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Field Visit
Date 10 May 1928
Event ID 1114337
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1114337
Terraces, Dunsapie.
Hill-side terraces formed by cultivation in medieval or earlier times have been identified in many parts of England, but are of comparatively rare occurrence in Scotland. A well-defined series of terraces, apparently of an allied character, exists on the slopes of the hill overlooking Dunsapie Loch on the west (Fig. 101), and a second series, much broken and of lesser extent, still survives on a hollow slope at the base of the same hill, close to the margin of Duddingston Loch. The upper series occurs at an elevation of 450 to 600 feet above sea-level, and, viewed from a distance, shows ten terraces. At close quarters the two uppermost of these become less apparent. The series traverses the hill-side for a distance of approximately 728 feet. Where well defined, the terraces are of a width varying from 15 to 34 feet - with scarps approximately from 2 feet to 12 feet in height. The Duddingston series is more irregular, and, for the most part, the original lines have been destroyed. Only the lower terrace, which shows a width varying from 46 to 53 feet, survives fairly complete, and its construction and general appearance suggest that it is contemporaneous with those on the higher slopes. Unlike certain English examples, the Dunsapie terraces cannot be associated with the open-field system with its statute acres and customary acres, which has been traced back to the early part of the Saxon period. Neither can they meantime be classified with other terrace groups, known as the Celtic type, that have been associated in England with settlements of the Early Iron Age and Roman period. In connection with these English examples we are told ‘it is necessary to realize that such terraces have not been formed intentionally, but are the result of ploughing’ (1). At Dunsapie, however, although other indications point to the existence of an early and extensive settlement in the vicinity, there is the distinctive feature of at least partial construction of the terraces. Here and there, especially in the fifth and sixth terraces of the upper series and in the first and second lines of the lower series, the scarped divisions are still in part marked out by stone facings of crude and irregular construction. The situation of the terraces in close proximity to the fort on Dunsapie Hill (No. 10) and the crannog in Duddingston Loch (p. xxv), naturally suggests a connection with one Or other of these constructions (2), but the association (if, indeed, there is any) can only be satisfactorily determined by excavation.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 10 May 1928.
(1) Antiquity, Vol. I (1927), p. 273.
(2) Cf. Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., i (1851-4), pp. 129-133.
OS map: iii N.E. (unnoted.)
