Star Inn Farm

An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.

Bett Homes Ltd/Cala Management Ltd, under the direction of the Farningham McReadie Partnership, commissioned SUAT to undertake an archaeological evaluation on the site of a village development at the Western Gateway, Dundee.

The site (centred on NO 341 311) lies to the north of the A85 trunk road and immediately to the west of the Swallow Hotel. It is bisected by the Fowlis Burn. The site lies within a concentrated area of cropmarks, partially delineated by a Scheduled Ancient Monument in two parts, both of which lie on the southern fringes of the development area… These are a cursus monument and an associated cluster of barrows, indicating a possible Bronze and/or Iron Age cemetery and ritual landscape. Several other cropmark sites exist in the surrounding area, further suggesting that the area is rich in prehistoric archaeology. The cropmark sites are overlain by medieval rig and furrow cultivation patterns.

A wide range of archaeological features have been recorded and investigated during this evaluation. Many of these can be directly associated with the cropmark evidence, revealing intenstive activity of probable Neolithic or Bronze Age date in this area along with later activity.

A majority of the archaeological features investigated appear to have been truncated to some degree, probably as a result of the cultivation and ploughing of this fertile area. The important remains identified in Trench 36, for example, appear to have been severely truncated and disturbed over a period of at least 20 years by ploughing (information from the local farmer). Some of the large number of linear and curvilinear ditches and slots recorded appear to represent the lower parts of features; their upper levels having been removed.

The evaluation also revealed a large number of additional features, particularly in Area 3 (the southern part of the development area), which did not appear as cropmarks. These features include linear and curvilinear ditches and pits, possibly representing a variety of settlement and/or ritual activity. This serves to demonstrate the value of investigating those areas which had no cropmarks or a relatively low density of cropmarks.

Also revealed by the evaluation were several geological features (represented by localised differences in the nature of the subsoil) which appear to have resulted in particular cropmarks and help to explain their irregular forms.

There was a general absence of artefactual evidence from the features investigated. This would tend to support a prehistoric date for many, although this can only be confirmed by more detailed excavation and sampling. Further work will be recommended, focusing upon those features thought to be of prehistoric date, as these represent a rare and important archaeological landscape which warrants detailed investigation.

Interestingly, there was almost a complete absence of medieval material on the site, both in the topsoil deposits and in features cut into the subsoil. The artefact evidence recorded, with the exception of a single sherd of medieval pottery from Trench 64, was of 19th-century or later date, and largely confined to the upper levels of the topsoil and to the fills of demonstrably recent cut features such as field drains. These features represent a much later phase of activity on the site than those described above, and most can be sufficiently understood following the work already carried out during this evaluation.

Information from SUAT, 2003

Cox, A. 2003. Swallow Village, Dundee; Archaeological Evaluation.