The Northern Picts Project Annual Report 2014

The Northern Picts Project
Annual Report 2014
Contents
List of Images ........................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5
Tarbat Discovery Centre ........................................................................................................ 5
Exhibitions ............................................................................................................................ 7
Artist in Residence Programme ...................................................................................... 10
'My Clan' - Pictish Badge Making ................................................................................... 10
The Portmahomack Time Machine ................................................................................. 11
Out Of The Blue Treasure Hunt ...................................................................................... 12
From Black and White to colour - Photo Archive Collaging ...................................... 13
Travelling exhibition ......................................................................................................... 14
Publications ............................................................................................................................ 15
Media ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Fieldwork ............................................................................................................................... 16
Tarbat Peninsula ................................................................................................................ 16
Cnoc Tigh............................................................................................................................ 17
Tarlogie ............................................................................................................................... 21
Scotsburn ............................................................................................................................ 24
King’s Cave ........................................................................................................................ 27
The Northern Picts project beyond Tarbat ........................................................................ 29
Gaulcross ............................................................................................................................ 30
Crathie Point promontory fort ........................................................................................ 34
Durn Hill fort ..................................................................................................................... 37
Clashendamer .................................................................................................................... 39
Craig Phadrig fort ............................................................................................................. 41
Craigallichie ....................................................................................................................... 43
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Rhynie survey and excavation ........................................................................................ 43
The Pictish environment ...................................................................................................... 46
Investigating Pictish lifeways using stable isotope analysis .......................................... 47
Overview & Aims.............................................................................................................. 47
Progress 2014...................................................................................................................... 48
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List of Images
Image 1: The first full Northern Picts exhibition at the centre ......................................... 7
Image 2: The ‘star’ finds from Rhynie on display for the firt time .................................. 8
Image 3: One of the display cases. ........................................................................................ 8
Image 4: The metal tongs from Rhynie. ............................................................................... 9
Image 5: The Rhynie axe pin. ................................................................................................ 9
Image 6: The making of a badge. ........................................................................................ 11
Image 7: Children engaged in history. ............................................................................... 12
Image 8: Participant in the treasure hunt. ......................................................................... 13
Image 9: Example from the Photo Archive Collaging. .................................................... 14
Image 10: The travelling exhibition. ................................................................................... 15
Image 11: Aerial photograph of the excavation area at Cnoc Tigh ............................... 19
Image 12: The surviving interior. ....................................................................................... 20
Image 13: The open day attracted a lot of visitors. .......................................................... 20
Image 14: Volunteers excavating at Tarlogie. ................................................................... 23
Image 15: A quern stone discovered at Tarlogie. ............................................................. 23
Image 16: Aerial view of Scotsburn under excavation. ................................................... 25
Image 17: Outer rampart at Scotsburn. .............................................................................. 25
Image 18: Part of grain found in occupation horizons at Scotsburn. ............................ 26
Image 19: Hollowed out stone. ........................................................................................... 26
Image 20: The entrance to the King’s Cave. ...................................................................... 28
Image 21: Layout of the King’s Cave and the location of the test trenches. ................. 28
Image 22: Test trench 3 being excavated in King’s Cave. ............................................... 29
Image 23: The excavation at Gaulcross and metal detecting finds.. .............................. 31
Image 24 and 25: Silver artefact discovered and how it looks after cleaning. ............. 32
Image 26: Excavation at Gaulcross. .................................................................................... 32
Images 27-30: Silver artefacts discovered at Gaulcross. .................................................. 33
Image 31: Crathie Point promontory fort. ......................................................................... 35
Image 32: The well preserved rampart at Crathie Point ................................................. 36
Image 33: Brave volunteers excavating the pond. ............................................................ 36
Image 34: Durn Hill fort. ...................................................................................................... 37
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Image 35: Volunteer Michael Stratigos excavating in trench 2. ..................................... 38
Image 36: Gordon Noble in a palisade trench. ................................................................. 38
Image 37: One of the slag pieces from Clashendamer. .................................................... 39
Image 38: The magnetometer survey results from Clashendamer. ............................... 40
Image 39: Winter view of Craig Phadrig interior. ............................................................ 42
Image 40: The resistance survey results of Craig Phadrig fort.. ..................................... 42
Image 41: Aerial photograph showing the large trench with the ‘barrow’ .................. 45
Image 42: Pollen diagram from Portmahomack. .............................................................. 47
Image 43: Rib from a burial found in Balintore. ............................................................... 49
Image 44: A tooth from burial discovered at Rhynie. ...................................................... 49
Image 45: Some of the laboratory work. ............................................................................ 50
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Introduction
The Pictish Kingdoms have to date played minor roles in the wider sweeps of
history. Yet these kingdoms were important political centres both regionally and on
a European scale, participating in the wider trends of political consolidation that
characterised first millennium AD elite social groups. In northern Scotland recent
work by Woolf (2006) has turned our knowledge of the political organisation of the
Picts on its head with the movement of Fortriu, the most cited (and perhaps most
powerful) Pictish kingdom in historical sources to the Moray Firth area, suggesting
that the provinces of northern Pictland were major players in the emergence of
statehood in the first millennium AD.
