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Leitchestown Farm

Settlement (Period Unassigned), Carnyx

Site Name Leitchestown Farm

Classification Settlement (Period Unassigned), Carnyx

Alternative Name(s) Deskford Carnyx; Leicheston Farm; Leitchestown Farm

Canmore ID 17984

Site Number NJ56SW 16

NGR NJ 5213 6347

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

C14 Radiocarbon Dating

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Moray
  • Parish Deskford
  • Former Region Grampian
  • Former District Moray
  • Former County Banffshire

Archaeology Notes

NJ56SW 16 5213 6347

[There was exhibited to the Society] by Mr Thomas Edward, Curator of the Museum, Banff, a 'Bronze Article, in form somewhat resembling a pig's head (?), with moveable under jaw; found many years agi in digging in the parish of Deskford, Banffshire.'

Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1868.

A copy is in Banff Museum.

Visited by OS 28 July 1967.

34. Bronze boar-headed trumpet-bell, 1st cent. AD, Deskford, Banffshire, Scotland.

Banff Education Authority; Edinburgh, National Museum of Antiquities (loan).

Length 216mm (8.5ins).

'This remarkable sheet-bronze boar's head seems best interpreted as part of a Celtic war-trumpet or carnyx such as are shown being blown on the Gundestrup (Denmark) cauldron, in which the trumpet-bell took the form of an animal's head with open jaws: in its original form there would be a (now missing) part with boar's ears and crest. The Deskford piece relates stylistically to Brigantian work such as that from Melsonby and on the other to east Scottish pieces such as the massive armlets and snake bracelets of rather later date.'

S Piggott 1970.

Iron Age War Trumpet found [NR]

OS 1:10,560 map, 1971.

A bronze carnyx mouthpiece in the form of a boar's head was found c.450m SW of Lietchestown Farm about 1816 while digging for peat, 'at a depth of about 6ft in a mossy and knolly piece of ground upon a bed of clay'. The presence of hazel nuts is mentioned. It is in the NMAS, on loan from Banff Education Authority (Acc No: L.1947.1).

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1868; J A Smith 1870; S Piggott 1959; M Macgregor 1976.

As part of the ongoing research into the LIA war trumpet (carnyx) from Deskford, a two-week excavation was undertaken around the find-spot. This had been recorded with surprising accuracy. The purposes of the excavation were threefold: (1) To investigate the circumstances of deposition, specifically to assess whether the carnyx was a votive deposit, and look for any evidence of other ritual activities. (2) To establish whether the organic deposits mentioned in the original accounts still survived. (3) To look for contemporary settlement in the vicinity: study of Iron Age votive deposits in the NE indicates that they are often closely linked to settlement sites.

The carnyx was deposited in a hollow where the E side of the Deskford valley meets a prominent fluvio-glacial ridge. The excavation strategy involved the cutting of a trench (A) across the base of the hollow; and investigation of the neighbouring ridge through a series of trial trenches (B-M), some of which were expanded into larger trenches (H, M).

Three additional larger trenches (N, O, P) were also excavated on the ridge. The area was fieldwalked before excavation, revealing a scatter of lithics concentrated on the E flank of the ridge.

The find-spot: A trench 20m long by 0.5m - 1m wide was excavated across the base of the hollow. This revealed a well-preserved peat deposit underlying up to 0.8m of ploughsoil. The peat deposit, some 8m wide and up to 0.6m deep, filled the base of the hollow, and had been cut by two drains running near its edges. The early drains were stone-built channels backfilled with rubble; it was probably while digging these that the carnyx was discovered. They were later replaced by modern ceramic drains. Organic preservation was good, with twigs, roots, bark and hazelnuts surviving. Artefacts were also recovered - fragments of a birch bark container, and a substantial portion of a large pot with a thick, inturned rim, provisionally dated as Late Bronze Age/Iron Age. The relative narrowness of the peat band suggests it formed over a restricted timescale, and its inception may be linked to human impact on the landscape. Initial palaeoenvironmental observations by Dr Richard Tipping suggest that the hollow never supported a stream, and conditions would have been more marsh-like.

