Building record MAB21521 - BALBITHAN WOOD

Remains of hut circles recorded as part of a larger programme of archaeological work in the wood (NJ81NW0230) carried out between 2011 and 2015 as part of the Kintore Landscapes Project.

Remains of hut circles recorded as part of a larger programme of archaeological work in the wood (NJ81NW0230) carried out between 2011 and 2015 as part of the Kintore Landscapes Project. The remains of six probable hut circles were identified in the woods southwest of a previously known group of hut-circles (NJ81NW0003). Five hut circles and four cairns were subject to sample excavations. Hut circle 28 measures 9m in diameter externally and 4m internally, with no visible entrance. Seven lithics were recovered from the interior, and it is suggested that internally it was too small for domestic use. It is probably if Middle Bronze Age date. Hut circle 17 measures 12m in diameter internally and 18m externally, the boundary comprising a stony bank up to 1.2m wide and 0.4m high, of a single phase of construction. No pottery was found, although an assemblage of lithics was recovered from the interior and the immediate environs, none diagnostic. Hut circle 18 measures 10-11m in diameter externally, and 6.5m internally and is also thought unlikely to be a domestic structure, and may have been some form of ring cairn. Hut circle 29 measures 12m in diameter externally and 8.75m internally although only the eastern arc of the bank survived, but appears to be a domestic structure. A total of 11 lithics were recovered from the interior and 23 from test pits around it, including both tools and debitage ranging in date from the Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic to the Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. Hut circle 19, may have been a non-domestic structure. Investigations at Cairns 103 and 271 showed that these were not clearance cairns, Cairn 103 dating to the Early Neolithic, Cairn 271 undated although this cairn covered a cache of lithic cores which could date from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. A total of 184 prehistoric pottery sherds from an estimated 41 vessels were recovered from Cairn 103. The diagnostic sherds indicate an early Neolithic date, including both lugged bowls and round-based bowls decorated with impressed decoration. Cairns 105 and 270 appear to be clearance cairns dating from the periods between the Neolithic and the Late Iron Age.

Period Notes
Radiocarbon dates; SUERC-36872 hut circle 17 hearth feature, 3190+/-30 BP, calibrated to 1513-1414 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-49519 hut circle 18, 3235+/-29 BP, calibrated to 1607-1434 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-49520 hut circle 18, 3241+/-29 BP, calibrated to 1608-1440 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-42990 hut circle 19, 3127+/-27 BP, calibrated to 1491-1316 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-42994 hut circle 19, 2975+/-20 BP, calibrated to 1368-1091 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-42988 hut circle 28, 3281+/-27 BP, calibrated to 1626-1496 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-42989 hut circle 28, 3186+/-27 BP, calibrated to 1540-1413 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-57510 hut circle 29, 3288+/-28 BP, calibrated to 1626-1503 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-57511 hut circle 29, 3321+/-28 BP, calibrated to 1684-1527 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-49521 clearance cairn 105, 4497+/-29, calibrated to 3346-3096 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-49518 clearance cairn 105, 1766+/-330, calibrated to 139-378 AD at 2 sigma; SUERC-57509 clearance cairn 103, 4799+/-29, calibrated to 3605-3523 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-57512 clearance cairn 103, 5111+/-28 BP, calibrated to 3879-3602 BC at 2 sigma; SUERC-65805 clearance cairn 103, 4784+/-30 BP, calibrated to 3642-3521 BC at 2 sigma.

COOK, M, 2014, BALBITHAN WOOD HUT CIRCLES, KINTORE, ABERDEENSHIRE: PROJECT DESIGN, Project Design (Bibliographic reference). SAB6666.

COOK, M, 2021, BALBITHAN WOOD, KINTORE, ABERDEENSHIRE: THE EVALUATION OF PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPES. (Bibliographic reference). SAB8226.

Record last edited

Aug 26 2025 10:27AM