Building record MAB13114 - BATTLE HILL

A possible hut circle, possibly overlaying a cairn or cairn-ring (and in turn probably overlain by a post-medieval long-house) identified following forestry clearance.

A possible hut circle, possibly overlaying a cairn or cairn-ring (and in turn probably overlain by a post-medieval long-house) identified following forestry clearance. A trench was excavated in 2016 excavated as part of the Battle Hill Prehistoric Landscape Project, run by Murray Cook, Hana Kdolska and Therese McCormick with volunteers. A bank assumed to be the outer bank of the hut circle was recorded, with a possible hearth immediately to the west. A charcoal sample from the possible hearth returned a radiocarbon date of 1808-1928 AD, suggesting the hearth was a later intrusive event. This trench was not excavated to the natural. A second season in 2017 opened two trenches covering 25% of the identified hut circle. It was found this structure is more complex, with banks suggesting the hut circle has been built into a cairn or ring-cairn. A hazel charcoal sample from the outer bank gave a radiocarbon date of 3600-3525 BC. The second trench was opened at the southern edge of the feature. Four sherds of Scottish Reduced Ware, dating to the 17th-18th century, was recovered from the topsoil. The hut circle feature is overlain by a bank in this trench, possibly representing a post-medieval long house built over the hut circle. An enclosure (NJ53NW0136) was also excavated as part of the same project in 2016 and 2017, with a cairn (NJ53NW0137) and linear bank (NJ53NW0139) excavated in 2017. Further investigation in August 2018 concluded that the 'hut circle' is more likely to be some form of stone and soil cairn/barrow with a rubble bank, an early Neolithic ring-mound. An in situ smashed pot and cremated bone were recovered from under the cairn material. Further excavation in 2019 extended a trench opened the previous year to investigate the make-up of the annular stone bank. It demonstrated a deliberate formation process, the ground surface first cleared of vegetation and topsoil, a layer of large stones then placed to form a ring enclosing an area 9.25m in diameter. The work concluded that what had been interpreted as a hut circle is a Neolithic ring mound.

Period Notes
The cairn-type feature below the hut-circle returned a Neolithic radiocarbon date. The hut-circle is typical of a Bronze Age structure, and there is probably a post-medieval longhouse overlaying part of the hut-circle, with pottery from the 17th-18h century possibly associated. SUERC-76629 (GU45862), 4822BP +/-31: 3600-3525 cal BC to 2 sigma (earlier cairn); SUERC-70002, 94BP +/- 28: 1808-1928 cal AD to 2 sigma (later intrusive event).

COOK, MCCORMICK AND KDOLSKA, M, T, H, 2017, BATTLE HILL, PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE PROJECT, HUNTLY, ABERDEENSHIRE: SEASON 1 DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB7068.

COOK, MCCORMICK AND KDOLSKA, M, T, H, 2018, BATTLE HILL, PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE PROJECT, HUNTLY, ABERDEENSHIRE: SEASON 2 DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB7067.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2018, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, VOLUME 18, 2017, p.15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6463.

COOK, M, 2019, BATTLE HILL, PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE PROJECT, HUNTLY: SEASON 3 DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB8235.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2019, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 19, 2018, p. 13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6524.

COOK, M, 2020, BATTLE HILL, PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE PROJECT, HUNTLY: SEASON 4 DATA STRUCTURE REPORT (Bibliographic reference). SAB8202.

Record last edited

Jan 6 2025 11:49AM