The Northern Picts project has been focusing on the archaeology of Fortriu for the
past two years with the aims to bring together a comprehensive review of the
evidence for first millennium AD northern Pictland, including all the archaeological
and historical evidence (in its widest sense). The project is in partnership with the
Tarbat Discovery Centre promoting the archaeology of the Picts to local and
international audiences, and provides unique training opportunities for university
students, researchers and local communities to engage with the archaeology of the
northern Picts. This report outlines the major activities of the project over 2014.
Tarbat Discovery Centre
By Anthony Watson
The Trust ended 2014 showing a significant improvement in both visitor numbers
and shop sales which treated on a purely “like for like” basis enabled the Centre to
have its best season since 2007. Coincidentally that year was the final year of York
University’s fourteen seasons of archaeology on the site at Portmahomack. We
always anticipated that the drawing power of “live archaeology” combined with the
attendant publicity would be missed in future seasons and this is how it indeed
turned out. It was therefore a massive lift for the Discovery Centre in 2013 when a
combination of academic and private funding enabled the start of an Aberdeen
University programme based on the theme of “The Northern Picts” Two years later,
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this project has already examined and excavated several sites in Easter Ross,
bringing new light to an era hundreds of years prior to the establishment of the
Tarbat monastery and showed that there had been a settled and sophisticated society
in the region around two thousand years ago. Along with open days at the various
digs, school parties, themed workshops and talks, there was in 2014, a season-long
exhibition detailing the early results of the investigations. All these activities
combined to provide the centre with a real morale-lifting boost and also engaged
many local people. The Aberdeen project also included assistance that among other
things, allowed for the development of a new website for the Centre and this along
with social media sites all helped to promote the museum and Aberdeen’s work.
However, significant financial challenges remain with Highland Council due to
remove all automatic independent museum support by 2017-18.
The Centre’s core exhibition continues to attract and amaze visitors and was
highlighted in a Xmas 2013 BBC television documentary entitled “The Pilgrim’s
Trail” Another important development is the launch of the new visitor film in time
for the 2015 season and the first in a series of books commissioned by the university
in 2014 ( A Historical Introduction to the Northern Picts) has proved very popular.
Sales of this book and other Discovery Centre publications via our website and EBay
have already produced an additional £600 of income for the Trust in the past three
months and we are looking forward to two further books by Martin Carver. Our
future plans are diverse, but one initiative we would actively like to pursue is a redisplay of the museum, last undertaken in 2007. The definitive publication by
Professor Carver and his team on their work should be published later this year and
during the past few years, the post-excavation and analysis work by many
individuals on the Tarbat finds means that there is a new enlarged story waiting to
be told. In addition, the work of Dr Gordon Noble and his Aberdeen team requires a
permanent position within the museum and together, along with our own Neolithic
collection of artefacts, we have several thousand years of local history to display.
This will require major support from funders and a fundamental priority for them
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will be for us to prove to them that the museum has a structure in place for financial
stability.
Exhibitions
The first full Northern Picts exhibition at the Tarbat Discovery Centre opened in
Spring 2014 and was on display throughout the summer. The exhibition updated
visitors on the nature of the project, results from year one of the project and
displayed finds from recent excavations. Displays included information on the
ongoing excavation and analysis of all of the enclosed settlements of the Tarbat
peninsula, analysis of Pictish bodies from northern Pictland and environmental
work by Laura McHardie. On display were objects from the Pictish royal site at
Rhynie, on display to the public for the first time.
Image 1: The first full Northern Picts exhibition at the centre
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Image 2: The ‘star’ finds from Rhynie on display for the firt time
Image 3: One of the display cases.
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Image 4: The metal tongs from Rhynie.
Image 5: The Rhynie axe pin.
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Artist in Residence Programme
Artist Jude Hutchen ran a fantastic week of activities during Portmahomack Gala
week in late July 2014 from the TDC. These events were designed to be fun and
stimulating workshops loosely based around the themes of the Northern Picts
Projects and our on-going excavations around Tarbat. They were advertised within
the Gala programme and on their website and both the archaeology team and the
TDC further advertised within the village and beyond.
The artist residency was proposed as a means of:
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increasing public accessibility to the archaeological process and findings.
providing an opportunity for the parallels of art and archaeology to be explored.
supporting community involvement with the Tarbat Discovery Centre.
providing archaeology students with experience of working with an artist.
animating public interest by 'bringing colour to heritage'.
The programme of workshops was agreed with TDC as a means of bringing people
to the centre during a notoriously quiet time of year. Space was hired from TDC as a
way to cover the entrance fee and ensure access for all. All workshops were free of
charge to the public and available to all ages for as long as they were able to
participate. Workshop equipment was gifted to the centre as the project's legacy.
The four workshops were:
'My Clan' - Pictish Badge Making
Participants were invited to look at the Pictish artwork in TDC and to create their
own clan symbol which was then made into a badge.
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Image 6: The making of a badge.
The Portmahomack Time Machine
An overhead projected map of the Tarbat peninsula c.2000 years ago was explained
to the group. This map had all the later prehistoric roundhouses which have been
investigated as part of the project and these buildings were explained to the group.
A large recent map of the Tarbat Peninsula was then put out on the floor and the
group were invited to imagine the peninsula in 4000 AD, particularly considering
key issues of concern to archaeologists/ historians, such as travel, food, buildings,
religion, social values and recreation. Participants then created a 3D representation
of their future ideas – adding sculptures of their ideas onto the map.
