Excavation

Date 19 May 2013 - 25 August 2013

Event ID 994245

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/994245

HY 56971 28987 A seventh and final season of work at this Neolithic settlement site took place over two periods of six weeks, 19 May – 28 June and 14 July – 25 August 2013. The main aims were to complete the excavation of Structures 1 and 2; to establish the full extent of Structure 3 and to extend the trench to the N to expose the whole of the structure; to investigate the nature and function of Structure 3; to investigate Structure 4; to investigate the gully separating Structures 1 and 3 from Structures 2 and 4; to try and establish cross site stratigraphy between the various structures and the gully; to continue the programme of environmental sampling of all contexts; to try to determine the nature, extent, sequence and dating of the later intrusions into the Neolithic archaeology; to look for evidence of any activity prior to the construction of the Neolithic buildings.

In Structure 1 the point where the two main runnels crossed each other was excavated and it was found that one had been blocked off and replaced by the one leading from Structure 3. This confirmed the presumed sequence and proved that Structures 1 and 3 had been in use simultaneously. A small bowl-shaped scoop in the upper room was also excavated. This was found to contain the remains of a crushed pot, possibly a storage jar.

In Structure 2, a large red sandstone block lying in the interior was lifted. Beneath it was the same mixture of building rubble and midden that was found across the whole interior of this structure. This material was removed and four stoneholes were found, two of these contained the remains of probable stone packing. The stoneholes were set symmetrically in pairs, c1.8m apart on either side of a room c3.2m long x 2.8m wide and could possibly be the remains of bed boxes.

There was no evidence for any further surviving parts of this structure. There was however one stone abutting the stonehole on the NW side that appeared to be a continuation of the wall going off at a slightly different angle, suggesting that the NE pair of stoneholes may have been placed at the pinched midpoint of a two room building. It now seems probable that Structure 2 was a house, although there was no trace of a hearth and no material relating to its use was found. The material overlying Structure 2 has been interpreted as being a mixture of midden and building rubble.

A limited amount of work was carried out on the central part of the gully between Structures 1 and 2. This work confirmed that the gully was a well built stone-lined drainage channel with a cover consisting of large well laid sandstone flags. It is probable that they also served as a pathway in an earlier phase of the site, as the stones were contiguous with other stones forming paving in one of the doorways of Structure 3. This paving continued on the SE side of the gully for a short distance towards Structures 2 and 4 where it was truncated by the supposed quarrying cut. The paved gully cover was seen to continue to the NE corner of the extended trench, separating Structures 3 and 4 and defining the outer face of their walls.

In the part of the gully that was excavated, evidence for part of a small stone-lined and covered drain was noted overlying the gully cover. Only a short section of this feature survived running around the outer wall of Structure 2. Unfortunately this feature and the adjacent area were badly damaged from above by a post-medieval pit. Although not directly linked, it is possible it would have been crossed by the nearby stone pathway leading from the S entrance to Structure 3 through the remains of, and over the surviving wall of the demolished Structure 1. Only a small part of Structure 4 was seen, lying between the gully and the E side of the trench under which it continued. Like Structure 2, it had been damaged by quarrying and had probably also lost an entire room. The mid points of both buildings were clearly established and there was a gap of c2m between them and presumably one structure had followed the other.

The outer face of the wall was formed of large sandstone slabs which also defined the side of the gully. The inside wall was probably built of similar slabs, although only one survived in the trench, together with a contiguous stonehole which formed part of the edge of the truncation. The wall was infilled with sandy clay. There were two stoneholes for on edge stones, one of which retained its packing, set at right angles to the wall. These were 1.8m apart and may have formed the ends of a bed box. The SW stonehole which contained the packing was about 1.2m long. Within the building it turned at right angles and continued for short distance to the NE with packing for another on edge slab.

