Author Archives: GUARD Archaeology

Archaeological remains of early medieval workshop discovered on Islay

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An early medieval workshop built over the ruins of an earlier Pictish-style building reveals a snapshot of life in the early Scots kingdom of Dál Riata.

Reconstruction of the early medieval workshop at Coultorsay © GUARD Archaeology.

Recently published analysis of the archaeological evidence recovered by GUARD Archaeology Ltd from Coultorsay on Islay has revealed an iron smelting workshop located within the earlier remains of a figure-of-eight building. This hive of activity was dated to between the sixth and ninth centuries AD when Islay was part of Dál Riata, the early medieval kingdom of the Scots centred upon the royal fortress of Dunadd and which covered modern-day Argyll and Bute.

Upper part of rotary quern from the Coultorsay excavation © GUARD Archaeology.

Metalworking waste, the upper part of a rotary quern, a bone needle and shale bracelet fragments were recovered from several of the features associated with the buildings. Shale bracelets are rare in the Inner Hebrides; these are the only examples known from Islay. The shale probably came from central Scotland.

Shale bangle fragment from the Coultorsay excavation © GUARD Archaeology.

Over time a change in function took place, from domestic use to that with an industrial focus, which took place after the domestic building had fallen into a state of disrepair. In contrast to many known metalworking workshops from early medieval Scotland, which were often enclosed within royal or lordly strongholds, the Coultorsay workshop was a relatively modest structure. It appeared to have been used for smelting bog ore to extract iron bloom which could then be made into tools and weapons somewhere else.

Very few sites dating to the early medieval period have been excavated on Islay with most known sites being ecclesiastical in origin, such as chapels and burial grounds, several with fragments of early cross slabs. This makes the figure-of-eight building particularly important and provides new information about those living on Islay out-with ecclesiastical sites. The similarity of the earlier figure-of-eight house to cellular Pictish buildings suggests that this form of architecture was more widespread across Scotland than previously envisaged.

Reconstruction of the Coultorsay figure-of-eight building © GUARD Archaeology.

The early medieval landscape of Islay was probably characterised more by slight buildings, such as the Coultorsay figure-of-eight house, in which the majority of the population resided but leave little trace, than the more substantial forts that are the more visible remnants of early medieval Scotland.

The GUARD excavation also revealed the remains of prehistoric structures and activity from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age across the hillside terrace where the workshop lay. The evidence seemed to suggest relatively transient activity during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods before more settled occupation began in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age followed by a gap of about 500 years before occupation re-appeared during the early medieval period.

The full results of this research, which was undertaken in advance of new warehouses for the Bruichladdich Distillery, ARO58: Prehistoric Activity and an early medieval smelting workshop at Coultorsay, Islay by Maureen Kilpatrick has recently been published and is now freely available to download from the ARO website – Archaeology Reports Online.

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Medieval burgh boundary of Ayr

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Oak planks forming the fence in the middle of the ditch © GUARD Archaeology.

A medieval ditch and fence alignment encountered within the town of Ayr marks the boundary of the medieval burgh. 

The wet ditch excavated in 2003 with the wooden fence alignment visible © GUARD Archaeology.

These archaeological remains were first encountered in 2002-2003 during excavations on the site of the now demolished Carrick Halls in the centre of the historic town of Ayr. A further intervention on the site in 2021 by GUARD Archaeology Ltd was made in advance of development, which allowed specialist analyses of the evidence from the earlier archaeological work to be undertaken.

The earliest activity identified on the site was the creation of a ditch that formed a medieval burgage plot boundary between the mid-twelfth and early thirteenth century, in the period immediately preceding or during the initial town expansion. The boundary was reinforced in the middle to late thirteenth century by an oak planked fence with roundwood stakes erected in the middle of the ditch. 

Extract from Armstrong’s 1773 plan of Ayr © GUARD Archaeology.

The location of the ditch is important in understanding the expansion of medieval Ayr to the south-east and it continued in use into the fourteenth century after which it was filled in. Evidence of iron smelting recovered from the ditch deposits indicated that metalworking took place nearby. The presence of Scottish medieval pottery and especially of imported French wares within the ditch deposits indicates that during the Middle Ages, Ayr, a royal burgh, was also an important international trading port.

The original excavations and subsequent analysis of artefacts found in the ditch revealed changes in land use and occupation of the burgage plot into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The domestic uses of the land were brought to an end by the accumulation of windblown sand across the southern part of the town. A wide variety of plants were found growing on these deposits indicating that the plot may have remained as waste ground into the post-medieval and modern periods, prior to the construction and the eventual demolition of Carrick Halls in the twentieth century.

