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Paddockhaugh

Boundary Ditch (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Building (Period Unassigned), Field Boundary(S) (Period Unassigned), Wall (Post Medieval), Saddle Quern

Site Name Paddockhaugh

Classification Boundary Ditch (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Building (Period Unassigned), Field Boundary(S) (Period Unassigned), Wall (Post Medieval), Saddle Quern

Canmore ID 305512

Site Number NJ25NW 55

NGR NJ 2065 5864

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/305512

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Moray
  • Parish Birnie
  • Former Region Grampian
  • Former District Moray
  • Former County Morayshire

Activities

Archaeological Evaluation (26 April 2009 - 3 May 2009)

NJ 2065 5864 An evaluation trench was excavated S from the boundary of Birnie Kirk, parallel to the line of the current path and N–S field boundary in the Paddockhaugh and Glebe fields, to test various cropmark features. Heavy truncation had removed most traces on the upper slopes of the hill, but further downslope hillwash masked and preserved a series of features, provisionally interpreted as rectilinear building foundations. At the foot of the hill an area of peat overlies what may be an early boundary ditch. A post-medieval stone wall on a concentric line included a fragment of saddle quern. Further to the S, a series of narrow perpendicular ditches are likely to be field boundaries. Time did not permit extensive sampling, and further investigation is planned to investigate the date and function of various features. This work was undertaken on 26 April–3 May 2009.

Funder: NMS

Fraser Hunter – National Museums Scotland

Excavation (16 May 2010 - 23 May 2010)

NJ 2065 5864 Following evaluation in 2009 (DES 2009,

123), a 9 x 13m trench was excavated near the base of the

hill where Birnie Kirk sits, in the area of well preserved

deposits. The peat deposit at the base was shown to be

shallow, and overlies a number of features; there was no

substantial enclosure ditch, but a shallow ditch or scoop

is possible. The lower slopes of the hill were shown to

be entirely artificial: the ground level has been raised by

up to 0.5m by the dumping of sand and organic-rich soil,

presumably to raise the surface above the damp ground.

Into this an extensive series of pits was cut; none produced

any finds, but samples were taken for dating. This suggests

intensive activity in the immediate vicinity of the church

site. A further trench examined the field system identified

in 2009; this proved to be broad rig, post-medieval in date.

It had disturbed a pit containing a substantial quantity of

iron-smelting slag. This work was undertaken 16–23 May

2010.

Funder: National Museums Scotland

Excavation (8 May 2011 - 22 May 2011)

NJ 2065 5864 A series of trenches was excavated, 8–22 May 2011, down the northern slopes of the hill on which Birnie Kirk sits, to complement similar work on the southern slopes (DES 2009, 123; 2010, 110). Extensive hillwash was sterile in the upper layers but included cultural material in its lower layers, and masked some features cut into subsoil. There was no substantial ditch around the hill, but a shallow scoop filled with peat suggests deliberate manipulation of the base of the hill to create a water-filled boundary in which peat subsequently formed.

Funder: National Museums Scotland

National Museums Scotland, 2011

Field Walking (3 May 2014 - 4 May 2014)

NJ 2067 5875 During March and April 2014, volunteers from the Moray Archaeology for All community undertook a programme of field walks over known prehistoric settlement/ enclosure sites in Moray. The targets were selected by Fraser Hunter (National Museums Scotland), using national and

regional databases, aerial photographs and survey data. In each case the field concerned was walked in transects at 2m intervals, using plough lines as guides to ensure coverage. Finds identified by fieldwalkers were indicated with survey flags, and these locations were individually plotted using a Memory-map Adventurer 2800 handheld GPS device. The field records were later digitised onto Excel databases.

Post-medieval ceramics were not individually recorded, but were recovered and treated as site assemblages, which were kept for specialist review at NMS. A summary of the results and interim conclusions for each of the sites has been reported individually. It must be stressed, however, that these may change following receipt of specialist reports.

Fieldwalking was undertaken at Paddockhaugh on 3–4 May 2014. The site was selected due to its proximity to the Iron Age enclosed settlement at Dykeside, Birnie, excavated by NMS over the period 1998–2010 (see DES 1999–2010 inclusive). As was observed in the earlier report for this field (DES 1999), the northern part of the field was almost sterile, with only a sparse scatter of finds. However, when the fieldwalking was extended to the southern end of the field, significant quantities of slag including smithing hearth bases were found. Medieval pottery was also distributed across this area, near to the traditional route used to access Birnie Kirk, a

building originating in the 12th century which was the original cathedral for Moray.

Archive: RCAHMS and Moray HER (intended). Finds: Elgin Museum (intended)

Dave Anderson and Leanne Demay – Anderson Archaeology (Scotland)

(Source: DES)

References

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