Archaeology Notes

Event ID 719892

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/719892

NT67SE 5 NT 66491 74471

In June 1983 the exploratory excavation was undertaken of this crop-mark site, which was apparent as an enclosure of about 1.5 ha, defined by two closely spaced interrupted ditches both apparently congruent with a palisade slot or similar feature set on the inner side. Such causewayed ditches have been obeserved in some numbers in Scotland recently and in view of the accepted chrono-cultural association of this ditch type in Southern and Central England it was decided to test this site to establish its date and nature.

Excavation revealed the presence of a fairly massive V-section ditch which may well have been cognate with a dump style rampart. It is possible that settlement in small sub-circular structures preceded this early defensive phase. This inner ditch appears to have been virtually levelled when a series of palisaded enclosures were built on the site, one of these probably being associated, late in the site's development, with a shallow recut in the head of the V-section ditch. This and other recuts would appear to be discontinuous and may have influenced the position as protrayed upon the aerial photograph. The outer ditch was minimal in stature and was interrupted and appears to be the equivalent of the shallow recut phenomenon in the inner ditch cognate with the construction of an outer palisade.

R J Mercer 1983.

Listed as Spott Dod, fort.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 15 October 1993.