ARO57 Cover © ARO.

The full results of this research, which was funded by Ayrshire Housing Association, ARO57: Medieval Burgage Boundary at Carrick Street, Ayr by Tamsin Scott has recently been published and is now freely available to download from the ARO website –Archaeology Reports Online.

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Work begins to reveal secrets of Bronze Age hoard discovered in Rosemarkie

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Pre excavation photograph of hoard prior to excavation in GUARD Archaeology’s Finds Lab

Recent laboratory investigations of a Bronze Age hoard, by GUARD Archaeology, have revealed rare organic plant remains intertwined with nine bronze bracelets and necklaces buried sometime around 1000 BC.

The Bronze Age hoard was discovered during excavations conducted prior to the development of new 3 and 4 bed homes by local developer, Pat Munro Homes (a division of Pat Munro (Alness) Ltd) at Greenside in Rosemarkie, in Highland Scotland.

X ray image of hoard taken prior to excavation in GUARD Archaeology’s Finds Lab

What makes the hoard especially significant is that it was not an isolated find with little context to explain it, but was discovered within the middle of a prehistoric settlement, a Bronze Age village comprising at least six roundhouses and also a Bronze Age cist grave. Altogether GUARD Archaeology’s analysis of these archaeological remains will shed light upon the lives, beliefs and deaths of Bronze Age highlanders. This will add to what GUARD Archaeologists have gleaned from another Bronze Age hoard they excavated in Carnoustie on the east coast of Scotland, also found within a Bronze Age village, which may altogether reveal aspects of Bronze Age culture apparent across Scotland.

The laboratory excavation conducted by a team of GUARD Archaeologists alongside Conservator, Will Murray, from the Scottish Conservation Studio revealed nine bronze artefacts, including one complete neck ring, one partial neck ring, six penannular bracelets and one cup-ended penannular bracelet. Remains of plant/organic material was also recovered, comprising fibrous cords tied and knotted around some of the bronze objects.

Detail photograph showing organic plant binding
intertwined with the artefacts

“The recovery of the artefacts was successfully carried out under the controlled conditions necessary to preserve these highly significant objects, particularly the very delicate organic cords that tether some of the objects together,” said Rachel Buckley, who led the laboratory excavation. “Where bracelets were held together with organic material, these were recovered as a group to allow further detailed study. While there are other examples of hoards where it has been postulated that items were bound together due to their positioning, the vegetation in the Rosemarkie hoard has survived for approximately 3000 years, proving that these artefacts were held together.”

The survival of the organics is likely in part due to the anti-microbial properties of copper (in the bronze), where the corrosion products from the copper adhere to the organics and preserve them.

Detail photograph of organic material within
cup-ended penannular bracelet cup end

Over the next few months, the team of specialists brought together by GUARD Archaeology will be examining the various strands of archaeological evidence that may explain why the hoard was buried here.

“That the hoard was buried under a single homogenous fill within a shallow pit with little extra room for anything other than what was found within, indicates that this was no accidental loss,” said Iraia Arabaolaza, who is managing GUARD Archaeology’s analyses. “It would seem that the shallow pit was dug to the required length and depth to accommodate the items, before then being quickly backfilled. It may be that it was intended as temporary storage with the intention of recovering the hoard at some stage. The evidence from the surrounding settlement may reveal whether it was not just the hoard that was abandoned but the settlement as well.”

Rosemarkie housing development and the site of the archaeological discovery

The archaeological work was funded by Pat Munro (Alness) Ltd and was required as a condition of planning consent by Highland Council who are advised on archaeological matters by the Highland Council Historic Environment Team, who considered there to be a potential for hitherto unknown archaeology to be buried at the site. Hamish Little, Senior Manager, Pat Munro Homes said, ‘It’s been a great experience for the team at Pat Munro Homes to work with the archaeologists at our development at Greenside, Rosemarkie and also be part of the team that uncovered the Bronze Age artefacts. We are hoping to work together with the archaeologists, and other partners in the coming months to involve the local secondary school, Fortrose Academy in learning more about its historical significance and getting pupils involved in helping to design a permanent feature on/near the site that will tell the story and can be shared with the local community and visitors to the area.’

