Fortingall

NN 7328 4667 (centred on) As part of ongoing research into the early Christian landscapes of Glen Lyon, geophysical survey was undertaken in the area between a medieval moated site (NN74NW 1) and a complex of prehistoric monuments (NN74NW 8, NN74NW 5, NN74NW 6). The area has several upstanding earthworks and unrecorded features which could relate to multiple periods from prehistoric to modern, and its location on a crossing point of the River Lyon leading to the important early Christian monastery of Fortingall make this of great interest. The survey was planned and executed in partnership with Fortingall Roots historical society and took place in May 2019.

Two transects across this area were surveyed with a dual Bartington Grad601 gradiometer, for a total area of 12,000m2. The N-S transect covered the ‘cairnfield’ (NN74NW 15), confirming the small mounds in this area are likely modern clearance cairns; a rectilinear stone-defined enclosure roughly 20 x 15m (NN74NW 43) was found to have possible traces of internal structures; and a previously unrecorded double-banked ditch feature running across the area, which is under threat of erosion. The W-E transect extended into an empty area of the field where ‘cists’ have been previously reported by members of Fortingall Roots. This distinctly stony area was found to have a large, crescentic highly magnetic anomaly reminiscent of a large robbed out cairn, but its unexpected size meant the feature was not fully covered by the transect as laid out. Further survey and ground-truthing would be needed to discern whether this is an archaeological or geological feature.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Hunter Marshall Bequest, Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, University of Glasgow

Anouk Busset, Adrián Maldonado, Megan Kasten, Scott McCreadie - University of Glasgow (AB, MK, SM); National Museums of Scotland (AM)

(Source: DES Vol 20)