Traprain Law Environs Project
Date 2003
Event ID 573779
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/573779
The Traprain Law Environs Project is investigating the settlement and economy of the landscape around Traprain Law during the 1st millennia BC and AD (see DES 2003, 60-61). Since 2000, geophysical surveys have been conducted on 30 cropmark sites, which have been followed up by a series of evaluation trenches and open area excavations.
NT 614 776 Knowes Farm. Rectilinear single-ditched enclosure, initially identified by aerial photography. A geophysical survey confirmed the presence of the enclosure and noted additional anomalies likely to be archaeological in origin. These included a large trilobate anomaly close to the enclosure: an excavation across this in 2003 determined that it comprised three intercutting pits, possibly excavated for sand extraction. Several sherds of Iron Age tradition pottery were recovered from the fills.
The main excavation was positioned to sample c 40% of the enclosure interior, the defensive circuit to the W side, and the entrance through the defences to the E. The area was stripped
of topsoil and modern overburden by machine and subsequently hand-cleaned. Three distinct main phases of activity were identified.
Phase 1: Rectilinear enclosure, comprising a single ditch, with an entrance on the E side. The form of the ditch varied slightly around its circuit, and was recut at least twice. Some smaller features within the enclosure may belong to this phase, although the majority may have been removed during Phase 2.
Phase 2: A scooped settlement was constructed within the enclosure circuit. This comprised a series of interconnecting scoops forming a depression positioned centrally within the enclosure circuit. This depression was visible as a large sub-circular anomaly on the geophysical plot and covered the majority of the excavation area. The individual scoops comprised a series of circular or hexagonal structures and rooms, defined by stone-paved floors. A clay oven had been constructed in one of these. The rooms were connected with cobbled surfaces and passageways. Foundations for timber structures, pre-dating some of the stone-paved structures, were also identified, indicating more than one main phase of activity. Only a small proportion of the interior was excavated, and the overall pattern of the structures was not revealed.
The entrance to the enclosure was re-aligned on two occasions, resulting in changes to the enclosure circuit and to the internal arrangement of the structures within the scoops, and the passageway leading down into them. The enclosure circuit appeared to have been respected in some form throughout the use of the settlement. The S ditch terminal of the entrance had been revetted with a cobble wall, backfilled and covered with a cobbled surface, in the centre of which a stone cist had been constructed and used for cremation burials. The N ditch terminal had been lined with clay, for the retention of water. Next to this, a stone path had been built over the ditch, which dipped down in the centre of the ditch, probably to access the water.
Phase 3: Following the abandonment of the site, a substantial body of hill wash and silt filled in the scoops. The remains of stone and wooden structures in the scoops were covered by up to 1m of this material, resulting in an exceptionally good level of preservation.
The finds assemblage from the site is exceptional when compared with other sites investigated during the project. It includes cremated bone, small quantities of animal bone, several quernstones (mostly broken), sections of four Roman glass bangles, Iron Age tradition and some Roman pottery, and a selection of stone tools, indicating occupation during the Roman and possibly pre-Roman Iron Age.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS
Sponsors: HS, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, British Academy.
P Carne, D Hale and C Haselgrove 2004