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Unearthing Ancient Tweeddale

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Drumelzier has long been associated with the legendary Merlin, who was reputedly imprisoned there by a Dark Age King, killed and buried by the banks of the Tweed nearby too. At least according to the Vita Merlini Sylvestris – the Life of Merlin of the Forest – a medieval tale probably written in Glasgow during the twelfth century.

Volunteers and GUARD Archaeologists excavating Tinnis © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

In 2022, a team of volunteers led by GUARD Archaeology set out to investigate the archaeological roots of this local legend. The results of their work have just been published and reveals the startling survival of the early medieval cultural heritage of the Britons of southern Scotland.

A geophysics survey revealed that there is an archaeological feature resembling a grave near to the reputed location of Merlin’s Grave at Drumelzier.

Reconstruction of Tinnis Fort around AD 600 (illustration by Chris Mitchell)

Excavation of Tinnis Fort, which overlooks Merlin’s Grave, found that this prominent hillfort was occupied around the late sixth and early seventh centuries AD when the story was set and that it has the hallmarks of a lordly stronghold of the time.

Thirlestane Square Barrow excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

And excavation of the Thirlestane Barrows across the other side of the Tweed discovered that sometime between the late-third and late-sixth centuries AD a square barrow was added to a much earlier group of Bronze Age Round Barrows, within which two individuals of exceptional elite status were buried.

What the findings reveal is not that the local story was true, but that the Drumelzier legend, which contains pre-Christian customs and ancient Cumbric names, was associated with local sites where archaeology now shows could credibly have given rise to the story. The legend was not brought here as a wandering medieval tale but more likely originated in Drumelzier itself, perhaps originating as a folk memory, embellished over the centuries before it spread far and wide and changed out of almost all recognition.

Nor, given the archaeology encountered from the Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and medieval periods, was this the only trace of local stories that the Drumelzier’s Hidden Heritage project discovered.

A scatter of Late Mesolithic / Early Neolithic flint blade fragments was recovered from the summit of Tinnis, the barest traces of some of the earliest groups of people to ever climb this prominent hill and from its vantage point gaze across a Tweed Valley that looked very much different from the present.

Reconstruction of Tinnis Late Iron Age Fort ablaze © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The vitrified ramparts at Tinnis attest to the fall of a Late Iron Age hillfort, the forgotten victims of a forgotten conflict when prominent households vied for power and the foundations for petty kingdoms were being laid.

And in the fourteenth century, a castle was built at Tinnis by the fearsome Tweedies of Drumelzier, who held this castle for the Kings of Scotland from about 1366 until about 1525, a bulwark against English raids from the south.

Reconstruction of Tinnis Castle during the fifteenth century (illustration by Chris Mitchell).

Whether it was folk memory or stories that clung to the group of Bronze Age round barrows at Thirlestane, these monuments evidently had some meaning in the landscape for the square barrow to be sited so close after an intervening two millennia. The people of ancient Tweeddale were aware of the history beneath their feet and the people that came before and it was through local folklore that stories about their past were passed on.

The Drumelzier’s Hidden Heritage project was a collaboration between the Arthur Trail Association, local heritage groups, volunteers, Magnitude Surveys and GUARD Archaeology Ltd, funded by SSE Renewables Clyde Borders Community Fund, Fallago Environment Fund, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Dr Euan MacKie Legacy Fund, Glenkerie Community Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Hunter Archaeological and Historical Trust, and the Strathmartine Trust

ARO56: Unearthing Ancient Tweeddale: Tinnis Castle, Thirlestane Barrows and Merlin’s Grave by Ronan Toolis, Amanda Gilmore, Thomas Muir, Laura Muser and Alun Woodward is freely available to download from Archaeology Reports Online.

The exhibition Unearthing Ancient Tweeddale at Peebles Museum will run from Saturday 8 June – Saturday 27 July 2024 (closed Wednesdays and Sundays). The exhibition will then be going on tour to Broughton, Drumelzier, Stobo, Traquair House, Eddleston, Moffat, Tweedsmuir, Kirkton Manor and Biggar over the course of August-October 2024.

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From Ice Age to Iron Age: Larkhall’s prehistoric past

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Recently published research by GUARD Archaeology Ltd reveals that the location of a housing development in Larkhall was already popular in prehistory.

The discoveries were made during archaeological excavations undertaken by GUARD Archaeology prior to the building of new houses in 2014, the results of which have only been revealed now once post-excavation analyses were completed. 

