Excavation
Date 19 March 2007 - 25 March 2007
Event ID 556299
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/556299
NM 8821 0394 Underwater excavations were carried out on Ederline Boathouse crannog, in Loch Awe, between 19-25 March 2007 as part of the Scottish Wetland Archaeology Programme. Two trenches were excavated, one at the side of the mound (Trench 1) and one on the top of the mound (Trench 2). The trenches were positioned in an attempt to find in situ occupation deposits on the site and to gain some insight into how the mound was constructed and changed over time. The 3 x 5m trench laid out in 2004 (Trench 1) was extended 2m into the crannog mound. The primary aim of Trench 1 was to uncover the original foundations of the crannog to provide information on how the surviving mound was formed. The rich Early Historic and Iron Age organic levels (Contexts 103 and 105) identified in 2004 were found to run through the entire trench and they are interpreted as discard from the main mound, consisting of moderately compact plant material and red-brown silt containing wood-chips, bracken, hazel nuts, twigs, animal bone and charcoal. Significant amounts of charcoal and burnt bone were recovered from both deposits and several timbers were seen to be superficially charred and had clearly been close to fire before deposition. Disarticulated, broken and worked
structural timbers were found in both contexts throughout the trench. In general, Context 103 produced more bone, charcoal and burnt timber than 105 -this context produced two sherds of E-ware in 2004 and the bottom stone of a schist rotary quern in March 2007. Although the organic deposits became thicker as they approached the main crannog mound, no in situ structural timbers or deposits which could be said to indicate the basal construction levels of the crannog mound were identified.
A trench measuring 7 x 2m (Trench 2) was opened on the surface of the mound in an effort to identify in situ occupation deposits. Under the stone capping of the mound, horizontal alder timbers laid in layers at roughly right-angles to each other were found throughout the trench sitting within a matrix of grey sandy silt, gravel and small stones. There were no finds from this deposit but it contained small flecks (less than 50mm in diameter) of charcoal and burnt bone throughout, suggesting the deposit been heavily re-worked and mixed over time presumably by water. The layers of horizontal timbers are interpreted as the structural layers of a packwerk mound. Two discrete deposits of comminuted plant material, twigs and bracken were identified in the trench and may represent the fragmentary remains of flooring material. Both were sampled in their entirety for archaeobotanical analysis.
Archive to be deposited with RCAHMS at project end.
Funder: Historic Scotland.