Adjacent to these stoneholes was a hearth measuring 1.2 x 0.6m internally. The trench was extended 1m to the E and 2m N–S to expose the whole of this feature. It was placed centrally just inside the upper room and had an almost exact length to width ratio of 2:1 as did the hearth in Structure 3. Like the hearth in Structure 3 and possibly the later hearth in Structure 1, it appeared to have had a dual function. At its SW end there was a flat hearth plate with no evidence of burning, whilst the NE end was deeper and had hosted fires, the ashes from which appeared to have spread suggesting it had been regularly raked out. The hearth in Structure 1 had hearth plates at both ends, only one of which had hosted a fire, whilst the hearth in Structure 3 had a series of large deep pits for fires at one end and smaller, shallower pits at the other. Also like the other hearths all the side slabs had their lower edges bevelled to facilitate their placement into the ground. There were layers of surviving occupation material up to 60mm deep across the floor of Structure 4.

The major part of the work in 2013 was the excavation of Structure 3, a large Neolithic stone building. The internal dimensions of the building were 9 x 4.75m and there were two rooms separated by large on edge slabs set into the walls on either side. Apart from some minor disturbance to the W the internal walls of Structure 3 formed a complete circuit of the building. Only the bottom two courses survived but they were well built using mostly large red sandstone slabs up to a metre in length. Many of these had been dressed with facial pecking and in at least one case this pecking had given the facing a neat curvature that matched the layout of the wall.

The newly exposed upper NE room proved to be in better condition than the lower room and it was covered by a substantial pile of stone debris. In the upper part of this material was a setting of two in situ slabs at 90degrees to each other together with a similar but slightly displaced slab on top of the rubble. All three stones were 0.65m long by 0.15m high. Within this setting was a circular pit that had been dug through the rubble and occupation levels into the natural. The pit was empty. It is possible to speculate that this was a robbed out Bronze Age cist built into an existing stone mound.

The rubble consisted of flat thin sandstones, mostly broken and some with evidence of knapping, patches of clay and large red sandstone slabs similar to those in the walls. The thin slabs were spread across the floor and many were embedded in the occupation layers. The clay was similarly spread across the interior whilst the sandstones were found lying in proximity to the walls. This would suggest that the building had a stone roof with clay caulking which had collapsed, bringing down part of the walls with it. The removal of the rubble revealed only small patches of in situ paving. This suggests that the building had been abandoned and stone removed prior to the collapse of the structure.

There were at least two layers of occupation in the upper room and these were extensively sampled. There were also a number of features cut into the natural below. These included several pits, a runnel, stoneholes for a rectangular structure and a hearth.

The hearth was set entirely within the upper room and close to the midpoint of the structure. It consisted of four large grey sandstone slabs forming a 1.5 x 0.75m rectangle. These were set inside a large pit, cut into the natural boulder clay and held in place by clay packing. It became apparent that each end had its own pit and that the SW end of the hearth had been used for fires whilst the NE end had possibly been used as a place to keep things warm. There was some evidence of re-cutting of pits within the hearth and charcoal and ash were also noted in the deposits around it.

There was a rectangular feature was set against the wall to the NW of the hearth. It was formed of two stoneholes for substantial on edge slabs and the central division slab set into the wall. It was c2m long by 1m wide. Both stoneholes retained their packing. Traditionally such a feature would be interpreted as a bed box however this is by no means certain. To the NE of the rectangular feature was a further long cut but no function could be ascribed to it. Around the upper parts of the building were a number of pits and scoops. Immediately adjacent to the NE end of the hearth was a large flat red sandstone boulder sitting in a shallow pit. The upper face of the boulder was pecked all over, as if it was intended to be used as a quern, although there was no sign of it having been utilised.

A runnel which could have served as drainage started at the highest point at the NE end of the interior and ran just inside the SE wall of the upper room. About halfway along it curved in about a metre towards the centre of the room before continuing SW into the lower room. It is likely that the runnel was covered, but only one possible covering stone survived. In the gap between the runnel and the wall were seen several small circular depressions in the floor up to 100mm in diameter and no deeper than 80mm. It is feasible that they may have derived from posts or from the legs of timber structures or furniture.

