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Green Of Invermay
Earthwork (Medieval)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Palisade (Period Unknown), Brooch (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery(S) (Medieval)
Site Name Green Of Invermay
Classification Earthwork (Medieval)(Possible), Enclosure (Period Unassigned), Palisade (Period Unknown), Brooch (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery(S) (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Home Farm Of Invermay
Canmore ID 26588
Site Number NO01NE 54
NGR NO 05246 16212
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/26588
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Forteviot
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO01NE 54 05246 16212
See also NO01NW 29.
The cropmarks of an enclosure on the edge of a terrace overlooking the Water of May have been identified from aerial photographs 220m SE of Green of Invermay farmsteading. It measure approximately 55m by 32m within ditches of 4m to 5m width, with two possible entrances on the W side and SE corner. Cropmarks of a possible ring-ditch, possible pit-alignment, rectilinear enclosure and pits have been recorded in the same field (NO01NE 57, NO01NE 65, NO01NE 67, NO01NE 73 ).
Information from RCAHMS (KB) 17 May 1999
Scheduled with NO01NE 57, NO01NE 65, NO01NE 67, NO01NE 73 as Home Farm [of Invermay], enclosures.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 15 March 2000.
Excavation (3 August 2009 - 22 August 2009)
NO 0526 1621 First identified as a cropmark on aerial photographs in 1977, a broad ditched enclosure is situated on the edge of a river terrace overlooking the Water of May. Inside the 5–6m wide ditch the enclosure measures c55 x 30m with an entrance to the SE. As part of the SERF project excavations were undertaken here between 3–22 August 2009. The aim of the excavation was to characterise the nature of the ditch, investigate the interior and to retrieve any dating evidence.
A single trench measuring 22 x 2m was excavated. In the S end of the trench 4m of the width of the ditch was exposed. The substantial lower fills of the ditch suggest that it was rapidly in-filled. A few fragments of glazed medieval pottery in these lower fills as well as Scottish White Gritty Ware in the upper layers attest to medieval occupation of the terrace when this ditch was open. The ditch may have been part of a medieval earthwork. Only a small trace of the rampart on the inner face of the ditch survives. Most of the material may have been redeposited in the ditch. Over 5m to the N of the ditch was a palisade trench with packing stones lining the edges. Although in the narrow excavation trench the palisade runs parallel to the ditch, the relationship
between these features could not be established. No small finds were recovered from the palisade trench, but samples were taken to retrieve carbonised material for radiocarbon dating. Further N in the interior of the enclosure traces of occupation debris and stone spreads were recorded. Cultivation in the later medieval period had disturbed these remains. Fragments of Scottish White Gritty Ware, green glazed pottery, patches of clay and a possible sickle suggest medieval settlement on the terrace. An incomplete 1st century AD trumpet-headed fibula was also found in the medieval plough zone in the interior of the enclosure, hinting at earlier occupation of this site.
Archive: University of Glasgow and RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Historic Scotland, University of Glasgow and University of Aberdeen
Tessa Poller – SERF Project, Departments of Archaeology, Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen
