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Dumfries And Galloway, The Newbarns Project

Burial(S) (Period Unassigned), Cairn(S) (Period Unassigned), Floor (Period Unassigned), Pit (Period Unassigned), Platform(S) (Period Unassigned), Post Hole(S) (Period Unassigned), Structure (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Flint (Flint), Unidentified Pottery

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Colvend And Southwick
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Stewartry
  • Former County Kirkcudbrightshire

Archaeology Notes

NX85SE 35 8816 5495

NX 8816 5495 On a fieldwalking survey in December 2002, a second 25m diameter circular stone feature was identified on the E shore of Newbarns Loch. After the removal of willow trees and landscaping of the immediate area of the eastern bank of the loch side, excavation by volunteers in the SE quadrant of the feature revealed evidence of the doorway of a stone-founded building. Part of the N wall was revealed, and to the S of it a cobbled floor was uncovered. Set into this were a number of post-holes. Underneath was an earlier mud-packed floor level. Evidence of a large pit was uncovered in the NE comer of the structure, but as this is filled with large boulders it has not yet been possible to excavate it. A clay-lined boiling pit was identified containing several smooth rounded pebbles.

Several sherds of native medieval galena green-glazed pottery were found on the cobbled floor, along with a strap-end which still has fragments of leather surviving in it. Underneath the cobbling, a flint suggests earlier activity.

On the western perimeter of this feature are some megaliths with associated boulders which point to the possible presence of a kerb.

Sponsors: Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Tourist Board.

E Penman and A Penman 2003

NX 8815 5498 A third season of excavation in 2004 on this multi-period settlement site (DES 2003, 44-5), comprising two

robbed-out stone platforms, revealed archaeology going back to the Neolithic in the form of three chambered tombs, two on one platform and one on the other. There is further settlement evidence of occupation through the Bronze and Iron Ages, the Roman era and into the medieval period.

To date, the robbed bases of two chambered cairns have been excavated by volunteers. Situated 185m apart in the now partially drained Newbarns Loch, formerly Barnhourie Loch, the South Cairn exhibits evidence of one Neolithic burial and several of the Early Bronze Age. There is also now considerable evidence for the existence of a crannog in the form of 116 post-holes in one quadrant of the cairn platform. These delineate the shapes of both round and rectangular features. On the North Cairn, the remnants of a Neolithic burial were apparent and a Bronze Age one was excavated during the 2004 season.

The Bronze Age burial was revealed underneath a medieval cobbled floor where a large granite orthostat was found in a boatshaped pit which had been backfilled. The pit was dug 0.35m into the natural clay of what had been the bottom of the loch. Both pit and slab were orientated E-W, and a wall of granite blocks or 'cushion stones' had been built around the E and S faces of the slab. Stratigraphy clearly illustrated that the blocks overlay the slab, the backfill overlay the blocks and the medieval floor overlay that.

Underneath was a horizontal pebble platform forming a plinth on which the flat slab sat. The platform had 20 broken stone tools incorporated into it, comprising axes and hammers, and under the platform was a suggestion of a hollow scoop which contained one barbed-and-tanged arrowhead, c 2200-1800 BC.

Later medieval evidence was uncovered when a trench was opened up on the northern edge of the cairn platform, and evidence of a heavily fortified area was found on the perimeter of the feature. This comprised a drystane wall incorporating some of the huge boulders of the original kerb of the cairn; set into this wall were large post-holes which may have carried a rampart. Behind this was a row of post-holes suggesting the presence of a palisade. Artefactual

dating of these features has been obtained from local green galenaglazed pottery and a broken piece of jewellery.

Sponsors: Dumfries and Galloway Council, Stewartry Area

Committee, Leader+, Dumfries and Galloway Tourist Board.

E Penman, A Penman 2005

NX 8815 5498 In 2005, a fourth season of excavation at Newbarns South and North Cairns confirmed the existence of one Neolithic passage grave in each cairn. Dating from the Newbarns North site was confirmed by the presence of three flint tools in the remnants of the burial chamber, which had been shelved during construction. The burial feature on Newbarns South Cairn had been robbed in antiquity by builders who, it was recorded, were seeking materials for the construction of nearby houses.

