Newsletter – Issue 160, September 2006

Outings

The National Museums of Scotland Conservation Unit at Granton
An outing has been arranged to the conservation unit of the National Museums of Scotland on Tuesday 31st October starting at 2.00pm.
A wide range of fascinating techniques are used in conservation and are essential in preparing artefacts for presentation and preserving them for future generations.  Amongst many other current tasks they are working on preserving a log boat from Carpow and on an 18th century ship found off the west coast of Scotland.
The unit is at Granton on the southern wing of West Granton Road between Granton Square and Crow Road West.  It is on the north side of the road to the west of the Lidl store.  The unit has its name on the gate but this does not stand out well.  Once there, report to security at the entrance and then proceed to the car park.
The staff has gone to considerable trouble to accommodate us so it would be nice if we could have a good turn out.

Lectures

We start again on Wednesday, 18th October but there has had to be a change of speaker.  We now have Tam Ward on ‘‘An Unenclosed Platform Site (Bronze Age) at Fruid Reservoir’. As usual lectures are at 7.30pm at 23a Fettes Row.  In November (Tuesday, 14th) we have Dr Alex Hale of RCAHMS on ‘An Archaeological Survey of the Pentland Hills Training Area and Ranges’.

Library

New additions include Pat Dennison’s ‘Holyrood and Canongate: A Thousand Years of History’.

Castlehill, Penicuik

During the excavations we have taken six separate soil samples and these will soon be sent for analysis with the hope that they will throw some light on the use of the site in Iron Age times.
The lack of finds associated with domestic occupation possibly endorses the comment, made on the two cobble tools found, that the site could have been used for leather or hide preparation.  This is a smelly process that even Iron Age folk would probably be loath to live beside.  One other tool, thought originally to be made of pumice, has been termed ‘unconvincing’ by the experts.  It seems not to be pumice but is similar in texture and may originate from an unusual geological formation near Carlops.  Is it just coincidence that the archaeological reports on leather working sites at Brough of Birsay and the Pictish monastery at Portmahomack state that the excavations have both produced pumice tools or does this tool add to the evidence for leather working at Castlehill?
1. Rescue excavation at the Brough of Birsay 1974-82 J.R.Hunter. Antique Mon 4
2. Excavating a parchmenerie-Pictish monastery at Portmahomack. M.Carver and C.Spall PSAS 134.

Dalmeny Estate Mesolithic Dig

The dig took place within the allotted two weeks in a period of very hot weather that made our earlier thoughts of wet sieving unnecessary as the soil was dry to a depth of 0.5m and, when broken up, was generally the consistency of sand.
Some twenty pits were dug, most within the 20 by 20m square L12 which produced the highest number of lithics during field walking in 1997 and 1999.
Two pits, one well to the west and the other to the south, produced virtually no finds suggesting that the Mesolithic activity was probably limited to the raised ground adjacent to the west bank of the River Almond.  Most pits produced lithic tools similar to those found during field walking and on the final day, in a pit on the north side of L12, carbonised hazelnut shells were found.
The analysis of the lithics and the shells will take some time but at least the project, which started almost a decade ago, has produced positive results.  We will have to await the carbon dating of the hazelnut shells before we know whether the site is a contemporary of that at Cramond at 10K B.P.

Our thanks go to Lord Roseberry and his factor, Mr Jonathan Burrow, for their cooperation and for giving access to the field, and also to Dr Catriona Pickard of the Archaeology Dept of the University of Edinburgh for providing the Mesolithic expertise necessary to supervise the dig.

Ground Resistance Survey at Cousland

On Saturday, 23rd September, we started our first survey in conjunction with David Connolly in East Lothian.  Cousland lies on a minor road junction (NT 377 683) to the east of Dalkeith and the archaeological remains are a matter of some debate.
The record in RCAHMS shows a chapel (remains of) near the road junction, a castle (remains of) a little further to the south, then ‘nunnery quarry’ and finally ‘cist with inhumations’.  The house on the corner of the road appears to be called Chapeldyke and the castle looks rather like the remains of a tower house and this is what David suggests it is (with some unusual design features – Ed.)  There is however a substantial wall, partially collapsed, that runs west from the tower.  As it butts on to the tower the assumption is that it is later in date.  This wall then continues southwards for over 100m and looks more like a wall that could surround a large formal garden than anything else – so no great support for the suggestion of a cloister for the nunnery.  A marked ‘step’ in the field probably indicates that the wall turned to the east at its southern end.  If it was a large garden the question is, where is the associated house
The map held by the British Geological Survey, that shows the drift geology of the area, records ‘Bedrock at or near the surface or beneath artificial deposits’. This is borne out by some sections of the tower wall being built on limestone foundations that rise some 0.5m above field level. The whole area has been worked in the past for limestone (and still is); this, plus comments like ‘artificial deposits’ and ‘worked ground’, do not inspire great confidence that ground resistance survey will find anything other than holes that have been dug in the past – or bedrock where they did not dig.

