Excavation

Date 9 May 2017 - 19 May 2017

Event ID 1040307

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1040307

NJ 1090 6914 (NJ16NW 1) As part of the Northern Picts and Comparative Kingship project excavation was carried out, 9–19 May 2017. During a two week season a 8 x 6m trench was opened over an area to the N of floor layers and structural features identified in 2016. A cobbled floor and a possible hearth were found lying above early medieval layers. Post-medieval/modern postholes/pits were also found in the upper stratigraphy. On the lower sand subsoil a number of structures were found. A low stone wall in the northern corner of the trench may be post-medieval, but other structures appear to be earlier in date. A sunken building was found in the western part of the trench. It was defined by deeply set oak planks on one side and a stone wall that arced around enclosing a sunken area. Inside possible post pads and traces of an internal wattle wall were identified.

In the eastern half of the trench a turf wall and floor layer represented another large building. The turf wall was around 0.6m wide and survived to a height of 0.3m. It curved around a stone-built hearth and a dark grey sand floor layer. Large pieces of burnt oak trunkwood were found in the floor layer and next to the hearth a pierced Anglo-Saxon coin of Alfred the Great was located. Fragments of iron sheet and other iron objects were also found on the floor layer. The building may have been remodelled with a lower floor layer and a possible secondary wall at the northern end. A possible ring ditch and a number of isolated postholes/pits were found underlying the two buildings that lay on the subsoil. Radiocarbon dating on charred cereals and charcoal from the various structures is in process.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen and Historic Environment Scotland

Gordon Noble and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 18)