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Image 7: Children engaged in history.
Out Of The Blue Treasure Hunt
As a means of exploring the archaeological process groups of participants were
invited to go from TDC to the beach and collect any blue items they come across.
Each group had a map of the beach and recorded exactly where and when they
found each item. On returning to the museum all the items were laid out as a
museum display with a written description of their objects, materials and to consider
these objects as if the participants were from the future and did not know about our
culture and lifestyle. They were also asked to make suggestions of how, as only a
fragment of the whole picture, these objects could be misinterpreted.
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Image 8: Participant in the treasure hunt.
From Black and White to colour - Photo Archive Collaging
Participants were invited to explore the Portmahomack’s photo archive of local
community events, families and surrounding landscape and selected images to work
with.
Images were photocopied and coloured in, cut up and collaged using
magazine and other coloured/ textured papers with emphasis put on adding colour
and texture into the black and white images.
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Image 9: Example from the Photo Archive Collaging.
Travelling exhibition
In addition to the workshops Jude designed a traveling exhibition which was placed
within the TDC and, at times, on the beach at Portmahomack through the Gala week.
This exhibition of eight vintage cases containing ‘found’ material from the beach at
Portmahomack collected during a single day in April 2014 was designed to make the
viewer reconsider what rubbish was. By presenting objects such as fishing twine,
bottle tops and plastic bottles within silk lined cases, with carefully typed labels and
intricate descriptions our traditional views on discarded items and their value were
explored. Placing them within the museum setting of the TDC also made the viewer
question what archaeological artefacts are and their original possible functions.
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Image 10: The travelling exhibition.
Publications
The first publication in the Northern Picts/Tarbat Discovery Centre publication
series appeared thisyear. Titled “A historical introduction to the Northern Picts” by
Nicholas Evans, the book went into sale at the Tarbat Discovery Centre in November
and sales on the book have been good with over 80 copies sold.
A number of popular and academic articles also appeared including a piece on
Rhynie for Current Archaeology.
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/issues/ca-
289.htm
Media
Work by the project has had a high media presence. The exhibition opening was
reported on in the local press and in the Ross-shire journal. More recently the
announcement of the new finds at Gaulcross was published in the Scotsman, Herald,
Press and Journal and Evening Express. The research also featured on BBC Radio
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Scotland and on Reporting Scotland on TV. In the New Year the work of the project
will also appear on aBBC4 program “Digging for Britain”.
The project’s facebook webpage has now reached over 1000 members and are still
increasing. On this webpage the latest progress of the project is advertised and it also
functions as a place for people to acquire information regarding the Picts. The first
booklet has also been advertised on sale here, along with news from TDC, exhibition
openings, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/417334508372858/
Fieldwork
As part of the Northern Picts project surveys and excavations have been undertaken
in an area stretching from Aberdeenshire to Easter Ross targeting sites that can help
contextualize the character of society in the early medieval period in northern
Pictland. On 1st August a talk was given to the public where the results of the
research were introduced. The venue was in the Seaboard Villages and was very
well attended which shows the interest people have in the project.
Tarbat Peninsula
The first two years of the project has focused on understanding the wider
environment of the monastery at Portmahomack. Here one of our key objectives has
been be to address the presence or absence of contemporary high status secular sites
on the peninsula and wider area– i.e. was the monastery itself the key power centre
and landholder on the peninsula (Carver 2005: 26) or did it fit into wider networks of
power on the peninsula and beyond. Finding Pictish settlement is notoriously
difficult, but hillforts do re-emerge in this period as high-status settlements. Hence
our focus has been on evaluating and dating this form of architecture on the
peninsula and around. The results to date has shown that the enclosed sites largely
date to the Iron Age, with only one site, Tarlogie, extending into the first millennium
AD. In 2013 three sites were excavated – Easter Rarichie, Wester Rarichie and Tarrel
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Dun. In 2014 eight weeks of excavation were conducted on three sites: Tarlogie,
Cnoc Tigh and Scotsburn. The results of these excavations are highlighted below.
The work at these sites has allowed the project to characterize the nature of
prehistoric settlement on the peninsula and the series of sites excavated will
represent one of the best sequences of Iron Age sites examined in Scotland. Postexcavation is now underway. The dates for the three sites dug this year will be
available by the summer.
The forts and roundhouses excavated will form the focus of the second Northern
Picts exhibition at TDC in the Spring of 2015.
Cnoc Tigh
The investigation of the thick-walled dry-stone roundhouse Cnoc Tigh was
undertaken in June and July 2014. Cnoc Tigh is located on a knoll at the edge of a
raised beach (c. 12 m OD), about 300m south east of the current shoreline
overlooking the Dornoch Firth. The site is flanked to the north-east by a deeply-cut
ravine of the Allt a’Chaoil-eag burn which, with the steeply sloping raised beach,
forms a small promontory. The roundhouse is visible from the Pictish monastery at
Portmahomack located less than a 1 km to the north-east. As Cnoc Tigh is still a
prominent monument in the present landscape near to the monastery the project
was keen to see if there was any early medieval activity on the site and to continue
our work on dating all of the monumental roundhouse sites of the peninsula.
