Excavation of a promontory fort and a palisaded homestead at Lower Greenyards, Bannockburn, Stirling, 1982–5

Abstract

Excavations undertaken in 1982,1984 and 1985 on cropmark sites of a promontory fort and nearby palisaded homestead revealed structural remains mainly of the Iron Age and evidence of occupation or other activity from the Mesolithic to the present day. The palisaded homestead was paralleled by a similar homestead phase of the occupation of the promontory, later replaced by a fort with three periods of defence construction. The project was organized and funded by Historic Scotland (former SDD/HMB).

Excavation of an Iron Age timber structure beside the Candle Stane recumbent stone circle, Aberdeenshire

“…It is possible that the ringgroove segment to the north-east of F39 may be a later extension built to narrow the doorway within the entrance passage. A similar feature was visible within a large roundhouse at Bannockburn (Rideout 1996); here, however it seemed to be part of a later linear palisade with an entrance which overlapped the house entrance. Two further features were identified in the entrance area.…”

“…Possibly more posts, or an extra ring of posts, was added as the building started to decay. At least it seems unlikely that the structure had been rebuilt in its entirety on the same stance, as was the case with structures at Scotstarvit Covert (Bersu 1947), Bannockburn (Rideout 1996), and West Brandon (Jobey 1962), although this cannot be ruled out.…”

“…There is no way of demonstrating whether the roundwood charcoal was introduced during the constructional phase or whether it fell into the void produced by a rotting timber, or a deliberately removed post as has been argued at Bannockburn (Rideout 1996). Nonetheless, the fact that small-diameter roundwood is predominantly represented in the samples suggests that this material does not represent posts that have burnt in situ.…”

“…The entrance to the timber structure lies in the south-east arc of the ring-groove. Perhaps this orientation was simply to minimize wind and maximize exposure to the sun (Rideout 1996), but a symbolic preference for this direction may also be considered. The entrance is averted from the stone circle but its orientation is parallel with the long axis of the recumbent slab in the circle and also offers an uninterrupted vista towards Bennachie Hillfort, some distance away, encompassing other stone circles in the valley below.…”

Cist burials and an Iron Age settlement at Dryburn Bridge, Innerwick, East Lothian

“…It represents an example of what is increasingly being recognized as a not uncommon feature of the early Iron Age landscapes of eastern and southern Scotland (Hingley 1992, 27-8). Recently excavated examples of similarly large early Iron Age roundhouses include the dated House 1 at Bannockburn (Rideout 1996) and the double-postring structure approximately 18m in diameter at Ironshill East, Angus (McGill 2003), both located centrally within palisaded 'homestead' enclosures, in the latter case with the entrances to building and enclosure aligned.…”