Auchlishie

NO35NE 5 3873 5788.

(NO 3873 5788) Weem (NR) (site of)

OS 6" map, Forfarshire and Angus, 2nd ed., (1927)

A souterrain, opened by Mr Wilkie of Auchlishie sometime between 1791 and 1820, when a currach (coracle) and querns were found, the currach being subsequently burnt as fire-wood (NSA 1845). Examination of the field, still known as 'Weems Park', suggested to Wainwright that the OS siting, which originated with one of Mr Wilkie's family in 1863, should be moved a little SW, to NO 3873 5786. The souterrain apparently still extant in 1863, occupied a well-drained site, just off the crest of a steep slope overlooking Carity Burn.

NSA 1845; Name Book 1863; F T Wainwright 1963; Information from F T Wainwright 28 June 1958.

There is no trace of a souterrain, either at the published site or at the spot suggested by Wainwright. Both these sites lie in a pasture field.

Visited by OS (BS) 10 January 1977.

NO 387 578. A small trial area, 8m x 2m, was excavated in the field called Weem's Park, on Auchlishie farm. A souterrain was reportedly found in this field about 200 years ago, but its location has since been forgotten. The primary aim of the project was to investigate the settlement associated with the souterrain.

In the trial area the souterrain was not located. However, stratified layers and many features were found, including nineteen post holes, possibly three construction trenches and five 'pits'. At least eleven of the postholes, spaced approximately 0.7m apart, are in a line extending beyond the excavation.

Over eighty sherds of pottery were recovered, displaying a variety of fabrics and rim shapes. Some, possibly all, date from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Most of the pottery was found in the stratified layers; many of the excavated features are later than these layers and are therefore not necessarily dated by the pottery. The nature of the stratified layers themselves is not yet detemined.

A M Dick 1993; NMRS, MS/817/1.

The exploratory excavation begun last year continued. The line of post holes reported then has been traced for another 4m, giving a length, so far, of 11m. The post holes continued to be regularly spaced at 0.7m intervals. Their depth increased to a maximum of 0.6m as the ground level gradually rose. Numerous other post holes were also discovered, presumably relating to other structures. A negative feature, up to 2m wide, 0.4m deep and of unknown length, continued beyond the excavation. Its lower fill was mainly burnt material. It extended up to, and stopped at, the line of post holes.

This year finds were fewer, perhaps partly because in places the plough had penetrated deeply. The pottery sherds remain to be identified.

A M Dick 1994.

NO 387 578 Excavation continued on a small scale. As in previous years the majority of features were post holes. The end of a broad shallow ditch was discovered. Its lower fill contained much ash, burnt wood and possible stone features, and from its upper fill came waste products probably from iron-working. Its dimensions (variable, up to 3m wide and 0.3m deep) and fill were similar to those of another ditch end found last year (Dick 1994). Between the two ditch ends there was a gap of about 3.2m. Within this gap an arrangement of post holes may have formed an entrance-way 2.6m wide; this can very tentatively be interpreted as the entrance to a ring-ditch house. Finds included pottery sherds and two flint scrapers.

A souterrain first found about 200 years ago (Wainwright's 'Kirriemuir II') but since 'lost' was re-discovered as a patch-mark in grass adjacent to the area of excavation.

A M Dick 1995.

Between 1791 and 1820 what was possibly a logboat was found in a souterrain in the field known as Weems Park in Auchlishie. The discovery of 'querns' is also noted in the souterrain which is listed by Wainwright as his Kirriemuir II. It is situated 240m ENE of Kintyrie farmhouse and on the edge of a marked drop to the Quharity Burn in an area of rolling clayland and much drainage activity, at an altitude of about 150m OD.

It may be inferred from its being 'cut up for firewood' that the 'currach, or boat' contained a considerable quantity of timber in its construction and so was not of skin-based type. The narrow form of a logboat would presumably be more amenable to storage in a souterrain than that of a plank-built vessel.

NSA 1845; F T Wainwright 1963; R J C Mowat 1996.

NO 387 578 Excavation continued of a probable 'Douglasmuir-type' ring-ditch roundhouse (NMRS NO35NE 5), perhaps 11m in overall diameter. Further post-holes and a section of the shallow ditch were excavated. As in previously excavated sections this was found to vary in depth, as though scooped out in segments, and to contain large quantities of orange-red ash; carbonised hazelnuts were recovered from this ash. Immediately adjacent to this house, a 32m long curving parch mark which had first been observed last year was investigated. The section excavated was found to be the terminal of a flat-bottomed ditch, 1.8m deep. The lower half was U-shaped in profile, c 2.2m wide at the bottom. The upper half, possibly affected by erosion or later disturbance, widened to 3.5m. The shape of the parch mark resembled a 'typical' Tayside souterrain; however, very little stone was found in the lower fill of the ditch, and it is possible that it may either have been a timber-lined souterrain or the ditch of a small enclosure. Finds, mainly from the upper fill of the ditch, include pottery sherds and a possible fragment of rotary quern.