Excavation of a 15 x 10 m trench across the north side of the roundhouse identified
three phases of construction and remodelling of the dry-stone walls. In its primary
phase the roundhouse was thin-walled, c.1.2 m thick. The house had a c. 10 m
internal diameter with a 1 m wide entranceway located due west. The second phase
of the house saw the construction of a boulder wall against the outer face of this
primary wall, increasing the width of the walls to c. 2.8 m. In its final phase the
walls were further widened by a rubble and earthen core laid against the Phase 2
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wall, bounded by an outer face of boulders. In this final phase the roundhouse walls
were c. 4 m wide.
Internally two phases of occupation deposits were separated by a layer of
windblown sand, potentially indicating that the house had been abandoned for a
period and then reoccupied. A scarcement ledge was keyed into the inner face of the
primary wall of the roundhouse. As the top of the ledge was located only 0.20 m
from the base of the wall this may have supported a timber floor at ground-level, a
very unusual feature for a site of this type. Overlying the roundhouse was the
remains of a 19th/20th century rubble enclosure. Apart from post-medieval glass and
pottery within the enclosure rubble no finds were identified at Cnoc Tigh.
Geophysical survey was undertaken around the site, but did not reveal any
archaeological activity. A cup-marked stone slab located on the south side of the
knoll is potentially the former capping stone for a Bronze Age cist located at NH
9008 8324.
After the excavation season finished sample processing started as well as digitisation
of the drawings made. Once the samples had been processed they were sent for
identification and dating and it is hoped that results will come back towards the end
of February.
An open day for the excavation was held, attracting between 30 – 40 people. During
the open day people were able to ask anything related to the excavation and the
research on the Tarbat peninsula and people were encouraged to participate in the
field work.
In addition to the open day, Aoife Gould and Oskar Sveinbjarnarson also worked
with the local primary and secondary schools organizing site visits, conducting talks
in the school and there was also a demonstration of archaeological techniques to
secondary school pupils at Tain Academy. During these school visits, the children
were allowed to experience what it is like to be an archaeologist. They received
instructions in using a trowel and subsequently excavating, sieving the soil for
artefacts and how to use a metal detector to assist with discovering new possible
features to excavate. The Tain Royal Academy was visited and the students received
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a talk on all aspects of the project and information on what tools archaeologist use.
Aoife led the students through various artefacts discovered during the excavations
and Oskar showed them how technology is assisting with research on the project
and how to acquire aerial photographs with a small drone.
Image 11: Aerial photograph of the excavation area at Cnoc Tigh The various phases of walling can be
seen at the bottom of the picture in the trench.
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Image 12: The surviving interior.
Image 13: The open day attracted a lot of visitors.
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Tarlogie
The investigation of the thick-walled dry-stone roundhouse at Tarlogie Farm Dun
(also known as Morangie Dun) was undertaken over two sessions in April and July
2014. The roundhouse is located on a small knoll overlooking the southern shore of
the Dornoch Firth. Prior to excavation the upstanding remains of a large dry-stone
walled roundhouse could be clearly identified. The roundhouse measured about
15m in internal diameter which was best preserved along the north where the wall
survived to c.1.2 m in height and at least 5 m in width.
Excavation of a 16 x 12 m trench across the east side of the house identified a
complex and multi-phased thick-walled dry-stone roundhouse with an elaborate
splayed east-facing entranceway. The investigation was designed to strip, map and
record the final phase of the roundhouse walls and restricted to excavating a limited
number of internal deposits.
Although extensively robbed it was clear that the roundhouse walls had undergone
substantial remodelling and widening.
In their final form the walls were of
composite construction, with an inner and outer wall face enclosing a core of rubble
and earth, c. 5.6 m in width. Earlier wall lines within this rubble core indicated that
they had been widened and had at one point been c. 3.00 m in width. The eastfacing splayed entranceway had also undergone substantial remodelling. In its final
phase it was partially flagged and widened out from 1.8 m at the interior to 3.6 m at
the limit of excavation. Compacted layers of uneven cobbling also suggested that
the entrance may have had areas of timber flooring.
Internally a bay had been inserted into the northern wall, creating a room with a
compacted earthen floor running westward around the length of the wall from the
entranceway. The multiple occupations of the house were evident from cleaning the
interior and in the exposed area was a complex of intercutting hearths, postholes and
possible furnaces.
A single rectangular stone-slab hearth and post-hole were
excavated to sample the archaeology within the house.
Possible smelting and
smithing slag and a fragment of furnace lining along with a number of broken quern
fragments and a pivot stone were recovered from the interior cleaning.
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A test-pit located against the internal face of the north wall identified a sequence of
floors overlying a raft of levelling rubble, presumed to be associated with the
primary construction of the house. An occupation layer overlying this rubble was
dated to 370-160 BC suggesting the house was constructed and in use in the 4th to 2nd
century BC. Overlying this was a possible floor layer dated to AD 25-130. The
upper-most floor layer contained a zoomorphic pennanular brooch and was dated to
AD 235-385. This sequence indicates that the house was occupied on and off for
almost 800 years. The presence of slag and furnace lining within a final occupation
layer containing significant charcoal and burnt daub deposits suggests that the final
phase of the house may have been associated with metal-working.
