M.G. Cavers

The first phase of the South-West Scotland Crannog Survey, the primary fieldwork for which was carried out in 1989, examined the assumption that submerged crannogs in the south-west were relatively stable while their counterparts on drained land were rapi

The second season of the SWCS Phase 2 was carried out in September 2003 and January 2004 and comprised detailed digital survey of submerged and dry areas of selected crannog sites in Dumfries and Galloway. Small scale underwater excavations at one site, L

Lecture to the Society, 25th March, 2006. Recent work on the lake dwellings of Dumfries and Galloway through the South-West Crannog
Survey a condition monitoring project funded by Historic Scotland has provided a series of site surveys and radiocarbon da

The Scottish Wetland Archaeology Programme (SWAP) has been undertaking a concerted programme of archaeological survey and excavation on a range of settlements and landscapes in wetland areas across the country. The principal aim of this work is to bring Scotland’s wetland sites into the mainstream of archaeological research, by focussing on their role within their wider landscape contexts. The crannogs of Dumfries and Galloway comprise a particularly dense concentration of these wetland sites, and two key projects at Dorman’s Island, Whitefield Loch and Cults Loch, Castle Kennedy have aimed to investigate their nature and function and, in the case of the flagship project at Cults Loch, their contemporary landscapes. This interim statement summarises some of the main results of these projects up to the end of the 2008 season.

Archaeological work began at the site of Airyolland I in 2004 when a detailed topographic survey was carried out by the authors. In 2006, the first season of exploratory excavation began at the site; two trenches were excavated in the interior and over the perimeter rampart. The results of this first season of work were promising, and although material culture was sparse with little in terms of artefactual evidence recovered, the two trenches excavated yielded well preserved evidence of the original construction of the site. A slot across the perimeter earthwork encountered a massive stone wall, around 3m in width and composed of two well-built faces retaining a rubble core. Excavation within the interior encountered ruinous remains of interior structures, incorporating large boulders as well as several pits or postholes relating to a stone walled building in the lower half of the site.