The last quadrant, to the SW, on the South Cairn was removed to expose the stone surface of the cairn in its entirety. On examination there were 14 putative Early Bronze Age burials, each under a large capstone. Three of these were outside the perimeter of the cairn.

To date, two of the capstones of the burials have been moved and revealed boat-shaped cuts, each with a small depression under a cobbled platform into which a representative deposit of cremation material may have been made. Broken stone tools were found integrated into the cobbled surface in both cases.

Three parallel linear features running NE-SW across the entire cairn were investigated; they proved to be field drains, stone-lined and covered by capstones - one of which was a recycled Iron Age saddle quern. These were silted up, and when cleared out actually started to work again. The artefactual evidence recovered from the drains suggests they were medieval and may have been constructed by the monks of Dundrennan Abbey during their tenure on the site

during the 12th/13th centuries. Just what their precise function was has yet to be discovered. There were no similar features on the North Cairn.

At least one of the drainage features had been cut through an Early Bronze Age burial, and the original capstone had been utilised as part of the drain construction. Further excavation of post-holes in the SW quadrant of the South Cairn revealed the plan of a small circular building, possibly a small grain silo, as well as a larger rectangular building and a roundhouse. The post-holes continued in a lesser quantity into the SE and NW quadrants of the cairn.

On the North Cairn, the floor of a medieval building was extended and yielded further dating material in the shape of a 14th-century cupro-bronze shoe or spur buckle. The western edge of the wall of the building was defined by the remnants of stone founds. The Neolithic burial was excavated as far as was safely possible.

When the uppermost, medieval, layers of backfill were removed a shelved area was exposed, on top of which a flint burin was found. Two scrapers were found within the confines of the entrance passage and the chamber, thus verifying a Neolithic date for the monument.

A large stone in the northern half of the site was investigated and turned out to be a huge orthostat which had been used as a capstone on yet another possible Early Bronze Age burial. As with the previous burial of this date of last season, some 10m away, this rested on top of cushion stones and the whole had been placed in a boat-shaped pit facing E. Two smaller stones lay in contact with the capstone and there were five depressions formed on the top of the

orthostat. Excavation of this feature will continue during 2006.

Sponsors: Dumfries & Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Stewartry

Area Committee, Robert Kiln Trust.

E Penman, A Penman 2005

NX 8815 5498 A fifth season of excavation on two adjacent sites, Newbarns South Cairn and Newbarns North Cairn, both set into the bottom of an ancient loch, has confirmed several additional Early Bronze Age cremation burials consisting of depressions lined with small stone cobbles interlaced with broken stone tools of various types. The cremation pits vary in size, but no human remains have been found in place. The actual repository for the cremated remains, set within each burial pit, is in the form of a depression, scooped out of the underlying boulder clay, approximately the size of tea-cup, into which, it must be hypothesised, only a representative sample of burnt material enclosed in a biodegradable material has been deposited. After completion each pit was covered with a capstone varying in size in relation to the burial, the largest being 3 tons in weight, the smallest only 3 to 4kg.

To date 12 burials have been exposed on the South Cairn, 2 of which have been damaged or robbed out in antiquity when the medieval monks who occupied the site dug three stone-lined parallel field drains across the cairn and reused much of the stone. One burial, a boat-shaped cut from the edge of the old loch, was cut directly into the stone of the cairn and was then carefully lined, but not cobbled, with suitable stone material. It was left unfloored, exposing the boulder clay surface. It had been dug directly into the clay and then the whole was covered with an enormous capstone which had to be moved with a JCB. Due to site flooding towards the end of the season excavation of this feature had to be halted until 2007.

The North Cairn has revealed 14 further EBA burials, 3 of which were set into large boat-shaped cuts. Dating of c 2200-1800 BC has already been established by the finding of a barbed-and-tanged arrowhead in the first burial to be excavated.

The remains of a Neolithic passage grave set into the edge of the cairn have been further examined and dated from the artefacts recovered. Work will continue in 2007. Surveying has revealed another small cairn to the NE of the main one and there is further evidence of burials. This cairn will be exposed next season along with an extension of the cobbled floor of a medieval stone-founded building which may overlie further prehistoric features.

Sponsors: Dumfries and Galloway Council, Stewartry Area Committee, the Robert Kiln Trust, Council for British Archaeology, Challenge Funding.

Elizabeth and Alastair Penman, 2006.

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