Approximately 20 m to the east of the house a series of test pits and a single 17 m
long trench identified a thick organic deposit (up to 1 m in depth in places)
comprising multiple thin lenses containing shells, animal bones and slag.
This
probable midden heap appeared to be built up against the eastern side of the house,
close to the entrance and the approach to the site. A partial soap-stone bowl or cup
and broken quern fragments were recovered from the midden.
After the excavations, the sample processing started along with the digitisation of
the drawings.
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Image 14: Volunteers excavating at Tarlogie.
Image 15: A quern stone discovered at Tarlogie.
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Scotsburn
The investigation of the dry-stone roundhouse at Scotsburn was undertaken in July
2014. The roundhouse is located on a small knoll overlooking the southern shore of
the Dornoch Firth. Prior to excavation the upstanding remains of a large dry-stone
walled roundhouse could be identified.
A 20 x 2m long evaluation trench was positioned across the outworks and the wall of
the roundhouse. The wall of the roundhouse was not excavated but the upper
surface was exposed by de-turfing and removal of loose rubble. The wall was 4.20 m
in width and comprised an inner and outer wall with a probable intra-mural void
approximately 1 m in width located between them.
Between the wall of the roundhouse and enclosure wall a 7 m wide area with wellpreserved evidence of extra-mural activity surrounding the roundhouse was
exposed. The foundations of two thin dry-stone walls were partially revealed, a
linear wall running almost parallel to the roundhouse wall and a curvilinear
structure with a flag-stone floor. Cobbled surfaces, thick layers of charcoal-rich
occupation deposits and extensive areas of daub and turf suggest that these walls are
the stone bases of turf and timber structures. A mortar stone was recovered from the
surface of one of the occupation horizons between the structures, along with
extensive deposits of burnt grain.
Between the enclosure wall and the inner earthen bank was a 3 m wide heavily ironpanned metalled surface. Rutting and repeated repair on its surface suggested it
was a well-used route into the complex. Between the inner and outer bank and
beyond the outer bank two rock-cut ditches showed signs of re-cutting and shoring
with stone-slab revetting. Other indications of an extended period of occupation of
the enclosed areas beyond the house was the repair and remodelling of the enclosure
wall on two separate occasions and the consolidation of both earthen banks with
stone revetting.
The post-excavation process is still ongoing. The samples were immediately
processed and sent for identification and radiocarbon dating. The results should be
back in late April.
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Image 16: Aerial view of Scotsburn under excavation.
Image 17: Outer rampart at Scotsburn.
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Image 18: Part of a large cache of grain found in occupation horizons at Scotsburn.
Image 19: Hollowed out stone.
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King’s Cave
In October 2014 a cave site on the Tarbat peninsula was targeted for excavation. The
cave has a tradition of being associated with King Nechtan, a 8th century Pictish king
who is said to have lived in the cave in AD 724. Our work aimed to document
activity in the cave and provide an initial survey and dating for any surviving
deposits within the cave. Three trenches were excavated. Trench 1 was close to the
centre of the cave where a cluster of large round boulders indicated previous human
activity. The trench revealed a hard calcium crust underlying the boulders and this
crust sealed softer beach sand deposits. Within these lower sand deposits a layer of
charcoal was encountered and sampled. Trench 2 was towards one of the side walls.
This trench showed no signs of human activity within the cave. Trench 3 was
excavated at the entrance where a number of larger boulders were identified – it is
possible that these once belonged to a wall built to shelter the cave entrance. The test
trench revealed two charcoal layers interspersed by storm/beach deposits. No
definite foundations to a wall were found, but the charcoal layers stopped abruptly
in association with boulders lying at the entrance suggesting that there may have
been a wall located here which has since been largely removed.
Following the field work, a day was spent digitising drawings and processing the
samples taken and sent for identification. Results should be back in by the end of
April – the radiocarbon date should reveal the earliest surviving occupation at
King’s Cave.
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Image 20: The entrance to the King’s Cave.
Image 21: Layout of the King’s Cave and the location of the test trenches.
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Image 22: Test trench 3 being excavated in King’s Cave.
The Northern Picts project beyond Tarbat
As well as the work on Tarbat the project has been targeting key sites for
understanding the development of northern Pictish society more widely. This
initiative is designed to put Portmahomack in its wider context. To this end the
project has been mapping through GIS all of the relevant Pictish sites in an area that
stretches from Aberdeenshire to Easter Ross – an area that covers the likely spread of
the Kingdoms of Fortriu and Cé. Work in 2013-14 concentrated on the site of the
Gaulcross hoard – a significant Pictish silver hoard found near Fordyce,
Aberdeenshire in the 19th century. The work of the project discovered over 100 new
pieces of the hoard and fieldwork also targeted key sites in the surrounding of the
hoard to try and contextualize the hoard site. Geophysical survey was also
undertaken at Craig Phadrig, a major Pictish fort near Inverness and at Rhynie, the
only investigated Pictish lowland settlement and burial complex in northern
Pictland. In 2015 the project will undertake further work in the wider study area
targeting other key sites for understanding the Northern Picts.
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Gaulcross
In 1838 on the Ley Farm a silver hoard dating to the Pictish period was discovered.