The dimension of the field between the west wall and the tower to the east is about 60m so three standard squares fitted conveniently along the north wall and these were surveyed followed by three more to the south of these and finally one square further to the south at the west end.
Adjacent to the tower there are high resistance lines parallel and at right angles to its wall which could indicate on extension or outbuilding but there are also high resistance lines forming a square, on a different alignment, about 13m to the west.  Five amorphous areas of high resistance further to the south look suspiciously like bedrock but between them is an angular low resistance that runs to the edge of our survey and thus demands our return to find out precisely what shape it is.

EXCAVATIONS AT CARRIDEN 29th July to 26th August 2006

EAFS members assisted Geoff Bailey initially on the clearance of an overgrown area surrounding a water-driven sawmill (including a culvert which incorporated a reused gravestone), and later in cleaning out the wheel pit…  A large collection of slates from a collapsed roof and various metal tools and other items were recovered. The cast iron frame of the wheel survived, unfortunately not intact, along with the drive gears for the saw, and parts of some of the wooden spokes.
During an excavation to the north of the wheel pit three sides of wall foundations were located together with a small quantity of box flue tiles and opus signinum and part of a shale bracelet.  A SW extension to the trench revealed a ditch which had been filled with some worked stone, rubble and flue tiles.  There was also evidence of burning in the area enclosed by the wall foundations.  The structure, possibly a bathhouse, had been cut by a ditch which appeared to be Roman in character.  Efforts to confirm the line of the wall were initially frustrated by a modern pipe trench, but on the last weekend of the dig part of a collapsed opus signinum floor surface and a small flagstone area were revealed together with a few pieces of samian pottery and part of a bronze brooch.  This new area could possibly align with the “ancient concrete floor” reported when the wheel pit was dug in the 1850’s.
The history would appear to be as follows (with acknowledgement to G. Bailey):
1) The bathhouse was constructed probably in the Flavian period, i.e. late 70’s AD, outside a previously unknown fort that probably occupied the area of the annexe.  The ditch that we found in 2002 may be the west ditch to this fort.
2) The bathhouse and the fort were quickly abandoned upon the Roman withdrawal from Scotland.
3) In the early 140’s AD the Roman army returned and built a new fort to the east of the old one.  The site of the old fort was used for industrial activities and the ruins of the old bathhouse were patched up and used for ironworking.
4) In the 150’s AD a decision was taken to enclose the extramural areas within defended annexes along the Antonine Wall.  This meant reducing the areas involved, the old bathhouse was abandoned and the new annexe ditch dug through it, and the earlier fort ditches were backfilled.
There will be no more work at Carriden this year – other than to put some soil over the walls of the bathhouse to help protect them over winter.  There is a possibility of further work next year, depending on the precise nature of the development of the stable block and this will require further discussion with the owner and the architects.  We have done enough work to show the broad history of the building and its nature – so reburial and protection must be the priority.

Our thanks to Geoff for the invitation to help with this unique opportunity, and to the property owners, Tom and Ann, for their exceptional hospitality.

CRAMOND MANAGEMENT GROUP

As part of the Cramond Management Plan, an archaeological evaluation of the Roman fort, bathhouse and 19th century kennels was undertaken by AOC Archaeology Group during the summer.  The three trenches cut in the fort revealed upstanding barrack walls and features relating to the principia.  The trenches in the bathhouse revealed its excellent condition, with no obvious deterioration having taken place since it was covered in 1976.  In the kennels, the deep stratigraphy revealed a building with evidence of successive floor levels, a possible tanning pit, various walls and midden deposits.
The Plan envisages conversion of the kennels into an interpretation centre.  It is sited between the bathhouse and the fort, both of which would be displayed to the public.   As lottery and other funding will be sought for the project, a Visitor Survey has been launched.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday, 18th October.  Society lecture – Tam Ward on ‘An Unenclosed Platform Site (Bronze Age) at Fruid Reservoir’.
Tuesday, 31st October.  Outing to National Museums of Scotland Conservation Unit at Granton.  Tuesday, 14th November.  Society lecture – Dr Alex Hale of RCAHMS on ‘An Archaeological Survey of the Pentland Hills Training Area and Ranges’.
Saturday, 18th November.  Edinburgh and East Lothian Archaeology Conference.

