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Just published! SAIR 77 and 78 now available

10th May 2018 | Categories: Publications

The Society is pleased to announce the publication of two new Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports, available now at the Archaeology Data Service.

SAIR was established in 2000 to publish freely accessible, fully peer-reviewed archaeological information. We are delighted that this latest update sees the publication of the 77th and 78th paper since SAIR began.

The most recent papers treat two excavations at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire (2006) and Market Street, Edinburgh (2015). The Society gratefully acknowledges funding towards the publication of SAIR 77 from Transport for Scotland, and for SAIR 78 from Gleeds Management.

To read the abstracts and access the papers, please see the details below:

SAIR 77 Neolithic and Bronze Age Occupation at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire: Pots, Pits and Roundhouses
https://doi.org/10.9750/issn.2056-7421.2018.77

The excavations at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire produced evidence for occupation at various times between the Early Neolithic and the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Significantly, it yielded the largest and best-dated assemblage of Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware yet encountered in Scotland, comprising at least 206 vessels. Episodes of Early to (pre-Impressed Ware) Middle Neolithic activity were represented by pits and post holes scattered across the excavated areas, some containing pottery of the Carinated Bowl tradition and some with charred plant remains; three blades of pitchstone and one of non-local flint were also found. The phase of activity associated with the Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware pottery (c 3350‒3000 cal bc) is represented mostly by clusters of pits, some containing hearth waste and/or charcoal, charred cereal grain and burnt hazelnut shell fragments. A stone axehead and a broken roughout for an axe- or adze-head were associated with this phase of occupation. There then appears to have been a hiatus of activity of around a millennium before occupation resumed. One Early Bronze Age structure and pits dating to around 2000 cal bc (plus undated pits containing possible Beaker pottery) were succeeded by four Early to Middle Bronze Age roundhouses dating to c 1750‒1300 cal bc and a large pit containing parts of at least 37 pots, and subsequently by two large double-ring roundhouses, an oval building, and ancillary structures and features dating to the Middle to Late Bronze Age, c 1300‒900 cal bc. There is also evidence suggesting low level activity during the Iron Age, plus two medieval corn-drying kilns. Environmental evidence indicates cereal growing from the earliest period, and local woodland management. This publication focuses on the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods and discusses the significance of this site for our understanding of these periods, and particularly for the Middle Neolithic, in Scotland.tfs-logo

 

SAIR 78 The Excavation of a Medieval Burgh Ditch at East Market Street, Edinburgh: Around the Town
https://doi.org/10.9750/issn.2056-7421.2018.78

In 2015 excavation works undertaken in preparation for a new hotel development at East Market Street, Edinburgh, encountered the remains of a substantial ditch feature likely relating to previously excavated ditches in the medieval burghs of Edinburgh and Canongate. A substantial stratified artefact assemblage including both animal bone and ceramics was recovered and the waterlogged deposits in the base of the ditch also offered the opportunity for macroplant analysis. These waterlogged deposits afforded the preservation of artefacts including a textile garment, the first of its kind in the British Isles, and leather shoe soles boasting slender waists and turned out, pointed toes. These finds were both attributed to the 14th to 15th centuries, contributing to a vivid picture of the inhabitants of Edinburgh and Canongate in the medieval period. Analysis of both the artefact and ecofact assemblage revealed two phases of use, from the construction of the ditch in the late 12th–13th century to its eventual disuse in the latter half of the 15th century.


We hope you enjoy the latest additions to the SAIR collection. Remember, all SAIR papers are published Open Access and are freely available to read and download at ADS. You can see the full list of previous publications here.

If you would like to submit a paper to SAIR please view our guidelines for authors, or contact the Managing Editor.


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