19th century accounts suggest numerous items were found, but of these artefacts
only three survive today in the National Museum of Scotland. The silver hoard was
buried in association with Gaulcross North, one of two stone circles which were
removed in the 1830s when the silver hoard was found. The project conducted
fieldwork at the site aiming to add contextual information to the antiquarian
accounts of the discovery of the hoard, to identify the remains of the stone circles
and features relating to either the discovery of the hoard or its original burial.
In March 2013 a geophysical survey was conducted in the field where the stone
circles and the hoard were found but no features were discovered. At the same time
a metal-detecting survey was conducted and with this method over 80 silver pieces
were discovered in the plough soil, mapped and recorded. Following these surveys a
30x30m trench was opened where the densest concentration of the artefacts was
located. This trench revealed a single shallow feature close to the centre of the
artefact distribution. However, no in situ silver or datable deposits were found.
Close to this feature another small feature was discovered which contained small
fragments of cremated bone – charcoal from this feature was dated to the Early Iron
Age (SUERC-48413 2473 ± 34, 765-415 cal BC 95.4%).
A second trench (5x5m) was opened over the location of the northern stone circle.
This trench was targeted to try and identify the last recorded position of the final
standing stone of Gaulcross North stone circle. In the trench a few features were
recorded. Two of these were shallow pits containing stones and charcoal. The
charcoal fill in one of the pits has been dated to the early fourth millennium BC
(SUERC-48408 5073± 34, 3960-3790 cal BC 95.4%), the adjacent pit fill has been dated
to the Mid Bronze Age (SUERC-48409 3302 ± 34, 1670-1500 cal BC 95.4%). This later
pit may be related to the stone circle.
Another 12x25m trench was subsequently excavated in October 2014 to link the
previous two trenches and to cover the projected position of the original silver finds
as recorded by Cramond in the 1860s. No silver objects were found and only three
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small pit features were discovered and await dating and analysis. Two of these pit
features contained datable material.
In 2014 the site was revisited and a 12x25m trench was excavated in the area east of
the main trench and incorporating the smaller trench from 2013. This new trench
revealed three further features which are currently being analysed and samples from
them are being identified and radiocarbon dated.
The site has required constant revisits to ensure that all the silver has been
recovered. Through this work the silver finds now total over 100 pieces. These
include late Roman objects such as coins, military pieces and fragments of late
Roman silver vessels. The native objects include fragments of brooches, bracelets and
a silver ingot. By weight the Gaulcross hoard is now one of the largest Pictish hoards
known and the northernmost Hacksilver hoard known in Europe. In 2015 the hoard
will be fully studied as part of the Glenmoragie National Museums Scotland project
with a full catalogue and analysis produced in collaboration with the Aberdeen
team.
Image 23: The excavation at Gaulcross and metal detecting finds. Squares represent the excavation
areas. Circles are predictive models of the stone circles at Gaulcross. Triangles are individual silver
artefacts discovered with a metal detector.
31
Image 24 and 25: Silver artefact discovered (left) and how it looks after cleaning (right).
Image 26: Excavation at Gaulcross.
32
Images 27-30: Silver artefacts discovered at Gaulcross.
33
Crathie Point promontory fort
In May 2014 two forts near the site of the Gaulcross Pictish hoard were targeted to
provide dating for the nearest fortified sites to the hoard site. The 1960 Ordnance
Survey assessment of the site recorded two earthen ramparts cutting off the
promontory with ditches on either side of the inner rampart and an entrance
causeway around 5m wide at Crathie Point near Sandend village. In 2006 a plane
table survey was conducted which recorded the two ramparts and an artificial
‘pond’ between the two ramparts.
The 2014 work included the excavation of trenches across the ditches on both sides
of the inner rampart. Only the upper deposits were excavated due to the incredibly
tenacious nature of the clay geology on the peninsula. In the inner ditch fill a
charcoal horizon was found in upper fills, charred material from the ditch was dated
to the Early Iron Age (Beta-381814 2550 +/- 30 BP 785-535 cal BC 95.4%). A further
trench close to the outer ditch of inner rampart contained a posthole and narrow slot,
the probable remains of a palisade. The ‘pond’ proved to be a modern feature –
under the bank pieces of concrete and glass were identified. The finds suggest that
the pond was dug sometime during the 20th Century. A series of smaller test pits
were also excavated on the promontory. No archaeological features or deposits were
found in these test pits.
The dating of the fort suggests it predates the Gaulcross hoard by many centuries,
constructed during the earlier Iron Age.
34
Image 31: Crathie Point promontory fort.
35
Image 32: The well preserved rampart at Crathie Point cutting off the promontory from the land
Image 33: Brave volunteers excavating the pond.
36
Durn Hill fort
Durn Hill is another fort in close proximity to the Gaulcross Picitish hoard and was
also targeted with the aim of providing dating for the nearest fortified sites to the
hoard site. The Ordnance Survey in 1961 suggested that the Durn Hill fort may be
incomplete. Their survey described an incomplete rampart around the fort entrance
and two shallow ‘marker’ ditches encircling the hill top (Ordnance Survey 1961).