There were a number of features running across the midpoint of the building between the dividing slabs set into the walls. The arrangement of the features all but separated the two rooms from each other. There would have been no access between the rooms on the NW side of the hearth, whilst to the SE there was just a small gap of c0.5m between the hearth and a square posthole about 100mm across. The runnel passed through this gap into the lower room which stepped down a level.

It was not possible to fully excavate the lower room in the time available. Material from the collapse of the building was similar to that found in the upper room but had been subjected to a great deal of later activity. Several pits were cut in from above and some stone had probably been quarried away. Some of this later activity was probably not prehistoric.

On the SE side of the room there was an irregular clay lined feature formed of thin on edge stones. This feature was also cut into the rubble and was probably later prehistoric. Two flaked stone bars and a red sandstone cobble with a large cup mark were within the feature and three ard points found adjacent to it. One ard point was of particular note. The stone was volcanic, appeared to have been polished and was a very good match for a modified polished stone axe found close by in the ploughsoil in 2010.

The larger of the pits was situated in the centre of the room. It had been cut deeply into the layers below the rubble and through at least one and probably two layers of paving. It had also gone into a stone covered drain that appeared to be coming from the same direction as the runnel in the upper room and heading towards the drain that entered Structure 1 in the S doorway.

A little to the SW of this pit was a feature that was sealed beneath the rubble. This was a clay lined stone feature formed of thin side slabs and the base was formed of a single large grey sandstone flag measuring 1.2 x 0.5m. This stone sloped down significantly towards the centre of the room. The feature could have served to hold water but its function is otherwise unknown. It was also seen to cut into an earlier larger feature which in turn had been cut through paving.

Elsewhere in the lower room some presumed patches of occupation layers were seen and sampled as were some other patches of possible paving but at differing heights. One of the lowest of these patches appeared to be at the same level as the paving in the SE doorway and the main gully cover outside the building. It is probable that there were many phases of activity associated with the interior of Structure 2 only some of which have survived. It is also possible that some of the activity in the lower room may predate Structure 3.

Further evidence of multiple phases is provided by the Structure itself. Unusually the building had four doorways. However, it is improbable that they were all in use at the same time. There was one doorway in the centre of the upper NE end of Structure 3 that appeared to be integral to the original construction of the walls. At some point during the life of the building this doorway was modified. The gap in the inside wall was enlarged and the side slabs removed. The other three doorways were located in the lower room, to the SW, S and SE.

The final piece of evidence for the prolonged use of the site came from the construction cut for the whole of the Structure 3 building. The cut was clearly visible on the NW and SE sides of the building. To the NW the cut was dug into a sandy clay subsoil, whilst to the SE it was cut into the compacted sandy clay infill behind the main wall of the gully and filled with darker midden-like material. Significantly this cut truncated the paving and side wall of the passage leading into the SE doorway, which suggests that the paved passageway originally led into some other structure that had been presumably removed prior to the building of Structure 3. Intriguingly this passageway appears to have been reused in the new building. There were postholes for probable doorposts cut into both the occupation deposits inside the inner doorway and also against part of the passageway that appeared to have been rebuilt but not repaved.

At the landowners request this was the final season of this project. At completion the whole trench was covered over with geotextile to preserve the remains and as far as was possible all upstanding masonry was bolstered with sandbags The site was due to be backfilled by the landowner using imported topsoil.

During the course of the seven seasons the area opened up for excavation totalled c225m2. This represents just 25% of the area of high geophysical responses first identified in 2006. What this project has found undoubtedly represents a palimpsest of Neolithic buildings and activity with many phases, some possibly later prehistoric. A long period of post-excavation work will be now required to analyse and integrate the evidence from c500 contexts, associated drawings, paperwork and photographs, several hundred environmental samples and many thousands of finds. A programme of radiocarbon dating has already been started and we are intending to produce a monograph in due course.

Archive: To be arranged, currently with BEVARS

Funder: BEVARS

Mick Miles, BEVARS, 2013

(Source: DES)