Timber Monuments, Landscape Andthe Environment in the Nith Valley, Dumfries and Galloway

Abstract

Summary This paper considers the impact of landscape and environment upon monuments built during the Neolithic period. Taking a group of timber monuments of Neolithic date in the Nith Valley region, Dumfries and Galloway, it examines their relationship to the topography and environment and seeks to explain their uniquely linear nature, a feature of timber monuments built in this region. It discusses the importance of incorporating plough‐levelled sites into landscape approaches to monuments, the potential impact of vegetation upon visibility patterns, and the value of considering the immediate locations of monuments, arguing that monuments built upon a heightened awareness of landscape topography, arising out of a long‐term relationship with place.

The Outside Inside: Combining Aerial Photographs, Cropmarks and Landscape Experience

“…Consequently, cropmark sites and the landscapes identified on aerial photographs have tended to play only relatively minor roles in the approaches employed by phenomenologically-inclined archaeologists, most focusing instead upon surviving monuments in the uplands (e.g. Tilley 1996;Cummings et al 2002;Fraser2004;Cummings and Pannett 2005), although there are some notable exceptions (Tilley 1994;Brophy 1999;Poller 2005;Hamilton et al 2006;Millican 2009;2012).This imbalance is further emphasised by the contexts within which cropmark sites are most often recorded and studied; as elements of programmes of reconnaissance by organisations such as…”

“…Nevertheless, despite the reservations, a number of experiential studies have been attempted at plough levelled sites (Tilley 1994;Brophy 1999;Poller 2005;Hamilton et al 2006;Millican 2009;2012). Those undertaken by Brophy (1999), Poller (2005)and Millican (2009;2012) employed much more positive views of cropmarks than those indicated by Tilley (1994) and Hamilton et al (2006). All demonstrate that experiential approaches are possible at plough-levelled sites and can enrich the way in which these sites and landscapes are understood.…”