Feacham also suggested the fort was unfinished. The 2014 work targeted the
‘marker’ ditches. The trenches quickly established that the ditches are in fact
palisade slots encircling the summit of Durn Hill. A slot in the inner line of defence
identified charred material within the foundation trench. Charred material was
subsequently radiocarbon dated to the Early Iron Age (Beta- 381815 2450 +/- 30 BP;
760-410 cal BC 95.4%). The 2014 work suggests that Durn Hill is an exceptionally
well preserved fort in northeast Scotland with much of both inner and outer
palisades traceable on the surface encircling the hill with the southwestern area
further marked by a short section of rampart and ditch.
Image 34: Durn Hill fort.
37
Image 35: Volunteer Michael Stratigos excavating in trench 2.
Image 36: Gordon Noble in a palisade trench.
38
Clashendamer
Just 2km from Gaulcross a local farmer has found extensive traces of iron smelting.
A geophysical survey was conducted at this farm in December. In this field large
quantity of metal slag have been found which may indicate smelting furnace or
other iron smelting process. Fieldwork at this site will establish the date of the iron
smelting and whether there are indication of rich Iron Age or early medieval
settlements in the vicinity of the hoard site.
There are currently no records existing of past antiquity finds at this location. The
geophysical survey has pinned down the areas for futher investigation highlighting
a distinctive area of high magnetic readings that may indicate the location of
furnaces. Further intrusive investigation is needed to confirm and date the potential
site.
Image 37: One of the slag pieces from Clashendamer.
39
Image 38: The magnetometer survey results from Clashendamer. The distinctive ‘cloud’ of varied
magnetic readings at centre top is the location of the potential smelting site.
40
Craig Phadrig fort
The major secular sites of the Pictish period identiable in the study area are fortified
enclosures. In 2013 geophysical surveys were conducted at Burghead, the largest
Pictish fort known. In late 2013/2014 survey was undertaken at another major
Pictish fort near Inverness: Craig Phadrig.
Magnetometry proved to be impossible – it was attempted on the interior of the fort,
but the vitrification and geology rendered the results unusable. Survey shifted to
resistivity and four 20 x 20 m grids and eight further grids in December covered the
interior and lower citadel of the fort. The survey grids were recorded with dGPS.
The survey has shown the potential for geophysical survey to reveal details on the
internal layout of forts such as Craig Phadrig. Possible features identified included
potential circular structures in the southern end of the upper citadel and activity
areas in the lower citadels. The most intriguing features are two linear low resistance
features with a bowed end (features 9 and 10 on interpretative plot, Fig.2). These
features may be the remains of an internal palisade or large structure within the
northern end of the upper citadel. A possible entrance to this structure is on the
northern end where the linear anomalies curve towards one another.
The results from Craig Phadrig gives the impression that there are surviving features
inside the fort and future work can help clarify and date these elements of the fort.
41
Image 39: Winter view of Craig Phadrig interior.
Image 40: The resistance survey results of Craig Phadrig fort. (1) are the vitrified ramparts. (2) could
be tree stump. (3) is a rock outcrop. (4-8) could be structures. (9-10) are potential palisade. (11-12)
potential structures or activity areas.
42
Craigallichie
In September 2014 A geophysical survey was conducted in the field where a Class I
Pictish symbol stone was discovered in 2013. This find provided a great opportunity
to study a possible in-situ find location of a symbol stone. The geophysical survey,
however, only revealed a plantation bank and natural features. A series of test
trenches were also excavated but only contained natural features. In one trench,
nearby, a possible structure was located including floor layers. Radiocarbon dating
and post-excavation will now be undertaken to resolve the nature and date of this
structure. The location of the stone is down on the flooplain of the river, similar to
what has been found at Tillytarmont in Aberdeenshire and thus the symbol stone
may be marking a fording point on the river.
Rhynie survey and excavation
The last major fieldwork of the year was undertaken at Rhynie, an early Pictish royal
site first identified in 2011. The fieldwork in 2014 focused on the findspot of one of
the symbol stones from Rhynie (No.3) – a second human (or human-like) figure
carrying a spear or staff that was found on the southern outskirts of the modern
village. The stone is reported to have been found in a cairn when it was found in the
19th century. The findspot, recorded in an open field on OS first edition, is now in the
garden of Ashvale House on the south side of the village just off the main road
through the modern town.
A 4 x 4 m trench was dug in the garden of Ashvale on the western side of the house
plot. This identified a sub-rectangular building or wall made of earth and stones.
The largest stretch of wall was aligned SW-NE and curved to the SE and into the
baulk of the trench on that side. No floor deposits were found, but the wall
surrounded a posthole or pit in the eastern side of the trench. No finds, charred
deposits or features were found to further elucidate the date or function of this
structure. In the north-west part of the garden a 2 x 1 m trench was dug. Below
topsoil a layer of stones were found, possibly part of a cairn or platform on top of the
knoll currently occupied by Ashvale House and the other houses in this part of the
village. Another 2 x 1 m trial trench in the neighbouring garden identified further
elements of this cairn or platform –a layer of large boulders and split stone extended
43
for around 0.2m below the modern topsoil and a levelling layer. Charcoal from the
old land surface below the stones and from a layer of soil beneath was sampled for
dating. The results are significant given the 19th century accounts of a cairn in
association with the Rhynie symbol stone No.3.
