outfield sites

Kiltyrie

At Kiltyrie, a large team excavated a longhouse, a barn and a smaller outbuilding. We know from historical evidence that the township was established after 1790 by people moved from elsewhere along Loch Tayside. The longhouse had been abandoned by 1864 when it was mapped by the Ordnance Survey, but probably in fact several decades earlier than that. Inside the longhouse was a large byre with a substantial drain, paved flooring and a central hearth. It appeared to have had only one phase of construction and use, and may have been occupied for just a single generation. The barn excavated had been built with opposing doors and at right angles to the prevailing wind to assist with winnowing grain. Another building investigated was thought to be earlier than the barn.

Surveys and Excavations at Tombreck

In April 2004 archaeological work specifically targeted sites that could be earlier than the eighteenth century in date and provided evidence of settlement types of medieval or early modern date. To this end, and after consultation with Steve Boyle of the RCAHMS, we decided to target two locations: Tombreck and Kiltyrie head-dyke.

The work at Tombreck included the investigation of flat-topped knoll, located within a field that John Farquharson had called 'castle' during his survey of 1769. The name 'castle' was commonly used in the past to describe abandoned structures and locations that people assumed had been castles at a previous point in time. Although it was recognised that the knoll was unlikely to represent a castle in our modern understanding of the work, it may represent a type of site known as a 'homestead', which are fairly common in this part of Perthshire and date in some circumstances to the early historic period. The techniques applied here included topographic survey, geophysical survey and trial excavation. The results taken together provide good evidence that the site was indeed used for some form of settlement in the past, although disappointingly no datable artefacts were recovered from either of the postholes excavated.

Following on from the positive results of the archaeological field school in April, a phase of fuller excavation was pursued at Tombreck. This work was undertaken over a four-week period in September 2004 and targeted the possible homestead.

Two other trenches were opened at Tombreck over the remains of buildings surveyed at Easter. These trenches (13 & 14) were subsequently excavated in September 2004.

Trench 13 was extended to take in the entire extent of a longhouse building (structure A), which represents the earliest building within this group. It also took in a portion of structure B, which was constructed after the earlier longhouse had gone out of use. Of particular note within structure A was the lack of a byre floor in the western end of the building, which appeared to have an earthen floor similar to that witnessed in the eastern half of the building. The eastern half exhibited classic elements of a domestic living space including a central hearth and adjacent fire pit. The fire pit was filled with burnt material and sealed with a worked stone with a circular hole in the centre. This may suggest it use could have been a smooring pit used to keep the fire's embers burning over night. Although the relative chronology of structures A and B is established with some certainty, the absolute chronology of the building in trench 13 will largely rely on the dating of the finds assemblage. Almost no secure pottery was recovered from the building's interior, suggesting that it pre-dates the arrival of ceramics on Loch Tay.

Trench 15 was extended to cover a large area of the interior of the knoll. Excavation of a trench of 15 m by 10 m in extent revealed a complex of seventeen pit and posthole structures within this area surrounding a large stone flag and cobbled area in the south-west of the trench. Although no dateable artefacts were recovered an assemblage of worked stone was revealed, including at least two fragments of quern stones, fragments of dressed masonry and worked stone-tool fragments. Dating of the remains will need to rely upon radiocarbon assays for charcoal recovered from the postholes, some of which contained post-pipes and had clearly been burnt in situ. Traces of three roundhouse structures were recorded at the site, though no evidence of hearths was apparent. Radiocarbon dates confirmed that all three buildings were in use in the late Iron Age.

Tombreck trench 13: hard at work on a sunny day

August/September 2004 excavations at Tombreck and Kiltyrie
Tombreck and Kiltyrie Excavations(1 mb) [External Link]

Spring 2004 survey and sampling work at Tombreck and Kiltyrie
Tombreck and Kiltyrie Survey and Sampling Season (1.61mb) [External Link]

Shenlarich

The work at Shenlarich was focussed on a relatively flat south-facing field to the north-west of the current Shenlarich farmhouse. The aim here was to investigate a series of geophysical anomalies discovered during the surveying of the site in October 2004. The site was thought to be the location of Shenlarich township as depicted by Farquharson in 1769. Unfortunately no features of note or artefactually significant features were encountered within any of the five excavated trenches, with the exception of modern ceramics and glass.

Spring 2005 Survey and Sampling season at Shenlanrich, Tombreck & Kiltyrie
2005 Survey Shenlanerich, Tombreck & Kiltyrie (2.9 mb) [External Link]

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