The archaeological remains of the Mesolithic encampment prior to its excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The earliest evidence of settlement on this site which overlooks the River Avon, was a small ephemeral circular hut that was radiocarbon dated to the eighth-ninth millennia BC. This was one of the earliest Mesolithic encampments ever found in Scotland, when small  groups of hunter-gatherers were moving into northern Europe after the retreat of the permanent ice sheets and the return of vegetation, plants, woodland and animals.

The archaeological remains of the Bronze Age Roundhouse during excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Some seven thousand years later, another group of people settled this same location. Located in the middle of the promontory was a substantial roundhouse, radiocarbon dated to sometime between the sixteenth and thirteenth centuries BC, during the Bronze Age. A ring of eight large post-holes and the remnants of the thick oak posts that once supported the building’s large conical roof were revealed by the GUARD Archaeologists. This ring of post-holes was surrounded by a circular gully that held the outer wall in place. Fragments of daub from this outer wall survived, showing how the inhabitants kept their house windproof. Sherds of pottery vessels were also found, in pits and post-holes within the centre of the building, and sealed by an organic deposit that may have been part of the building’s roof preserved by waterlogging. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the building was abandoned sometime between the twelfth and tenth centuries BC.

Excavation of the Bronze Age Roundhouse with the remains of the rectilinear Iron Age building in the foreground © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Over a thousand years later, a small rectangular timber building was built on this same location, overlying the Bronze Age roundhouse. It contained a large a fire-pit that was dated from the first to the third century AD, placing it occupation during the Iron Age, when the threat of Rome lay to the south. The building also contained evidence of dung suggest that at least part of it functioned as a small byre for animals.

These chronologically distinct phases of occupation emphasis the attractiveness of this place in the landscape of south Lanarkshire to successive groups of people from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age.

Image of broken shale disc from the Bronze Age roundhouse © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The archaeological work was funded by Bracewell Stirling Consulting and was required as a condition of planning consent by South Lanarkshire council who are advised on archaeological matters by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service, who considered there to be a potential for hitherto unknown archaeology to survive here. 

ARO53: A Mesolithic camp, Bronze Age roundhouse and an Iron Age building at Nairn Street, Larkhall, South Lanarkshire by Kevin Mooney is freely available to download from Archaeology Reports Online.

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Bronze Age burnt mounds in Annan

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Location of Hallmeadow burnt mounds at Annan © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Recently published research by GUARD Archaeology reveals the discovery of a pair of Bronze Age burnt mounds over four thousand years old.

The discovery was made during archaeological works in advance of the construction of housing at Hallmeadow in Annan. 

‘The Hallmeadow burnt mounds comprised two large accumulations of burnt stones and charcoal surrounding large fire pits,’ said GUARD Archaeologist Kenneth Green, who led the excavation. ‘These were dated to around 2000 BC during the early Bronze Age.’

Burnt stones such as found at Hallmeadow were the waste product of a method of boiling water, in which stones were heated and then dropped into a trough filled with water. Over 1900 burnt mounds are known in Scotland, with a distinct concentration in Dumfries and Galloway, and it is not uncommon to find several burnt mounds in relatively close proximity to each other, suggesting that groups of people returned to the same sites.

The eastern burnt mound during excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Cooking fish and meat may have been the purpose of many burnt mounds. Experiments have demonstrated that a joint of meat wrapped in leaves can be cooked over several hours, with heated stones being continually fed into the tank of water to keep it boiling. However, the archaeologists found no evidence for a permanent settlement at Hallmeadow suggesting that this was no ordinary Bronze Age site.

View of the layers of burnt material and the trough in the eastern burnt mound © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

‘Hallmeadow’s proximity to the Solway Firth, gives the site easy coastal access to south-west Scotland, western England, Ireland and the Isle of Man,’ said Kenneth Green. ‘Hallmeadow may have been used as a temporary stopping-point or seasonal camping area as people made longer journeys around the Irish Sea.’

A number of flint tools were recovered during the excavation including a fragment of Arran pitchstone and a blade-scraper dating to the Neolithic period (4000-2200 BC), suggesting earlier occupation of the site. Even earlier evidence still was discovered by the GUARD Archaeologists. A hazelnut shell found in the lowest layer of the site was radiocarbon dated to between 4452 and 4264 BC, during the Mesolithic period, when some of the earliest hunter-gatherer peoples began to settle in south-west Scotland.