A large machine dug trench was opened in the field adjacent to Ashvale House – the
nearest area a larger evaluation could take place. The trench (around 20 x 15 m)
revealed a number of features of archaeological origin. These included a circular
ring-ditch around 4 m across. The ring-ditch closely resembles the form of a barrow
ditch, but no central burial was found within. A single flint flake was found in the
ditch fill and two small pits were found in the interior of the ring-ditch. The ringditch may be the remains of a prehistoric mound. Surrounding the ring-ditch were a
number of pits or postholes. Each was half-sectioned – no finds were made in any,
but samples were taken for dating.
Test pits were also dug in the village square and in surrounding gardens of the
village. Only modern and 19th century features and finds were made in these test
pits.
The site at Rhynie will be returned to in 2015 as it provides one of the few identified
major Pictish sites in the study area.
44
Image 41: Aerial photograph showing the large trench with the ‘barrow’ and the trench in Ashvale
garden (lower right corner) with the structure.
45
The Pictish environment
Laura McHardie, PhD candidate funded through the University of Aberdeen North
Theme has also been working on material from northern Pictland. Her work has
included looking at evidence for the changing environment of the monastery and
more recently the environmental signature of key Pictish landscapes across northern
Pictland including Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. Pollen analysis of a small marshy
area located during the excavations at Portmahomack are beginning to provide a
rich picture of the changes in the landscape that the founding of the monastery
brought. Pollen analysis consists of examining the fossil pollen and other
microfossils left behind by plants and vegetation in the past preserved in the organic
material of wet areas such as the marsh detected to the south of the church.
Two periods of intensified human activity have been detected through analysis of
the sediments preserved in the marsh, one during the Iron Age, around BC 550-370,
and a later more sustained period between AD 590-720 when the monastic
settlement was at its height. The pollen record suggests that mixed farming took
place during the Iron Age, as shown by a small number of cereal pollen grains and
evidence for pasture indicated by high percentages of grasses and weeds such as
ribwort plantain. Dung fungal spores are also present in high numbers during this
period including indicators for the presence of large herbivores.
The second period of increased human impact coincides with the occupation of the
monastery around AD 590-720, and in this period farming appears to have
intensified. Especially notable are higher percentages of cereal-type pollen and the
increased presence of weeds associated with cultivation such as Chenopodiaceae (from
the goosefoot family). Later, towards the top of the sample there appears to be a
decline in arable activity, farming was either less intensive or activity was occurring
at greater distance from the sampling site which may coincide with the destruction
of the monastery.
This work continues and will in the end provide us with environmental data in
north-east Scotland during Pictish period.
46
H
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Spores & Aquatics
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LPAZ
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640-810 AD
5
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PMH-4
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15
PMH-3
20
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590-720 AD
30
35
PMH-2
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40
PMH-1
45
550-370 BC
50
20
20
40
60
80
20
20
20
20
40
60
20
50 100 150 200
20 40 60 80 100
Image 42: Pollen diagram from Portmahomack.
Investigating Pictish lifeways using stable isotope analysis
Overview & Aims
The reconstruction of diet can not only provide insight into the daily lives of past peoples and
the subsistence base of their economies, but can also be used to investigate the relationship
between food, diet and social status. Similarly, the study of past lifetime mobility can
illuminate past lifeways and, through its study, we can even gain insight into past social
systems. Using previously-excavated Pictish skeletal material, and material arising from new
excavations as part of the Northern Picts Project this phase of the project will investigate
Pictish diet and subsistence regimes, lifetime mobility and social organisation through stable
isotope techniques – including the carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen, and
strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel. Specifically, through the generation
of the first large-scale Pictish dataset from sites across ‘Pictland’ the hypotheses that marine
fish consumption is universally low during the Pictish period and that lifetime mobility
(particularly of men) may be relatively high (as suggested by previous pilot studies) will be
tested. Isotope data generated will be compared to limited previous isotope studies on Pictishperiod human remains, as well as Roman and later early medieval and high medieval isotope
data from Scotland and the United Kingdom.
47
Progress 2014
Permission has been secured to analyse human skeletal material from two of the largest
known Pictish cemeteries – Lundin Links, Fife (n=21, The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery
and Museum) and Redcastle, Angus (n=12; The Meffan Museum & Art Gallery, Forfar);
along with smaller assemblages from Balintore, Tarbat (n=3; Inverness Museum & Art
Gallery); Rhynie, Aberdeenshire (n=1; University of Aberdeen) and Forteviot (n=3; tooth
enamel only, University of Glasgow).
All materials (aside from Redcastle) have been sampled to date, and laboratory and analytical
work has already begun, including:



the radiocarbon dating of the material from Rhynie and Balintore (confirming Pictish
provenance)
preparing of the tooth enamel samples from Rhynie, Balintore, and Lundin Links for
strontium isotope analysis at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology,
Leipzig, Germany (August 2014)
preliminary strontium isotope data from Rhynie, Balintore, and Lundin Links has been
obtained and is being analysed
Ongoing/future includes the sampling of the Redcastle material, the strontium and oxygen
isotope analysis of all samples, and the extraction of collagen ahead of carbon and nitrogen
isotope analysis.
48
Image 43: Rib from a burial found in Balintore.
Image 44: A tooth from burial discovered at Rhynie.
49
Image 45: Some of the laboratory work.
50