Excavation

Date 15 August 2017 - 3 September 2017

Event ID 1038514

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1038514

NJ 49749 26345 (NJ42NE 35) From 15 August – 3 September 2017 a small 8 x 8m trench was excavated at Barflat, Rhynie. This was targeted over the 5th/6th-century palisaded enclosure and associated structures identified during previous geophysical survey, aerial photography and four seasons of excavation, between 2011 and 2016. The ditched and palisaded enclosures surround the Craw Stane, a Pictish Class I symbol stone that stands in the fields to the S of Rhynie village (NJ 49749 26345).

The excavation targeted an area of the outer ditch from 2016 and extended to the W to understand the extent and nature of the metalworking deposits identified but not fully investigated in 2016. In 2017 this further section of the outer ditch was fully excavated and revealed more extensive

metalworking waste deposits. In this area several recuts of the ditch were identified, showing the ditch had been reused in several phases. A pit with charcoal lining was identified cut into the base of the ditch and interpreted as a metalworking pit or furnace. Artefacts recovered include further sherds from imported Late Roman amphora, crucible sherds, clay mould fragments (many diagnostic) and evidence for precious metalworking and iron smelting. A rotary quern stone was excavated from near the base of the ditch. Detailed post-excavation analysis, including radiocarbon dating, will help further elucidate the significant archaeological remains

identified at the site.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen and Historic Environment Scotland

Gordon Noble, Meggen Gondek, Cathy MacIver, Daniel MacLean and Ewan Campbell – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 18)