News | Posted December 9, 2016
Available Now! Three new SAIR papers
We are pleased to announce that three new Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports are now available, Open Access, through ADS.
SAIR publishes and records significant excavation reports and large-scale surveys on a Trusted Data Repository, ensuring current and future access to this important material. The latest collection presents findings from excavations in Edinburgh, Argyll and Forres. For more details, and to access the papers, please see the details below.
SAIR 59 A Roman Road Runs Through It: Excavations at Newbridge, Edinburgh
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.59
Excavations in advance of a phased commercial development have revealed a palimpsest of activity spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the Medieval period. There was a scatter of domestic settlement in the Middle Bronze Age and pre-Roman Iron Age, together with small ring-groove features which may be the remnants of a barrow cemetery forming part of a later prehistoric ritual landscape centred on Huly Hill. Perhaps the most significant discovery of these excavations is the identification of a section of Roman road which probably represents the westward extension of Dere Street linking Inveresk and Carriden. Its discovery provides solid evidence for the routeway that the milestone at Ingliston and the temporary camps at Gogar have always intimated. Finally, the area was farmed in the Medieval period, the associated settlement probably lying to the north of the excavated area. The dating evidence suggests two distinct phases of activity, in the 11th to 12th centuries and in the 13th to 14th centuries, a pattern reflected in other Medieval settlement in the Lothians.
SAIR 60 Multi-period activity, the European Marine Science Park, Dunstaffnage, Argyll
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.60
Excavation in advance of development of the European Marine Science Park at Dunstaffnage in Argyll revealed multi-phased activity from the Neolithic into the Early Historic period. An irregular row of firepits, interpreted as funerary pyres, was orientated east–west and incorporated an infant inhumation and a cobble path. Dating of charcoal revealed that the fire-pits were probably in use for a number of generations during the Late Iron Age. The fire-pits were located on the edge of wet ground and it is postulated that these were deliberately located on what may have been perceived as a liminal boundary to aid passage into the afterlife. Activity shifted to the drier ground in the Early Historic period, late 7th to 9th century, in the form of an extended farmstead within which barley and oats were being dried in a kiln. Evidence for possible barns and/or houses survives in the form of a post-hole structure, a post-built wattle and daub structure, at least one basket pit boiler and a number of cobble hearths. One pit contained ten metal artefacts thought to be derived from agricultural implements or a dismantled structure. The duration of use of the farmstead appears to have been relatively short and it may have been seasonally occupied.
SAIR 61 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the North-east of Scotland: Excavations at Grantown Road, Forres 2002-2013
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.61
The commercial development of the north-east of Scotland has resulted in a huge influx of new information on the prehistoric and Early Historic occupation of the area. A series of cropmarks investigated at Grantown Road, Forres between 2002 and 2013 has confirmed the presence of an extensive Iron Age settlement and revealed new evidence for activity from the Neolithic to the Early Historic period. The Iron Age settlement is represented by a variety of building types including ring-ditch, ring-groove and post-ring structures, in association with four-post structures, a souterrain and metalworking furnaces. Although the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Historic periods are not so well represented they nonetheless have provided evidence for the occupation of the area. The artefactual assemblage includes Neolithic and Bronze Age ceramic and coarse stone and Iron Age material relating to metalworking.
To read about submitting a paper to SAIR, please view our guidelines for authors. If you are interested in submitting a paper to SAIR, please contact the Managing Editor.
Available Now! Three new SAIR papers
We are pleased to announce that three new Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports are now available, Open Access, through ADS.
SAIR publishes and records significant excavation reports and large-scale surveys on a Trusted Data Repository, ensuring current and future access to this important material. The latest collection presents findings from excavations in Edinburgh, Argyll and Forres. For more details, and to access the papers, please see the details below.
SAIR 59 A Roman Road Runs Through It: Excavations at Newbridge, Edinburgh
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.59
Excavations in advance of a phased commercial development have revealed a palimpsest of activity spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the Medieval period. There was a scatter of domestic settlement in the Middle Bronze Age and pre-Roman Iron Age, together with small ring-groove features which may be the remnants of a barrow cemetery forming part of a later prehistoric ritual landscape centred on Huly Hill. Perhaps the most significant discovery of these excavations is the identification of a section of Roman road which probably represents the westward extension of Dere Street linking Inveresk and Carriden. Its discovery provides solid evidence for the routeway that the milestone at Ingliston and the temporary camps at Gogar have always intimated. Finally, the area was farmed in the Medieval period, the associated settlement probably lying to the north of the excavated area. The dating evidence suggests two distinct phases of activity, in the 11th to 12th centuries and in the 13th to 14th centuries, a pattern reflected in other Medieval settlement in the Lothians.
SAIR 60 Multi-period activity, the European Marine Science Park, Dunstaffnage, Argyll
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.60
Excavation in advance of development of the European Marine Science Park at Dunstaffnage in Argyll revealed multi-phased activity from the Neolithic into the Early Historic period. An irregular row of firepits, interpreted as funerary pyres, was orientated east–west and incorporated an infant inhumation and a cobble path. Dating of charcoal revealed that the fire-pits were probably in use for a number of generations during the Late Iron Age. The fire-pits were located on the edge of wet ground and it is postulated that these were deliberately located on what may have been perceived as a liminal boundary to aid passage into the afterlife. Activity shifted to the drier ground in the Early Historic period, late 7th to 9th century, in the form of an extended farmstead within which barley and oats were being dried in a kiln. Evidence for possible barns and/or houses survives in the form of a post-hole structure, a post-built wattle and daub structure, at least one basket pit boiler and a number of cobble hearths. One pit contained ten metal artefacts thought to be derived from agricultural implements or a dismantled structure. The duration of use of the farmstead appears to have been relatively short and it may have been seasonally occupied.
SAIR 61 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the North-east of Scotland: Excavations at Grantown Road, Forres 2002-2013
http://doi.org/10.9750/issn.1473-3803.2016.61
The commercial development of the north-east of Scotland has resulted in a huge influx of new information on the prehistoric and Early Historic occupation of the area. A series of cropmarks investigated at Grantown Road, Forres between 2002 and 2013 has confirmed the presence of an extensive Iron Age settlement and revealed new evidence for activity from the Neolithic to the Early Historic period. The Iron Age settlement is represented by a variety of building types including ring-ditch, ring-groove and post-ring structures, in association with four-post structures, a souterrain and metalworking furnaces. Although the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Historic periods are not so well represented they nonetheless have provided evidence for the occupation of the area. The artefactual assemblage includes Neolithic and Bronze Age ceramic and coarse stone and Iron Age material relating to metalworking.
To read about submitting a paper to SAIR, please view our guidelines for authors. If you are interested in submitting a paper to SAIR, please contact the Managing Editor.