Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project

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Archaeology at Ben Lawers

The Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project began in April 2002 and will run until March 2007. The project is specifically interested in the relict historic landscapes of the north side of Loch Tay in the Central Highlands of Scotland. Our study area extends from the watershed across Ben Lawers, Ben Ghlas and the Tarmachan Ridge down through the shieling grounds and agricultural lands below the road, and reaching to the lochside settlements and crannogs.

Map of Loch Tay and Ben Lawers with an outline of the project area in green. Click on image to see a larger view (137kb) [Opens in new window].

The project is centred around archaeological fieldwork in the form of surveys and excavations. It is designed to allow volunteers to participate in fieldwork via the National Trust for Scotland's Thistle Camp programme. These camps have allowed volunteers to help add to the understanding of the archaeology of Ben Lawers.	Survey work being carried out at Blarmore
The Pilot Seasons As a prelude to the current Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project, three pilot seasons of archaeological fieldwork were carried out in the study area by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) [External], working on behalf of the National Trust for Scotland. These surveys and excavations focused on several different parts of the landscape, from the slopes of Ben Lawers down to the loch shores. The results yielded information on how these areas of the landscape were inhabited and used over a long period of time, from around 7000 B.C. to the nineteenth century A.D.
Evidence was also found from the medieval period. At Balnahanaid, beside the loch shore, excavation found an early Christian cemetery, dated by radiocarbon to A.D. 650-720. This may have been the site of a very early church, and it also revealed evidence of silver working in the form of slag found in one of the graves (shown to the right). Also at Balnahanaid was a small pit containing a Beaker (a prehistoric pot) dating to the end of the Neolithic period. The Beaker had been disturbed by later ploughing of the field, similar Beakers have been found to contain cremation burials.	Volunteer illustrating during one of the Pilot Season Excavations
Excavation of the longhouse of Balnasuim	At Milton of Lawers, excavation revealed the boundary wall of the settlement's church; a coin dated to around 1480 was found among the stones. Several shieling structures excavated around the Ben Lawers Nature Trail produced radiocarbon dates clustered around the late sixteenth century; their use continued until about 1840. So for at least two hundred years, people were moving up to these shieling grounds each summer to graze their cattle and staying in these buildings.
We found a good deal of evidence of the occupation of Loch Tay's north shore over the last three centuries. At North Cragganester, excavation of a flax-retting pit at Boggy Hollow produced a radiocarbon date in the eighteenth century. Excavation of a longhouse at Balnasuim showed it had been built sometime around 1700, determined by a piece of glass bottle found within the wall of the house.

John Atkinson
GUARD [External]

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