Archaeology InSites
Age of Iron
Hut Knowe North Cord Rig, Palisaded Settlement and Fort - Roxburghshire, The Scottish Borders
Cord rig is the term given to a form of cultivation often associated with later prehistoric settlements in the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands. It is also found more widely - as far north as Sutherland and as far west as the Inner Hebrides. It is characterised by swaths of narrow parallel ridges, each measuring usually between 1.0m-1.4m across and 0.1m-0.3m high, which occur in both unenclosed or enclosed plots - like those situated in the immediate vicinity of the palisaded site and the nearby settlement at Hut Knowe.
Ousdale Burn broch - Caithness, Highland
Walk a mile east from the hustle and bustle of the A9 at Ousdale, in Caithness, and an almost- forgotten realm of tranquillity can be discovered. Here, the shunts and grunts of traffic dissipate, and are replaced by the calls of grouse and pheasant, and even the occasional startled deer. 2000 years ago, however, and this area would have sounded and looked much different, habited by humans, and dominated by the presence of a stunning prehistoric structure – the broch.
