Edinburgh Park

NT17SE 71 178 720

Excavations in Currie and Ratho parishes in 1990-2: Areas

Area A NT 1802 7182

Area B NT 1790 7203

Area C NT 1789 7208

Area U NT 1810 7176

Area F NT 1785 7186 (NMRS NT17SE 21 Ring-ditch)

Information from M Collard (City of Edinburgh Archaeologist) 13 May 1993

NT 178 720 (centre) Field evaluation by trial trenching in the Maybury Business Park development site (Now renamed Edinburgh Park) in 1990 led to excavation in 1990-2. Extensive areas of multi-phase prehistoric open settlement in the form of pits, post holes and other features were excavated. Although some areas were very badly plough-truncated, others were relatively well-preserved under up to 1m depth of hillwash. There were five main excavation areas: A,B,C and U, E of the Gogar Burn and F, W of it (For F see NT17SE 21).

Area A: NT 1802 7182 Very severely truncated remains of curvilinear features, pits and post-holes, with no dating evidence.

Area B: NT 1790 7203 Shallow ditches and other linear features appear to make up a prehistoric field system, incorporating a possible trackway. A group of post-holes and pits (one of which contained possible neolithic pottery) may be contemporary with the linear features. Another group of pits, post holes and hearths, containing prehistoric pottery, post-dated the possible trackway. One of these pits had a ring of stake holes in its base. Close to this group, and also cutting the possible trackway, was a shallow truncated pit containing a complete bucket-urn. This was removed with its contents intact for excavation in the laboratory; this has not yet occurred. Another broad, shallow pit contained a near-complete undecorated vessel similar in form and fabric to beakers, associated with a flint artefact, an enigmatic coarse stone artefact with two conical holes pecked in its surfaces, and four large lumps of charcoal. A large, roughly banjo-shaped feature is similar to some of the features likened to miniature souterrains at Dalladies, Perthshire (Watkins 1980). Another group of small pits has very unusual bright orange lower fills enclosing central hollows, and were associated with large numbers of stake holes. A number of other pits, post holes and other features were effectively isolated, forming parts of none of the above groups.

Area C: NT 1789 7208 Very slight, ephemeral features on a N-facing slope may represent a circular structure. This did not appear to be structurally related to a small group of post holes to the N. The base of the slope is at the edge of the site of the former post-glacial Gogar Loch, now infilled with alluvial silts; a pair of gravel surfaces (probably anthropogenic) at the edge of the loch were stratigraphically seprated by such silts.

Area U: NT 1810 7176 Immediately E of the site of Redheughs Farm (now demolished). Traces of truncated medieval agricultural features were recognised.

D A Johnstone 1992.