Excavation

Date 1 January 1977 - 31 December 1977

Event ID 1032106

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1032106

Excavations outside the Roman fort at Inveresk revealed an extensive and well-established civilian settlement extending along the ridge to the east of the fort and beneath the present village. Four main phases of activity were identified, the middle two corresponding to the two periods of the Antonine occupation of Scotland. An earlier phase of activity was represented by a characteristic V-profiled ditch for which no direct dating evidence existed but which may indicate the presence of a pre-settlement Roman enclosure in the vicinity. A buried turf-line directly overlying the early deposits suggested a period of abandonment over part of the site at least. The foundation trenches of a timber building surrounding a stone-built furnace and a second timber structure, which had been burnt to the ground, comprised the structural elements of 2nd phase of activity with a third phase seeing further rebuilding of the site on a much grander scale

with massive timbered buildings and one stone building, all set in a regular grid separated by cobbled lanes and roads.

Post-Roman deposits were confined to late medieval and modern activity and were characterized by pits, a few stretches of stone walling and general disturbance over the northern part of the site. These deposits were too shallow and disturbed to permit any stratigraphic separation. The majority of the finds suggest the largely domestic nature of the site, although the furnace and various pieces of industrial debris clearly indicate some form of industrial activity. In particular, the analysis of a type of pottery characteristic of the site demonstrated its origin in the area and probably on the site of Inveresk itself. The suggestion is put forward that the excavations have uncovered part of the potter's workshop. Further information was also gathered concerning the subsistence economy and exchange networks

G D Thomas 1989