Building record MAB39211 - FORDHOUSE BARROW, DEN WOOD

Surviving portion of a large prehistoric burial mound of the Neolithic to early Bronze Age dates, with dated features from the Mesolithic to Iron Age.

Surviving portion of a large prehistoric burial mound of the Neolithic to early Bronze Age dates, with dated features from the Mesolithic to Iron Age. This may be the alleged unopened burial mound noted in passing by the House of Dun in 1897. When visited by the OS in 1958 the northern portion was 2.5m high and it was circa 20m in diameter. Nineteenth-century quarrying into this mound, combined with severe rabbit and tree root disturbance led to the excavation of the site over several seasons from 1994-7. This fieldwork was carried out under the auspices of an NTS Thistle Camp project, using volunteers under the supervision of a team of professional archaeologists. The barrow appears to have been constructed as an earthen mound overlain by a stone capping to give the appearance of a cairn. The cairn material seems to be of a number of phases, consisting of both rounded glacial boulders and angular sandstone blocks. A large central feature was found to cut through the 'cairn' material, the earthen mound below and into the buried land surface. This feature was stone filled in its lower levels, with an earth fill above and an earth and stone cap. The compact fill and the lack of slumping in the profile of the mound suggest that this does not represent antiquarian disturbance. The monument is of multi-phase construction. Six phases of activity have so far been identified on the site. Phase One: The earliest features, probably Mesolithic, were two parallel sets of shallow slots and three larger pits in sandy earth. Burnt hazelnut shells and blades of Arran pitchstone were recovered from one of the pits. This was followed by a series of discontinuous patches of pre-barrow surface. The majority of these layers appeared to represent preserved turf lines, except on the south-west side of the site where there was evidence of disturbed scrub vegetation. Perhaps also Early Neolithic in date, a 1.5m deep pit in the centre of the site was lined with drystone walling to form a passage grave. The chamber was 2m in diameter with a 2m long passage facing west. The construction of this monument was absolutely contemporary with the first mound construction, which was made up of a number of different deposits of stone, earth and timber. The floor of the chamber produced a large quantity of very small pieces of fragmentary human bone and some flintwork, including a small scraper. After a period of use the passage was blocked. Rim fragments from an Early Neolithic bowl were found in the blocking material. A large slab of rock found in the post-medieval disturbance possibly formed the capstone to the chamber. The destroyed upper walls of the chamber had been corbelled inwards to support this stone. During the construction of the Early Bronze Age earthen ring bank the passage grave roof had been partly destroyed and the chamber had been filled in. Following this, parts of the upper walls either collapsed as a result of this disturbance or were deliberately destroyed. The collapsed layers were incorporated into the remodelled and enlarged mound to form the central area of the ring cairn. Further dumps of material were also added to the outside edge of the mound. These dumps overlay a number of pits containing Early Bronze Age ceramics, including a single pit containing two complete Collared Urns and an Accessory Vessel and another pit with a complete Food Vessel. Phase Two: A circular bank of sandy earth and large sandstone blocks which surrounded a central, unembanked area. Sherds of two beakers and three arrowheads of tranchet, leaf-shaped and barbed-and-tanged type were recovered from this bank material. This phase of bank construction was interrupted on the E side by a feature interpreted as an entrance, through which the central area would have been visible. A narrow stone-filled slot ran east-west through the entrance feature and suggests a structural element, although no post-holes were found. Sherds of five Early Neolithic bowls were found in contexts disturbed by rabbit activity on the outside of this entrance. On the north edge of the entrance were many large tabular sandstone blocks, over which a very loose and gritty yellow sand extended across the feature. This fill indicates deliberate blocking rather than gradual silting. Phase Three: To the east of the entrance a secondary cremation burial was cut into the second phase of ring bank: A vessel of indeterminate form with no surviving outer surface was discovered amongst a considerable depth of charcoal, the remains of a large fire. A third vessel, a bipartite urn, came from a cut feature on the north edge of the ring bank and was associated with a five-pointed faience bead. On the northeast edge of the ring bank was a small undisturbed cist circa 0.5 x 0.3m, containing a large amount of broken bone as well as a flint flake with a retouched edge, and a broken bone pin with a (possibly hourglass) perforation just below the articular end. Phase Four: Following the construction of the second phase of ring bank, the primary filling of the entrance, and the building and use of the cist, rounded glacial boulders were deposited over the whole site, so that the mound appeared to be a cairn. The entrance had been filled by the boulder covering, and in this layer a complete inverted Collared Urn (Longworth's primary series) with its cremation in-situ was found, one of five such associated with secondary burials. Parts of a second primary series Collared Urn, and a fragmentary Food Vessel Urn were also found. A fragment of what may be a second bead (probably of a canneloid shale) was found in the fragmentary Collared Urn. The fragmentary Collared Urn and several vessels found in the previous season were inserted into the boulder layer. An interrupted kerb of three large irregular stones, which retained the boulder cairn phase of building, was found beyond the outer edge of the earthen ring bank on the northeast side of the monument. This kerb seems to have respected the earlier alignment of the site and did not cross the line of the entrance. However, the kerb was found only in the northeast quadrant, and whilst it may have existed in inaccessible parts of the site it might not have been more extensive or continuous. Phases Five and Six: Two large cut features in the centre of the monument extended into the old ground surface. They contained objects of 18th-century date and disturbed prehistoric and early medieval material. The passage grave has been backfilled but has been left largely intact, and may in the future be consolidated for presentation to visitors.

