Archaeological Evaluation

Date 1 September 2015 - 26 September 2015

Event ID 1115906

Category Recording

Type Archaeological Evaluation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1115906

NO11NW 23 An archaeological excavation was undertaken by the Tay Landscape Partnership, with local volunteers, Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and AOC Archaeology Group at Moredun Top hillfort. The works follow on from and compliment the earlier evaluation works completed at the adjacent site of Moncreiffe Hill, itself an Iron Age fort. The 2015 works formed the first season of an intended three year programme of excavations at the hillfort.

The 2015 works comprised five trenches, which investigated the three main lines of ramparts, an annex enclosure. Within the hillfort a large flat topped mound along with a double ring hut circle were investigated.

The excavation of the ramparts demonstrated that there was a complex sequence of enclosure at the hillfort. The trench excavated across the two main enclosing banks demonstrated that both of these had at least two separate phases of construction with primary earth banks being overlain by stone ramparts. A similarly long sequence of occupation deposits internal to the upper of the main rampart lines was recorded. Across all the lines of enclosure the massive and monumental nature of the dry-stone ramparts was revealed.

Excavations within the interior of the hillfort focussed on a flat topped mound. Here another large dry-stone wall was exposed probably the outer wall of a monumental roundhouse. In the interior of this structure were a series of in-situ burnt deposits probably derived from the burning of structural elements of the roundhouse. Limited excavation was also undertaken at a double ring hut circle within the interior.

A series of radiocarbon dates from across the site were obtained all of which dated to the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC.

Information from OASIS ID: aocarcha1-243382 (J Humble) 2015.