Geophysical Survey

Date 28 May 2015 - 11 November 2015

Event ID 1026090

Category Recording

Type Geophysical Survey

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1026090

NJ 2230 6960 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.

During the medieval period Kinneddar was one of the seats of the Bishop’s of Moray. Earlier origins to the site are suggested by an extensive collection of early medieval sculpture from the site. This includes cross-slabs, shrine fragments and at least one Pictish stone. The most likely

context of this sculpture is an early monastery. Two surveys were conducted, 28–30 May and 9–11 November 2015, with the aim of identifying any features, such as a monastic vallum around the modern cemetery of Kinneddar. The survey was conducted in the fields to the S and W of the Kinneddar Cemetery and in the scheduled area that covers the supposed site of the Bishop’s Palace to the north.

The area N of the cemetery revealed a diverse range of anomalies which confirm the presence of the Bishop’s Palace in this area. The anomalies hint at wall fragments and extensive remains lying under the modern ploughsoil. To the S and W of the cemetery the most obvious feature was a large curvilinear anomaly that appears to represent the remains of the monastic vallum. This ditch curves southwards from the Glebe fields and heads SE before curving and extending into unsurveyed fields to the east. The projected line of the ditch would represent an enclosure c200m or more in diameter. Further additional ditches, both within the possible vallum and to the S, were also identified. The ditch appears to be more complex or multivallate on the W in the area just outside the Glebe field. An extensive area of rig and furrow appears to respect the vallum on the west.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

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

Gordon Noble and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 16)