Archaeology Notes

Event ID 742720

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/742720

NS53SE 39.00 56215 34141

NN53SE 39.01 56177 34138 Cottage and Byre

(NN 562 341) Abandoned in the 1950's, the fabric of this traditional Scottish longhouse has been recorded in detail. The additional excavation, undertaken by NTS conservation volunteers, consisted of removing and seiving debris from the floors to retrieve finds. The recovered objects give a picture of the building around the time of abandonment. Deposits in the integral byre were thickest, revealing agricultural material and other artefacts up to 100 years old.

Trial excavation in advance of a car park in an enclosure belonging to the longhouse produced further finds, probably carried there through manuring. The artefacts recovered will be used as part of the interpretation of the building, which will eventually be open to the public.

Sponsor: NTS.

National Trust for Scotland 1993.

NN 5621 3414 A watching brief in November and December 2004 monitored external drainage excavations around this stone-built cruck-framed longhouse from the 19th century (NN53SE 39). Trenches were dug along the bases of the N, E and S walls; the W gable wall was left to avoid disturbing structural remains found in 1996.

The only new structural feature encountered was the foundation for an unrecorded stone porch under and extending S from the current concrete-floored porch at the main SE doorway. The foundation had been incorporated into paving for the current porch. A small area of rough cobbling was revealed outside the SW doorway to the byre, and a small lean-to shed identified from old photos against the E gable wall had left no apparent structural remains or rubble. No evidence was found for any earlier structure on the site, though some of the basal stonework around the midpoints of the N and S long walls is enigmatic. Some micro-lenses of ash and midden were noted around both doorways, representing individual hearth dumpings.

Large quantities of domestic rubbish from the 19th and 20th centuries were found in topsoil throughout the excavations, including assorted metal objects (farming implements, roof fittings), bottle glass, and particularly broken crockery. The sump pit, away from the longhouse, showed heavy use of that area as a dump site for rubbish and ash.

Report to be lodged with Stirling SMR and the NMRS.

Sponsor: NTS.

D Lynn 2004