Scotstarvit Covert
Settlement (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)
Site Name Scotstarvit Covert
Classification Settlement (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)
Alternative Name(s) North Scotstarvit
Canmore ID 31510
Site Number NO31SE 29
NGR NO 3609 1093
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/31510
- Council Fife
- Parish Ceres
- Former Region Fife
- Former District North East Fife
- Former County Fife
NO31SE 29 3609 1093
(NO 3609 1093) Homestead (NR)
OS 6"map, (1971)
The fort at Scotstarvit Covert consists of two roughly circular ramparts, almost entirely earthen. The inner line, now much spread and broken, appears to have enclosed an area about 24ft in diameter: the outer, better defined though broken on the NW, with indications of an entrance 12ft wide on the W, encloses an area 120 by 150ft over-all.
The maximum height of the ramparts is 3ft.
RCAHMS 1933.
Scotstarvit 'Fort' was excavated (1946-7) by Bersu, who interprets the site as a farmstead of the 1st century AD superimposed on a Bronze Age open settlement. There is no trace of a W entrance - see RCAHMS: at that point the ditch is continuous, the bank having been worn down by a later road. A more likely position would be on the N., opposite the hut entrance.
Within the enclosure were five U-shaped ditches, with the same infilling as those of the central hut - they must be contemporary, and may be foundation-trenches of fences dividing up the farmyard. Excavation was confined to the E half of the enclosure - their possible extension to the west was not determined.
G Bersu 1950.
This earthwork has been almost obliterated by forestry and is now much obscured by young conifers and bracken. It measures c. 48.0m NE-SW by c. 33.0m, and is formed by a much-spread bank of earth and stone c. 6m maximum width and c. 0.8m high. Part of this bank is obliterated on the NW: in the SW a smaller break is possibly an entrance. To the S of the possible entrance are traces of a possible outer ditch c. 0.6m deep, while to the NE of the earthwork there are similar traces.
A slight bank or scarp within the enclosure indicates the rim of the hut-circle previously described but the interior is virtually featureless.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (W D J), 27 May 1964.
No change.
Visited by OS (W D J), 29 March 1967.
No change to previous field report.
Visited by OS (B S), 20 September 1978.
Field Visit (26 April 1926)
Fort, Scotstarvit Covert.
This fort lies on the face of a steep hill-side about a quarter of a mile east from the farm of New Scotstarvit, at an elevation of 350 feet above sea-level. The site has at one time been thickly wooded, and, in cutting down the trees, the ramparts, which are nowhere more than 3 feet high, have been much spread and in places broken to provide a passage. The construction is of a simple character consisting of two roughly circular lines of rampart, lying one within the other and composed almost entirely of earth. The inner line is now very much spread and broken, but it appears to have enclosed an area about 24 feet in diameter. The outer one is more clearly defined, although much broken upon the north-west quadrant. At the west there are indications of an entrance 12 feet wide. The fort measures approximately 120 feet by 150 feet over all.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 26 April 1926