At the W end of the trench a number of cross-ploughed ard marks were recorded.

No clear evidence of the nature of the deposition was recovered, but the vessel remains could be interpreted as votive offerings of foodstuffs.

The ridge: A series of trial trenches was placed across the ridge, where ploughing has truncated the remains extensively, and trenches G and I-L produced nothing of archaeological interest. However, trench D revealed two possible truncated features and two possible stakeholes, while seven stakeholes, interpreted as a fence-line, were located in trench F. Fieldwalking towards the N end revbealed a sherd of possible cinerary urn, and trench B in this area produced a few small fragments of burnt bone, suggesting the presence of a disturbed Middle Bronze Age burial in the area. Two possible ard-marks were noted in trench C.

Area N: This area of 12m by 6m at the S end of the ridge revealed a complex sequence of intercutting negative features, including a large ditch surviving 1.8m wide and 1.1m deep, surving southwards. The section showed evidence of deliberate infilling in the base to provide support for a vertical edge, interpreted as a planked revetment against the N face of the ditch. It is most plausible that the large ditch with a revetted face is a defensive boundary ditch, curving towards a terminus or gateway: topographically this is the easiest part of the ridge to approach.

Area M: On the W side, scarping of the natural in area M may represent the remains of a bank. In the lee of this 'bank' archaeological deposits were well preserved. These layers contained considerable quantities of fire-cracked stone and pottery and charcoal. The pottery comes from large, thick-walled vessels, with a range of flattened and expanded rims: these have general Late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age parallels. A ?meso scraper was also found. These deposits are likely to be the remains of cooking activities. They were cut by a curvilinear square-sectioned slot. The charcoal covered a small pit, and another small pit was also located in the S of the trench.

The charcoal may once have covered a larger area, and been destroyed by ploughing; a thinner charcoal spread in the SE corner may have been part of the deposit. This overlay a partly-disturbed cremation in a shallow scoop. The cremation was that of an adult female, and was accompanied by a perforated bone mount, parallels for which are Middle Bronze Age.

Area P: Further N along the W edge, area P revealed a steepsided slot, perhaps a wall-trench or palisade, running roughly parallel to the edge, which came to a rounded end at the N edge of the trench.

Area H: A small trench at the N end (trench H) revealed part of a substantial ditch with a complex infill sequence. Time did not permit fuller investigation of this.

Areas E and 0: Trenches on the E side of the ridge revealed a surprising complexity of deposits. Area E, a small 2m by 2m trench, had been heavily disturbed by burrows. but produced a sequence starting with a basal ploughsoil capped by an old land surface. This was cut by a ?linear feature heading downslope. which in turn had a pit cut in its base. A layer of hillwash from 0.1 m to 0.3m thick was deposited before the formation of another ploughsoil, truncated by modern ploughing.

Finds were sparse. but both ploughsoils included lithic production

debris, while the lower one also produced a Neolithic/Bronze Age scraper, and the upper one included a potsherd of probable later Bronze Age/Iron Age date.

Following these results, a longer trench (O) was excavated down the E side of the hill to assess he further extent of these ploughsoils and look for any boundary ditches. The upper ploughsoil was located in the lower part of the trench, with the hiilwash layer showing in places under it. These deposits were not excavated. At the uphill end of these deposits were the highly truncated remains of a ditch. perhaps a boundary ditch between the settlement and the fields. No features were recorded upslope of this ditch, where truncation was more severe.

The results from excavations on the ridge clearly indicate that the hill was certainly used for burial in the Middle Bronze Age and was in occupation in the Late Bronze Age/Iron Age. Although no dating evidence was recovered from the ditches, it is most plausible to interpret them as part of a Late Bronze Age/Iron Age enclosed site. The formation of the upper ploughsoil on the E side may be linked to this, with cultivation of the strip of land between the settlement and the marsh. The earlier ploughsoil may be earlier prehistoric: no structural remains can yet be attributed to this date.

In terms of understanding the carnyx, this suggests that this valued instrument may indeed have been deposited beside a contemporary settlement site, as with other LIA metalwork in the area.