Period Notes
C14 dates: OxA-8222 the 35 outer rings of a radially split oak plank (Ph 3B mound): 5035 BP +/- 40, d13C -24.4 (which equals 3951 BC – 3713 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8223 outer rings from a radially split oak plank Ph 3B mound): 4920 BP +/- 45, d13C -24.9 (which equals 3788 BC – 3639 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8224 fragments from an oak timber Ph 3B mound): 4965 BP +/- 40, d13C -26.4 (which equals 3926 BC – 3652 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8225 a single fragment of hazel nutshell from pit 21: 8100 BP +/-45, d13c -23.1 (which equals 7299 BC - 6841 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8226 single fragment of hazel nutshell from pit 7, which also contained Arran pitchstone blades and a bifacial knife : 5660 BP +/- 40, d13C -24.6 (which equals 4596 BC - 4369 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8593 a single fragment of cremated human bone found in lower fill of pit 24 : 2165 BP +/- 70, d13C -25.5 (which equals 384 BC – 50 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8777 single fragment cremated human bone from inside collared urn, from cobble cairn : 2050 BP +/- 110, d13C -26.3 (which equals 382 BC – 208 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-8844 single fragment cremated human bone from fill of stone lined chamber of passage grave : 2010 BP +/- 120, d13C -26.6 (which equals 361 BC – 240 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-10057 hazelnut shell from fill of pit 20. BP 7890 +/- 50, d13C -23.86 (which equals 7029 BC - 6640 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-10058 hazelnut shell from layer containing numerous artefacts. BP 7920 +/- 50, d13C -25.1 (which equals 7031 BC - 6654 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA-10059 hazelnut shell from linear slot with many artefacts, mainly of flint. BP 8255 +/-55, d13C -23.13 (which equals 7474 BC - 7084 BC at 2 sigma).

OxA 10060 BP 5565 +/- 45, d13C -23.46 (which equals 4483 BC - 4340 BC at 2 sigma).

GrA-18019 cremated bone from bipartite urn. BP 3325 +/- 40 (which equals 1731 BC – 1507 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2715 Bone apatite from cremated human bone. Found in complete urn (35), a deliberate burial deposit with other artefacts. BP 3535 +/- 35, d13C -24.90 (which equals 1955 BC – 1751 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2716 Bone apatite from cremated human bone, identified as a single individual, from within cist 1 with other artefacts. BP 3605 +/- 35, d13C -26.50 (which equals 2120 BC – 1882 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2720 Bone apatite from human cremated bone, identified as a single individual, from within cist 1 with other artefacts. BP3610 +/- 35, d13C -25.50 (which equals 2121 BC – 1885 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2721 Bone apatite of human cremated bone, from vessel in pit 26. BP 3510 +/- 35, d13C -20.70 (which equals 1928 BC – 1744 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2722 Bone apatite of cremated human bone, from layer of dark brown silt loam, possibly the remains of the original floor of the chamber. BP 3575 +/- 35, d13C -25.30 (which equals 2029 BC – 1779 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2723 Bone apatite from same layer as SUERC-2722. BP 3645 +/- 35, d13C -25.20 (which equals 2135 BC – 1921 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2724 Bone apatite of human cremated bone found in loam within encrusted urn in fill of pit 27. BP 3570 +/- 35, d13C -21.80 (which equals 2027 BC – 1777 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2725 Bone apatite of human cremated bone from vessel 31, a cremation group of 15 adults and one juvenile with other finds including a boar's tusk. BP 3335 +/- 35, d13C -25.80 (which equals 1732 BC – 1523 BC at 2 sigma).

SUERC-2726 Bone apatite from cremated human bone in loamy sand in pit 24, a grave with flints and strong phosphate residues. BP 4340 +/- 35, d13C -23.70 (which equals 3082 BC – 2893 BC at 2 sigma).

The above calibrated dates are derived from OxCal 4.1

MS/848/1, MS/848/1 (Photograph). SAB28266.

MS/848/2, MS/848/2 (Photograph). SAB28265.

Lumsden, H W, 1897, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 31, 243 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5048.

PETERSON, R, 1994, DES. FORDHOUSE BARROW, 81 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1453.

ROUND BARROW

Peterson, Turner and Proudfoot, R, R and, 1995, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 93 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11573.

PETERSON & PROUDFOOT, R & E, 1996, FORDHOUSE BARROW DES 1996 pg 12, 12 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1463.

PETERSON, R, 1996, FORDHOUSE BARROW EXCAVATIONS.2ND INTERIM REPORT, 2ND INTERIM REPORT (Bibliographic reference). SAB1451.

PETERSON, R, 1997, FORDHOUSE BARROW EXCAVATIONS:4TH INTERIM REPORT, 4TH INTERIM REPORT (Bibliographic reference). SAB1452.

PROUDFOOT, P, 1999, DES. FORDHOUSE BARROW DUN, 11 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1454.

RADIOCARBON DATES

AHLERS, M, 2014, HAZLENUTS AND BURIAL MOUNDS: THE EARLY PREHISTORY AT THE MONTROSE BASIN AND ITS CONTEXT WITHIN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SCOTLAND (Bibliographic reference). SAB5532.

Jan 1 1997 , AAS/GR/98/CT139-143, AAS/GR/98/CT139-143 (Ground Photograph). SAB33126.

Record last edited

Dec 2 2021 10:46AM