Plan of both burnt mounds © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

‘Hallmeadow was also an important place during the Neolithic period. It may be that it had been established as a useful stopping off place long before the burnt mounds were built,’ said Kenneth.

The archaeological work at Hallmeadow in Annan was undertaken in 2020 on behalf of Robert Potter & Partners LLP and Ashleigh Building to meet a condition of planning consent recommended by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Archaeologist. 

Burnt Mounds at Annan by Kenneth Green is published in the Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society 96, available in local libraries.

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The long history of a palaeochannel

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Archaeological artefacts found by GUARD Archaeologists in a palaeochannel at Ferniegair near Hamilton revealed its use as a refuse dump for adjacent Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement.

The palaeochannel after excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

In the beginning the palaeochannel was an open channel of water, a small burn. Archaeobotanical and pollen analyses indicated mixed woodland close by, making the dryer sandy banks of this burn attractive to early prehistoric people.

The earliest use of the north-western bank of the palaeochannel was a small group of features and artefacts radiocarbon dated to the early Neolithic period. Later, a horseshoe-shaped structure with a single entrance and a deposit of domestic debris was in use from the end of the 35th century BC to the middle of the 34th century BC – the middle Neolithic. Its occupation deposit contained flint microblades as well as pottery and pitchstone. A later and more extensive, mixed deposit that covered the structure was associated with numerous stakeholes, probably from windbreaks, and was dated to the early/middle Bronze Age.

both sides of the jet piece © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

One of the most interesting and unusual finds in the lower fill of the palaeochannel was an exotic jet pendant shaped like a claw or possibly a bird’s head, whose material is from Whitby in North Yorkshire. Although difficult to date, it was probably lost in the early Bronze Age.

Over this time not only did the burn gradually fill in with debris, but the environment around it changed too, and by the end the burn no longer functioned as an open channel of water.

This seemingly ordinary camp site area took on an unexpected importance with the occurrence of exotic objects like the jet pendant. In the use of the palaeochannel, successive groups of prehistoric people inadvertently created a reservoir of archaeological finds that have allowed us a glimpse of how they interacted with each other and with their environment across time.

The archaeological work was funded by Robertson Homes and was required as a condition of planning consent by South Lanarkshire Council who are advised on archaeological matters by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service, who considered there to be a potential for hitherto unknown archaeology to be buried at the site.

ARO52: The long history of a palaeochannel at Ferniegair, Hamilton by John James Atkinson is freely available to download from Archaeology Reports Online.

ARO52 cover
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Bronze Age burial rites unearthed

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An early Bronze Age cemetery discovered near Helensburgh by GUARD Archaeology has revealed long-lost secrets of burial rites from Bronze Age Scotland.

Following the excavation by a team of GUARD Archaeologists in 2020, the results of specialist analyses have only just now come to light.

Cist 2 during excavation © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The oldest of the stone-lined graves, or cists, was dated to 2467-2290 BC. Strangely it contained no human remains, but only fragments of pyre material, which appear to have been sufficient to represent the dead.

The largest of the three cists Cist 1, and Cist 3, were constructed at least three centuries later c. 2140-1930 BC. Both contained the cremated remains each of at least two adults and a child or young person, but with no grave goods.

Cist 3 © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

‘The long span of time between these cist graves indicates the lasting memory of burials here,’ said Iraia Arabaolaza, the principal author of the GUARD excavation report. ‘The reuse of the burial place at different periods may have reinforced land ownership or connections to ancestors.’

The place was then revisited between 50 and 300 years after the cist burials, at a time in the first half of the second millennium BC when the burial rituals had changed again, to that of using a pottery vessel to hold the cremated remains then buried at the bottom of a pit. Most of the cremated remains that were found from this phase of use also included one or two adults and a young person together.

The remains of at least 14 adults and 6 young persons were recovered from the cemetery. The burials contained multiple individuals that had been cremated and then collected together and buried as part of the same rite.

‘The incomplete nature of each of the individual remains suggest that the rite of cremation and burial were more important than keeping/collecting and burying the person as whole,’ said Iraia Arabaolaza. ‘This cemetery complex is not only chronologically diverse, but it also reflects the differences in the burial rites and material culture. The burial of multiple people together, part of the same burial rite and possible part of the same cremation process indicates the importance of the cremation rite and the community rather than the individual and the preservation of its body as a whole.’ 