Wednesday, 13th December.  AGM followed by EAFS Projects Update and Social Evening.

Newsletter – Issue 159, August 2006

Outings

i) Cammo
We visited this ancient estate south of Cramond on 27th June. It was developed by the eminent horticulturalist, arboriculturalist and agriculturist Sir John Clerk in the late 17th century prior to him inheriting his father’s estate at Penicuik. Many of the features on display in Penicuik were developed here and the estate is of particular interest to those interested in the evolution of estate management in Scotland. Like Mavisbank it has a water feature, but the banks are badly eroded and much work remains to be done to restore it to its former glory. Other features of note were a standing stone, a water tank built as a round tower and the rather spooky ruins of the ‘big house’ burnt down in the last century. We are very grateful to Hamish Bell, the ranger, for the time he spent in making this such an informative and enjoyable afternoon.
ii) Outing to Torphichen and Cairnpapple
We shall be visiting these two particularly interesting monuments in West Lothian on Saturday, 26th August starting at 2.00pm. The first monument, Torphichen Preceptory, was the monastic centre of the Knights of St John, a warrior order that was involved in the care of pilgrims and fighting Saracens in the Holy Land. The tower and transepts of the church and the footings of the priory are still extant. It is a relief to say that it has NO connections with the Holy Grail – so far! We shall then be driving to Cairnpapple, a henge which contains burials that was developed over several millennia. Reconstruction after an excavation means that it provides a particularly vivid impression of its evolution. Visiting involves a short walk up a hill and visitors should wear a stout pair of shoes.

Lectures

We start again on Wednesday, 18th October with Ian Paterson on The Demise of Knossos: A Stratigraphical Problem.

Castlehill, Penicuik

The digging season finished with a final session on 16th July which concentrated on Trench 3 on the inner bank at the SW end of the site. The southern side of this trench contains a lot of sandstone, possibly collapsed or partly robbed out walling of unknown date, but nothing to match the stone packing round a possible post hole which was found on the N side of the trench. A one metre wide section has been cut on this N side down into the ditch between the inner and outer banks. Having reached a fine sandy gravel the thought was that we were down to the natural but, just in case this was downwash from the banks, we went a little deeper. A one by half metre sonde, half a metre deep, appears to have a sandstone paved bottom, but not enough is yet exposed for us to be sure. From the top of the inner bank to the paving we measured a vertical difference of 2.45m; this compares well with the printout from the resistive linear array measurement that was made in 2003 along the line of the N edge of Trench 3, which shows a small rise in resistance under the centre of the ditch. The measurement taken from the linear array print from this resistance to the top of the bank is about 2.5m.
An ever interested and tolerant Sir Robert Clerk has said that we can return for our fifth season in February 2007 so we should be able to find out what is at the bottom of that ditch – in February of course it could be snow. Once again we record our thanks to Sir Robert.

Dalemeny Estate

The guess that the oil seed rape crop might be harvested early was correct and the Farm Manager has given a date of Thursday, 10th August when the field will be clear and available to us. We are likely to work Thursday and Friday, take the weekend off and then work ten consecutive days. The first Thursday is an early start for us as we have to relayout the 20 by 20m grid before the Edinburgh University squad can start to do anything. The square L12, in which the highest concentration of lithics was found, is 60m from our baseline and at the River Almond end of the field so there is a lot of triangulation to do before we dig. Our lithic fieldwalking finds from 1997 and 1999 were assessed by Dr Catriona Pickard and with her particular Mesolithic experience she will supervise the project.

Ground Resistance at Chapelgill Burn

Tam Ward has been excavating at Chapelgill in Glenholm south of Broughton. The site appears to be a late medieval farm – buildings, enclosures and sheep buchts but no main farm building yet. To date four buildings have been investigated. One of these had plastered walls and ceilings, with large ceiling fragments on a floor of packed or puddle clay. A second building had an area of high quality cobbled flooring while a third was a byre with a gruip and well paved floor. Midden deposits have yielded large quantities of glass from wine bottles, medicine phials and window panes. Abundant potsherds and iron objects have also been recovered but none of the artefacts can be dated to earlier than the beginning of the 18th C. although records show that the site was occupied from the 15th C.
Tam’s request to us was to survey an embanked enclosure that lay just up the slope from the excavation sites. The eight 20 by 20m squares surveyed on 22nd July show the bank as a very high resistance suggesting it includes a stone wall. Within the enclosure there are linear high resistances that, in the printout, suggest a group of buildings. After the survey was made, Jill was in West Register House and found an estate map showing farm buildings within the enclosure apparently round a central yard! Trenches have since been cut across the most promising anomalies but no archaeology was found – the very dry ground may have caused problems for the ground resistance measurement.

