Kiltyrie

NN63NW 100 62550 37761.

There are at least five shieling-huts and a building standing amongst fragments of field bank and two areas of rig cultivation in unenclosed rough pasture above Kiltyrie, and at the foot of Leacann Ghlasa, about 400m E of the public road from Lochtayside to Bridge of Balgie.

The huts (BL00 152-4, 718-9) have been reduced to little more than dimpled turf and stone mounds, measuring up to 5m in length by 4.5m in breadth and up to 0.5m in height. One of them (BL00 153) has been built over the W end of the building (BL00 151), which has measured at least 12m from E to W by 3.8m transversely within walls reduced to grass-grown stony banks up to 0.4m in height. It appears to have had three compartments, separated by turf partitions, though the 'compartment' at the E end may instead be another hut.

On rising ground to the NW of these structures there are traces of stony banks defining at least two small fields or enclosures in an area measuring about 100m from E to W by 50m transversely, while to the SW and SE of the building there are two areas of rig cultivation, partly enclosed by low banks and together amounting to about 0.6ha. One of the huts (BL00 718) stands on the edge of the rig to the E of the building, but the relationship between the two is not clear.

(BL00 151-4, 718-9)

Visited by RCAHMS (MFTR) 18 April 2000 and (SDB) 10 March 2004

The third survey season of the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project was undertaken by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division in April 2004, focussing on two areas, one of them just north of the head-dyke above Kiltyrie. The aims were to produce detailed surveys of structures and undertake limited trial excavations. One trench (Trench 16) examined a structure potentially representing a two-compartment range with later circular structures at either end. The excavation suggested that the remains were of two phases and demonstrated the potential for occupation remains being preserved within the structures.

(RCAHMS MS 2057).

The fourth survey season of the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project was undertaken in April 2005. The aim was to produce detailed surveys of structures and undertake limited excavation of selected sites.

NN 6258 3776 Kiltyrie. Excavation concentrated on the remains of a small turf hut located within one of the areas of rig and furrow adjacent to trench 16. This trench (20) revealed that the hut was made principally of turf, with flat slabs used to level the coursing every now and again. The structure had an entrance facing SE and traces of a hearth were noted. No datable material culture was discovered and the cultivation traces seemed to respect the hut.

The fourth and final excavation season (in June 2005) focused on a range of turf structures above the head dyke at Kiltyrie. The site (Trench 16) had previously been trial trenched in April 2004, and a sample from a hearth at the W end of the range had provided a date of AD 1300-1440 for its occupation. The site, prior to excavation, was clearly complicated and had at least three visible structures within it. Excavation in 2005 revealed that the range of structures had gone through a minimum of three phases of use and alteration.

Phase 1 appears to have been a long turf structure with an entrance facing S and split into two cells. A destructive fire had destroyed the eastern end of the building, so phase 2 led to the structure being rebuilt as a smaller version. This smaller structure was the one where the hearth had previously been encountered. Recovery of body and lip sherds from a hand-made vessel would seem to imply that phase 1 occupation may date as early as the 12th century. After its abandonment, the site had been re-occupied and turf huts had been superimposed over each end of the range,

destroying much of the original building. It is unclear if this was a single-phased event or occurred as two separate events, although the latter is more likely. The huts are likely to represent shieling activity, rather than sedentary occupation.

Archive to be deposited in NMRS.

Sponsors: HS, HLF, NTS, SNH.

J Atkinson 2005

Trench 16 of the GUARD excavations investigated the structures BL00 151 and 153, noted in the RCAHMS field report, while trench 20 examined hut BL00 718.

Information from RCAHMS (SDB) BL00 1 March 2007.