Garbeg

NH53SW 72 50811 32585

This heather-grown burnt mound is situated beside a spring that feeds into the Culnakirk Burn. C-shaped on plan, it measures 8.1m from E to W by 5.3m transversely and up to 0.5m in height, and its open side faces towards the spring on the N. A sod was lifted on the date of visit, revealing that the mound is composed of cracked stones and black soil.

(URQ97 137)

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 4 November 1997.

This heather-grown burnt mound is situated beside a spring that feeds into the Culnakirk Burn. C-shaped on plan, it measures 8.1m from E to W by 5.3m transversely and up to 0.5m in height, and its open side faces towards the spring on the N. A sod was lifted on the date of visit, revealing that the mound is composed of cracked stones and black soil.

(URQ97 137)

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 4 November 1997.

NH 5080 3260 As part of the Northern Picts Project surveys and excavations have been undertaken in an area stretching from Aberdeenshire to Shetland targeting sites that can help contextualize the character of society in the early medieval period in northern Pictland.

At Garbeg, Drumnadrochit, a series of sub-rectangular structures survive a short distance from the Garbeg Pictish cemetery. These structures are scheduled. An evaluation was carried out, 12–26 September 2015, at the settlement to obtain dating evidence for the structures and evidence for the nature of their use. Three structures were targeted – two sub-rectangular and one more oval in plan. Geophysical survey was conducted in advance to target areas for excavation.

Structure 1 is a subrectangular structure, c15m in length, aligned roughly SE/NW with entrance towards the SE. A 5 x 6m trench was opened and excavated, targeting a possible hearth or other anomaly located during the geophysical survey in the NW end of the building. Internally, three possible floor layers were sampled. The two later floors did not preserve any internal features except a number of possible post-pads aligned along the central long axis of the structure. The primary floor layer in contrast preserved three postholes along the central axis and one posthole was also identified within the wall. The wall of the structure consisted of turf, soil and stone.

Structure 2 is also a sub-rectangular structure, roughly aligned E/W with a W facing entrance. This structure is almost 20m in length. In this structure a 5 x 5m trench was opened and excavated, targeting a central anomaly identified in the geophysical survey. The structure had possibly four occupation layers. The three upper floor layers had no internal features except possible post-pads aligned again along the central long axis and a number also closer to the exterior wall. The primary floor layer preserved postholes along the central long axis and another set of postholes along the walls. The walls themselves had stones in the core which provided the foundation for a turf wall.

A 3 x 6m trench was opened and excavated, again targeting a central anomaly. Only two occupational deposits were identified inside the building. The upper occupation layer had no internal features except a post-pad in the centre. Underneath this layer was another occupation layer which had a posthole next to the wall, a shallow drainage ditch midway between wall and the centre of the structure and potential hearth area in the centre. The walls were made of stone and soil. The outside face of the wall appears to have been consolidated with turf and the inside face with clay.

Samples from all three buildings were retrieved for dating and analysis of the structures and floor layers.

Archive: University of Aberdeen

Funder: University of Aberdeen Development Trust in association with the Tarbat Discovery Centre.

Gordon Noble and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson – University of Aberdeen

(Source: DES, Volume 16)