Sponsor: NMS Dept of Archaeology.

F Hunter 1994.

Site of a settlement; the remains of a possible defensive ditch were found as well as several small pits showing cooking activities.

NMRS, MS/712/10.

NJ 520 643 A second season of excavations was carried out at the find-spot of the LIA war trumpet (Carnyx) from Deskford (see Hunter 1994). Excavation concentrated on two main areas; AX, around the carnyx find-spot, to the SW of 1994 trench A; and NX, on the summit around the settlement traces discovered in 1994 in area N. Three smaller trenches (Q-S) investigated other specific questions.

The find-spot: An area of peat between 1.5m and 3m wide was excavated to subsoil. This revealed a more extensive hillwash layer than seen last year, which incorporated large stones, apparently deliberately dumped during field clearance, along with two lithic flakes. Apart from a single quartz flake, no other artefacts were recovered from the peat. Environmental and dating samples were taken. Although firm conclusions await further work, the sparsity of artefacts suggests the peat was not used as a rubbish dump in the Iron Age, and hence implies that the carnyx (and the potsherds recovered in 1994) are indeed more likely to be votive deposits.

The ridge: Three small trenches tackled specific points of interpretation. A slit trench (Q) of 12.6m by 1.6m, positioned on the break of slope between 1994 area H and the erosion scarp to the W found no continuation of the ditch noted in area H. The nature of this feature therefore remains enigmatic.

Two small trenches, R and S, positioned between 1994 areas E and O, investigated the buried soils discovered in these areas. Only a single buried soil survived under the ploughsoil in area R. However, S proved very useful in clarifying the sequence noted in E, where it had been disturbed by burrowing and cut features.

Area NX: Efforts concentrated on an area of c18m by 20m which incorporated 1994 area N, in an attempt to elucidate the complex series of features noted in 1994. A large number of intercutting features were revealed. Time did not permit the examination of all of these, but the site has clearly seen a considerable intensity of activity.

The area excavated is too small to give a clear picture of the nature of the site. However, contra previous suggestions, there is no good evidence of any enclosure ditch- the ditch noted last year turned out to be much shorter than envisaged, and is similar to storage ditches as found at Dalladies (Watkins 1978-80). A number of slots and fence lines were noted, and several substantial post holes were excavated, including one for a post 0.5m in diameter and 1.4m deep. These do not yet fall into any coherent pattern.

Finds were few, consisting largely of a scatter of lithics, a few potsherds of later prehistoric character and a few fragments of industrial waste.

An enigmatic slot to the E of the area contained burnt animal bone, along with a broken copper alloy object and a sherd of Samian ware. the Samian also provides the first clear indication of activity on the ridge when the carnyx was deposited.

Sponsor: National Museums of Scotland.

F Hunter 1995.

A second season of excavation took place over a period of three weeks in September 1995 with the objectives of finding more artifacts in the area around the findspot of the carnyx and of investigating a larger area on the ridge so as to gain a fuller picture of the palimpsest of features exposed in 1994,

evidence of defensive purpose being specifically sought.

Radiocarbon determinations were obtained for samples from the top and bottom of the peat (1510-1395 cal BC at the base and 390-200 cal BC at the top) but the peat contemporary with the deposition of the carnyx has evidently been lost to cutting. A date of about 800-600 BC can now be proposed for the hillwash deposit that covers the site and probably derives from the cultivation of the adjacent ridge. The recorded depth of deposition of the carnyx in the peat may be taken to confirm its identification as a votive deposit.

Excavation (area NX) along the ridge revealed more structures (represented by pits, slots and a ditch) but failed to give a comprehensive view and revealed no evidence of defensive works. The remains are closely paralleld at the enigmatic site of Dalladies (NO66NW 25) and probably originate similarly as storage-structures with possible overtones of ritual deposition. Finds from this area comprise a scatter of undiagnostic pottery, flints (which were presumably residual) and nondescript pieces of ironwork and slag. These latter discoveries tend to confirm a late prehistoric date for the features. A single worn sherd of Roman (Samian) pottery, a small quantity of cremated bone (provisionally identified as being from a young pig) and artifacts including small fragments of copper-alloy strips and a rivetted fragment of sheet were found in the fill of one of the slots.

