Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Excavation
NT73SW 399 c.717 340
NT 717 340 Six trenches totalling 154m² were opened, most of which produced evidence of ploughing on the site. Trench 1 was dug, principally by machine, across the bank and ditch of the E defences. The ditch, which measured 9m wide and 2m deep, had silted naturally and lay to the E of the earthen bank. No conclusive traces of timber or stone revetting were apparent.
Trenches 2, 3 and 5 were excavated to investigate and date tenements within the burgh. Trench 2 revealed traces of probable timber buildings along Market Street, which was defined by a flanking ditch. The tenements were replaced by a number of pits, which may have been associated with craftworking. Trench 3 demonstrated that well-preserved deposits, including a road and associated buildings with stone foundations, were present on the W side of the burgh. Trench 5, on Kay Brae, revealed a boulder alignment that may have been part of a poorly preserved structure or field system.
Trenches 4 and 6 were used to assess the preservation in the area of St James's Church. No traces of the church were found, although a number of sarcophagi were exposed.
The evaluation produced an assemblage of 13th/14th-century pottery, including glazed and decorated material from Trench 3 in the W of the burgh. Associated faunal remains, principally cattle and sheep, were also recovered, as were limited quantities of plant and fish remains. A carved architectural fragment bearing the Tree of Life motif was recovered from the area of St James's Church.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.
Sponsor: Time Team (Videotext Communications).
R Smith 2003