Luggate, Cousland and Newbyres Castle

The latest information from David Connolly is as follows (the listed order is likely to be the order in which the projects are tackled):-
At Luggate Church, Whittingehame the irregular area that has been defined for resistance survey is S of Luggate but N of the Luggate Burn and appears to require about 70 survey squares. The field is under crop that should be harvested mid to late September. If we started in mid September it is unlikely that the area would be completed before end October. We will have to wait to see what David’s priorities are – these could possibly be influenced by the initial results.
Cousland Nunnery is “hoped to be open and ready at the end of September/October”. The main area to the S of the Castle/Nunnery is of the order of 15 survey squares and could thus be done in two days. To the S of this is a slightly larger field area that may include the medieval village.
Newbyres Castle grounds are apparently rather overgrown and the area is due to be cleared by a local group – but not until October/November. The dimensions of the site are about 60 by 60m but tapering to the S end. It looks like just one days work but David is also asking for a topographical survey.

Traprain

A number of Society members were privileged to take part in the excavation on Traprain Law carried out in June by the NMS under the direction of Dr Fraser Hunter. This, the latest of a series of digs carried out in fire-damaged areas, concentrated on two Iron Age buildings, one above the S-facing slope, the other on the W. The first, opened up last year, is a rectangular structure, aligned parallel to the contours, that occupies a platform partly cut into bedrock. Near the E end of the building was a stone-built hearth. Midden material yielded numerous finds, including many sherds representing several vessels. A glass bead, of late Roman date, may not be in context. The most intriguing find was a cache of 74 cattle teeth that had been secreted in a rock niche. The second building was similar in structure and setting but yielded little in the way of finds. The site had suffered severely from the activities of rabbits.

Carriden Watermill

Work has now commenced with Geoff Bailey on the former water-powered sawmill in the stable block at Carriden (until 12th August). Early indications, after a severe session of ground clearance and the discovery of at least two nests of small but aggressive wasps, are that the site shows great promise. Sadly the wasps now have an uncertain future (if the foam spray we are going to use works). The wheel pit and the very large water wheel are now visible and the base of a retaining wall and a possible hearth area have been uncovered along with a number of metal finds. It appears that the site will be an excellent opportunity for some good quality industrial archaeology.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Thursday, 10th August. Start of Dalmeny dig with Edinburgh University.
Saturday, 26th August. Members outing to Torphichen and Cairnpapple (see above).
Saturday, 2nd September. EAFS contribution to SAM – Kittochside – 10.30am till 4 pm.
September & October weekends. Luggate et al surveys.
Wednesday, 20th September. Public lecture by Magnus Magnusson – The Vikings and Scotland: The Northern World and its Significance for Scotland. Royal Museum, Lothian Street, 5.30pm, tickets required, 0131 240 5000 or www.royalsoced.org.uk or events@royalsoced.org.uk.
Thursday 21st – Friday 22 September. Conference The Vikings and Scotland: Impact and Influence. Details as above.
Till 24th September. Van Gogh and Britain: Pioneer Collections at Dean Gallery.
Saturday, 30th September. Borders Archaeological Forum (see above).
Wednesday, 18th October. Society lecture – Ian Paterson on The Demise of Knossos – A Stratigraphical Problem.
Till 5th November. Royal Museum, Chambers Street exhibition – Beyond the Palace Walls, Islamic Art from The State Heritage Museum.
3rd-5th November. Understanding Hadrian’s Wall – Arbeia Society and others, conference to mark publication of 14th edition of Handbook to the Roman Wall.

Editor’s Miscellany

There is a pleasant hill walk from Peebles to Broughton called the John Buchan Way. Although you may not want to walk all of it there are a couple of places on it which are worth a visit in their own right. The first is Stobo Kirk on the B712 from Peebles to Broughton. This has a stained glass window (modern) of Merlin and a fascinating lot of grave stones with unusual carvings, For someone wanting a bit of exercise there are two hill forts (NT 230375 and NT 224370) on Cademuir Hill overlooking Peebles (they are reached more easily from the back road connecting Manor Water and Peebles, parking near Cademuir farm). The larger one has easily seen traces of at least 30 timber-framed houses, well-defined ramparts etc. The smaller one (nearer to Manor Water) is only ½ a mile away and is more interesting. It has traces of timber-framed buildings as well but it has a much more substantial defences, subsidiary enclosures and a very good set of chevaux de frise (possibly better than Dreva) – worth a wander round on a pleasant summers day.

Editor, Brian Tait
4th August 2006