NMRS, MS/735/21.

NJ 521 635 A third season of excavations at the carnyx findspot continued with the excavation of a sizeable area within the bog around the findspot and a large area on the ridge beside the bog.

A trench (U) 7m wide across the bog was opened, and the peat deposit examined. Over much of the area there were stony spreads at the base of the peat, crude in places and well laid in others. These are interpreted as rough cobbling. Among this cobbling some worked wood (in one area) and pottery (in another) was recovered. The wood comprises three chopped pieces and a plank with notches cut into it: a number of other fragments bear possible working traces. The pottery is very similar to that recovered in the immediately adjacent area in 1994, and probably comes from the same vessel. At the W of the area a pit dug through the peat into the gravel contained disarticulated animal bones, not yet identified.

Stratification within the peat is imprecise, and is confused by subsequent peat loss through desiccation. The current interpretation is that pits were excavated in the bog, bottomed with stone and wood offcuts, and used for ceremonies. The animal bone suggests some form of offering or sacrifice and, along with the worked wood, offers dating samples for the activity. This theory is consistent with the discovery of the carnyx - it was found at the base of the peat, which pre-dates it considerably (3180-70 bp; Beta-88630), implying deliberate burial in a pit.

Area T, some 40 x 15m, was excavated to join 1995 area NX with 1994 area M. This revealed a wealth of features, often complex, tailing off to the N and E. Extensive trial trenching (areas V-Z) indicated this was the focus of activity on the ridge.

The nature of this activity is enigmatic, comprising large pits and post-holes (two of which were 1.7m and 2.15m deep) and a linear ditch, all deliberately backfilled. The ditch, like one excavated in previous seasons, is interpreted as a storage ditch similar to a souterrain, as at Dalladies (Watkins 1981), and most of the pits were storage pits. The post-holes do not yet conform to any structural pattern, and are in any case so large it is hard to see them as belonging to a domestic structure. Further examination of unexcavated features is required to clarify this.

Once again, there was a dearth of artefacts on the ridge, with only a few scraps of Iron Age pot and some stone tools. Combined with the lack of rubbish (or even significant charcoal) in the fills and the absence of any visible domestic structures, the site is tentatively interpreted as non-domestic, fulfilling a role as a storage centre, and perhaps also acting as a central ceremonial and ritual site.

At the N end of the trench, more artefacts from the disturbed Middle Bronze Age cremation found in 1994 were recovered, including another fragmentary bone mount. Some of the linear charcoal-rich scoops in this area may also be linked to Middle Bronze Age activity, as some form of ring-ditch, but this awaits confirmation by radiocarbon dating.

Grateful thanks are due to Seafield Estates, and particularly the Factor, Andrew Norval, for permission to excavate.

Sponsor: National Museums of Scotland Archaeology Department

F Hunter 1996

Air photographs showing area of excavations: AAS/97/10/G21/8-14, AAS/97/10/G22/1-2 and AAS/97/10/CT.

NMRS, MS/712/29.

Between 28 February and 20 July 2001, a watching brief was maintained at certain points along the route of the installation of a water pipeline, between Burnend and Crannoch, Moray.

The pipeline passed some 10m to the south of the settlement site, running SW to NE for a distance of c.280m. It was also c.20m south of the findspot of the Deckford Carnyx. Once a 2m wide corridor had been stripped of c.200mm - 250mm of topsoil, the pipe trench was excavated to a depth of c.1.30m - 1.40m. The underlying strata along this stretch was characterised by sequences of light grey clayey mix, c.400mm - 500mm deep, overlying seams of pure grey clay, up to c.900mm thick in parts.

A a point in the trench, some 55m SW of the Carnyx findspot, a short section of peaty bog material with much vegetative matter was encountered at the bottom of the trench, overlying a silty clay mix. This may represent an extension to the SW of the bog encountered during excavations at the Carnyx findspot in 1994/95. However, apart from this boggy material, no archaeological features or artefacts were evident in this sector of the pipeline.

J C Murray 2001

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