Iron Age

Iron Age Galloway is a bit of a conundrum, difficult to clearly differentiate from the Iron Age characteristics of other regions of Scotland but often treated as somewhat distinct nonetheless. The following paper attempts to make sense of the Iron Age settlement patterns of this region and examine if these are significantly distinguishable from those apparent across other regions of Scotland.

This paper presents the results of a recent watching brief and investigations conducted at Carzield Roman Fort, Kirkton, Dumfries and Galloway. This work was directed by the author on behalf of Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) and Scottish Water during improvements to domestic services within the fort area. The investigations on three service trenches (Trenches 1-3) revealed new evidence on the fort’s occupation and internal layout. The archaeological deposits included cobbled surfaces and ditch and gully features. The assemblage included Samian Ware, Black-burnished Ware, numerous metal objects including a javelin head and hobnails from a calceus Roman shoe. Building material included a fragment of an imbrex roof tile and a fragmented hypocaust tile from a bath house. The environmental analysis revealed evidence of wattle-and-daub structures in the rampart area of the fort as well as evidence of arable food resources. The AMS date range for the deposits dated was cal AD 2 to 257 (at 2 sigma calibration; 2 σ hereafter) with the exception being an Early Iron Age date of 847 to 767 cal BC (at 2 σ). This earlier date, although a result of re-deposition in Roman layers, is indicative of redeposition of material from earlier human activity in the vicinity of these excavations. The median value for the Roman dates is 18-214 cal AD (at 2 σ). The date range coupled with the artefactual evidence reaffirms the Roman occupation of the fort in the Antonine period with some evidence of occupation prior to and following this occupation, based on this most recent work and previous analyses.

One of the characteristic archaeological features of the Machars is the series of promontory forts occupying remote headlands projecting out into Wigtown Bay, Luce Bay and the Irish Sea. They are generally characterized by one or more ramparts and ditches that appear to cut the headland off from its hinterland, but little is known about them. Morphologically they are a class of monument typical of the Iron Age and attributed very broadly to the second half of the 1st millennium BC (Armit 1997, 59; Harding 2004, 144-7).

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.

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.

The remains of an unenclosed prehistoric settlement were identified during a series of
archaeological works that took place in advance of sand extraction in 2006. Rathmell
Archaeology Ltd carried out the ensuing excavations on behalf of Barr Ltd. Two ring
groove houses were identified, along with a palisaded enclosure dating from the Late
Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, and a series of unassociated negative features. While
radiocarbon dates showed evidence of further activity from the Neolithic to the Early
Bronze Age, no other coherent structures were identified.

On behalf of the Whithorn Trust, and with support from Historic Scotland, a palaeoenvironmental study was carried out on a wet fen/mire located 400 m south of Rispain Camp, an Iron Age site in Galloway. The investigation revealed a good lateglacial and ea

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

(Lecture to the Society, 17th March 2006. Over two seasons in 2003 and 2004 AOC Archaeology Group, aided by a number of volunteers,
conducted an archaeological excavation of Carghidown in response to coastal erosion. The excavation revealed a multi-phase

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

Specialist reports on the charcoal and radiocarbon dates from the excavations of a Bronze Age roundhouse and associated palisade enclosure at Aird Quarry, Castle Kennedy, Dumfries and Galloway

Remains of a prehistoric roundhouse within a palisade enclosure were identified during an archaeological evaluation in advance of a quarry extension in 1999. In accordance with planning conditions an archaeological excavation by AOC Archaeology Group was

In 1946 a Miss Helen Selby brought into the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland a collection of artefacts gathered largely from local sources by her father, William McDowall Selby, and grandfather, Robert Bird Selby, who served successively as medi

Between April and July 2002 an archaeological watching brief was carried out during groundworks for the construction corridor of the Scotland to Ireland Second Gas Interconnector Project land pipeline between Beattock and Cluden in Dumfries and Galloway.

Report on the slag remains recovered during the Excavations of a Bronze Age Settlement Site at Ross Bay, Kirkcudbright

In January 2002, during the archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping for the construction corridor of a 1.2km gas pipeline at Ross Bay, near Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, previously unknown archaeological remains were recorded at three locat

Summary of the First Cormack lecture - delivered to the Society on 5th december 2003. The subject was 'Early Celtic Art in South-West Scotland: Its Origin and Purpose'. Fraser Hunter explained that he hoped that the lecture provided some insights, however

Excavations were carried out by GUARD (Department of Archaeology, Glasgow University) around the site of Warden's Dykes on behalf of Trusthouse Forte and BP Oil UK Ltd in advance of the construction of an access road for the new Gretna motorway service st

A recent review of the evidence for bog bodies in Scotland has added 14 previously unrecogbised examples to the existing gazeteer. Seven of these 'new discoveries' - actually old finds hidden in local newspaper accounts and antiquarian reports - are fro G

McCarthy's book on 'Roman Carlisle and the Lands of the Solway' does more than its title and provides a full review of the archaeology of both the English and Scottish sides of the eastern end of the Solway from the early quaternary to the early mediaeva

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

This paper presents the results of a survey of promentory forts on the Solway Coast of Dumfries and Galloway. This work was carried out by the author primarily to determine the extent and nature of erosion affecting these sites. The surveying programme al

Review of the publication by Anne Cone and others of 'The Excavation of a Scottish Lowland Crannog: Excavations at Buiston, Ayrshire 1989-90'. Covers all aspects of the archaeology - including a review of Robert Munro's 19th century excavations. Includes

This paper reviews the archaeological evidence for the organisation of the later prehistoric landscape that has emerged from work in the Border Counties over the last twenty years. It challenges any assumption that prehistoric farms and territories were d

This paper reviews the results of aerial photographic recording of archaeological sites revealed by cropmarking in south-west Scotland. A consideration of patterns of visability and recovery provides a preamble to a review of the general trends this mater

Aerial photography by the late Professor G.B.D.Jone and the RCAHMS has identified a series of crop-marks on the Pleistocene gravels to the west of the mouth of the River Annan at Hayknowes.
The extensive nature of the Hayknowes crop-marks prompted an inv