to record more of the substantial eastern building, revealed in the previous year’s work, recorded a complicated series of stratigraphic relationships, indicative of a number of constructional phases. It is hoped that radiocarbon dating of bone from securely sealed deposits will provide dates for activity at this location.
The wall of the building appears to have cut through the floor of an earlier structure, and both appear to seal further underlying structural remains. The building itself, however, is bisected by a later wall built upon the latest
of the former floor surfaces. This later wall, conjecturally, may be the subsequent ‘barmkin’ wall depicted on an 18th-century estate plan. Fine carved masonry, reused in later constructional phases, indicates a number of high status buildings formerly standing in the immediate
vicinity.
A good range of late medieval pottery has been found along with a gold reliquary cross and a small copper-alloy buckle. The former has been identified by Penny Dransart (University of Lampeter) as relating to a tradition of ‘green’ crosses, symbolically reflecting the ‘living’ wood of the cross of the crucifiction. This particular example has bark-like modelling of its surface and stylised green foliage around the top. Its hollowed stem would have permitted the carrying of a holy relic, secured in place by a removable stopper at the base of the cross.
As ever, many thanks are owed to the landowner, Alex Forbes, both for his good-natured forbearance and for his wealth of local historical and Forbes family knowledge, to Aberdeenshire Council for their help in funding radiocarbon dates and sample analyses, and to AOC for their generous help and advice regarding sample collections.
Archive: Moray and Aberdeenshire Council SMR
Colin Shepherd – Bennachie Landscapes Fieldwork Group
(Source: DES)
