Excavation

Date 1998

Event ID 547086

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/547086

Excavation in advance of the contruction of a public toilet block identified a well-stratified series of archaeological deposits potentially dating from as early as the Iron Age and continuing through the Dark Ages and into the early medieval period. the earliest feature identified consisted of a linear cut feature which is, as yet, undated but which is likely to represent a ditch related to the Iron Age promontory fort previously identifed on the headland. A portion of a possible Dark Age structure of likely industrial function overlay the ditch. Most of the archaeology identified relates to a cemetery of likely early medieval date. A total of 74 inhumations were excavated; the majority of skeletons (72%) were adult, with juveniles representing 16% of the population and infants 12%. A small number of skeletons were contained within coffins constructed of sandstone slabs. The majority, however, are likely to have been buried in shrouds, and most were buried with a stone cushion arrangement for the heads.

Sponsor: East Lothian Council.