A M Dick 1996

NO 387 578 Excavation this year was within the area bounded by the curve of the large ditch (see Dick 1996). A rectangular stone hearth lay at the centre of a 6m diameter ring of posts set in post-holes up to 1m deep. Surviving floor levels suggested a roundhouse of overall diameter 11m. Various features were associated with this floor, including a large sub-rectangular pit, 1.6m wide and 0.8m deep. A layer of silty sand had subsequently been deposited directly onto the floor surface prior to the construction of another house, its rectangular stone hearth overlying the earlier hearth. The floor levels of this later house had been largely destroyed by ploughing. Underlying these houses, and probably truncated when the roundhouse floor had been slightly scooped into the subsoil, were several earlier features. These included a 1m wide, 1.1m deep ditch - possibly a timber-lined souterrain - and short lengths of a narrow, shallow ditch, at least one of which had held vertical posts.

Finds this year include native Late Iron Age pottery, two sherds (one a rim) of samian ware, a square button-and-loop fastener, a probably Roman small decorated disc with loop, and part of a rotary quern.

A M Dick 1997.

NO 387 578 The sixth season of excavation at this site revealed the N side of a previously partially excavated ring-ditch house (Dick 1997). Half of a rotary quernstone, flat with a prominent raised rim around the central hole, was reused in paving within the ring-ditch. A deep narrow ditch led out from the ring-ditch, its floor sloping steeply downwards, before it curved sharply through more than 90o. It was 1.6m deep, 1.2m wide at the top, narrowing to a width of 0.6-0.7m for most of its depth, and was traced for 7m before continuing beyond the excavated area. This was probably a souterrain, similar to two others discovered elsewhere on the site in previous years.

Other features included, to the N of this house, a carefully built oval stone-based hearth and several shallow post-holes which possibly indicate another roundhouse. A small fire-pit produced numerous flint chips and a possible Neolithic rim sherd.

A M Dick 1998

NO 387 578 For the seventh season of excavation (Dick 1998; NMRS NO35NE 5) an area was investigated on the slope descending from the crest of the ridge on which the site lies. Though there were far fewer features here in comparison with the dense concentration on the crest, they did raise the possibility of a post-defined enclosure around the site. Finds include pottery, flint and a sherd of decorated samian.

Two test pits excavated prior to the construction of horse jumps in a natural hollow to the W of the site revealed up to 1.4m depth of soil, with prehistoric pottery sherds appearing at a depth of 0.75m.

Radiocarbon dates were obtained from previously collected samples. The end of the occupation of a ring-ditch house with broken rotary quern incorporated into its ditch paving and an attached Dalladies-type souterrain was dated to the late 1st century cal BC or 1st century cal AD. A post-ring house, probably with attached souterrain and associated with native pottery and Roman artefacts including samian (and overlying one, possibly two, earlier souterrains), provided dates within the 1st to the 3rd centuries cal AD for its occupation sequence.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

A M Dick 1999.

NO 387 578 The eighth season (DES 1999, 13) of excavation revealed, as elsewhere on this site, numerous post-holes and some pits and located a further length of the ditch believed possibly to be a robbed-out stone souterrain. One of the pits contained many sherds of a Neolithic Grooved Ware pot. Other features were probably contemporary, though lacking this diagnostic pottery. Unexpectedly, a thin soil horizon cut by the prehistoric features had survived. This was associated with frequent very worn fragments of pottery, some with impressed fingernail decoration, and flint. The soil horizon may date to the Neolithic and the worn and fragmented state of the pottery may suggest cultivation.

A M Dick 2000

NO 3873 5788 The ninth, and for now final, season of excavation at this site (DES 2000, 12-13) revealed further Neolithic features and produced numerous finds. The features included three pits. In one, the primary deposit contained parts of both a decorated and a plain Grooved Ware pot and a saddle quern, whilst further pottery sherds, flint and quartz were recovered from its upper fill. A second pit also contained sherds from a decorated Neolithic pot. The third, a 'fire-pit', was filled with red ash with extensive inclusions of fired and unfired clay. Half of a badly decomposed pot lay on the surface of the ash.

A shallow soil layer with frequent fragments of pottery and flint which had been revealed in previous seasons was found to extend into this year's excavation. This may very tentatively be interpreted as the remnant of a layer which had been sealed and preserved below a Neolithic mound, now ploughed away and disturbed by the construction of a pylon. This putative mound had been perhaps 9m in diameter with the pits placed around its periphery.

Finds also include the first confirmed Beaker sherd from the site, and from the base of the ploughsoil came two fragments of ?shale bracelet, probably associated with the Iron Age settlement previously discovered.

A M Dick 2001