Layout of the Bronze Age Cist graves and the Neolithic cairn they were cut into © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The GUARD Archaeologists discovered that this Bronze Age community were not the first people to occupy this site. A late Neolithic kerbed cairn from around 3500 BC and that had once been fronted by an impressive stone façade, had been cut into by the Bronze Age stone cist graves.

And the recovery of flint tools dating from about 5,000 years before even that, around 8,400 BC, indicate that some of Scotland’s earliest inhabitants, during the late Upper Palaeolithic or early Mesolithic periods occupied this site too.

The archaeological work was funded by Bellway Homes and was required as a condition of planning consent by Argyll and Bute Council who are advised on archaeological matters by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service, who considered there to be a potential for hitherto unknown archaeology to be buried at the site.

ARO51: A Bronze Age cemetery, Sawmill Field, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute by Iraia Arabaolaza is freely available to download from Archaeology Reports Online.

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Insights into Iron Age Sutherland

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A community excavation assisted by GUARD Archaeology has unearthed interesting new evidence for Iron Age lifestyles in Sutherland.

LiDAR view of Aultcraggie roundhouses Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Following last year’s collaboration with Clyne Heritage Society, GUARD Archaeology’s Alan Hunter Blair led a dig of two roundhouses in the uplands around Brora, on the croft of Aultcraggie. The structures were first spotted by chair of the society, Nick Lindsay back in 2022 while walking the hills and confirmed on LiDAR. The team of archaeologists and volunteers returned in May 2023 to investigate after access was kindly granted by those working the croft, Fiona Ross and Allan Grant.

The dig focused on two roundhouses opening up trenches across the walls, floors and entrances of the structures. The aim was to find evidence of how people lived in these buildings. Successive floor layers were revealed from which charcoal was recovered (which will allow us to radiocarbon date the roundhouses). Analysis of soil samples recovered from the floor deposits can also tell us what fuel was being used for fires, what the inhabitants were eating and even potentially what wood was used for the structure and roofing.

Overview of Aultcraggie dig © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The team of volunteers also recovered numerous flint tools, which may have been used for cutting and processing food, hide working and even as strike-a-lights for fire. Fragments of a saddle quern was found as well as a large pot was found that had been left where it fell on the floor. Specialist analysis of these artefacts will tell us something about the lifestyles of those who lived here, and how this compares with other similar sites in the region and across Scotland. This will provide new insights into Iron Age Sutherland, revealing aspect of life here buried beneath the ground for the last two and bit thousand years.

The dig saw hundreds of visitors and volunteers across the 12-day duration, including pupils from the local Brora Primary School. And as well as providing opportunities for local volunteers to participate in the dig, students from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews took part, receiving training in archaeological fieldwork to the standards of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, which will contribute towards their degrees.

Uncovering an Aultcraggie roundhouse © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

The results of the dig will be reported on in due course, with a publication to follow once all the artefacts and samples have been analysed and dated.

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Re-engaging Schools with an Old Dig

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Back in 2014, GUARD Archaeology excavated the remains of an eighteenth-century drovers’ inn, Tigh Caol, near Strachur. Following the delivery of the artefacts to the local museum in 2022, Strachur & District Local History Society wanted to re-engage with some of the local schools who were originally involved in the dig. GUARD Archaeology’s Warren Bailie, who directed the excavation of Tigh Caol, visited Strachur Primary School and Kilmodan Primary School in January 2023 along with three members of the society.

Strachur Primary School pupils trying to solve the Tigh Caol jigsaw
School pupils recreating eighteenth century drinking vessels with clay

The school visits enabled the whole schools – 36 children and 8 teachers – to have a closer look at the finds recovered along with the model of the inn created by Jim Conquer, and to learn about how eighteenth-century life might have looked around Strachur. Activities included a Tigh Caol jig saw recreating the inn, a spot the difference activity, and clay modelling – trying to recreate some of the vessels that drovers might have drank from when stopping off at Tigh Caol.

‘It was a great pleasure to revisit the community around Tigh Caol,’ Warren noted, ‘and to teach another group of children about Tigh Caol and the importance of archaeology that lies undiscovered in their local area.’

Cathy Montgomery of Strachur & District Local History Society helping Kilmodan pupils with their paper activities

The dig was instigated and funded by Dr Donald Adamson as part of his post-doctoral research at the University of Glasgow with assistance from Strachur & District Local History Society and GUARD Archaeology.

The results of the excavation and scientific analysis of the assemblage were published in 2015: https://www.archaeologyreportsonline.com /reports/2015/ARO17.html

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