Magnetometry

Date 9 November 2015 - 13 November 2015

Event ID 1024726

Category Recording

Type Magnetometry

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1024726

NJ 22340 69600 As part of the Northern Picts project surveys and excavations have been undertaken in an area stretching from Aberdeenshire to Shetland targeting sites that can help contextualize the character of society in the early medieval period in northern Pictland.

Kinneddar has one of the richest collections of Pictish and early Chrisitian sculpture in northern Pictland, but only limited research has been conducted here. Kinneddar was one of the residences of the Bishops’ of Moray from the 11th century onwards and, at its height of importance, the bishop’s residence was a castle located to the N of the modern cemetery. A geophysical survey conducted, 9–13 November 2015, covered a large area of the Glebe to the W of the modern cemetery and areas to the S and N. Magnetometry was used and the survey identified traces of a monastic vallum on the S and W sides. An elaborate series of ditches are evident on the W with one or two curving ditches extending to the S. The ditches enclose an area at least 180m E/W and probably more than 250m N/S

but the boundary on the N side is obscured by the modern town of Lossiemouth and the Bishop’s Palace. On the E the ditches extend into areas that were not surveyed. Anomalies representing rig and furrow were evident outside the vallum to the W and additional ditches or field boundary enclosures were identified both in the interior and exterior areas. The

modern cemetery lies at the heart of this complex. Remains of the Bishop’s Palace were also identified on the N side of the cemetery and include multiple wall lines and extensively disturbed ground indicating a large complex of buildings and demolition layers.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen

Gordon Noble and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 17)