Earthwork record MAB44891 - AUCHLISHIE

Multi-period settlement site, including a souterrain, listed by Wainwright as 'Kirriemuir II'.

Multi-period settlement site, including a souterrain, listed by Wainwright as 'Kirriemuir II'. It is situated 240 m east-northeast of Kintyrie farmhouse and on the edge of a marked drop to the Quharity Burn, in an area of rolling clayland and much drainage activity, at an altitude of about 150 m OD. The OS 1st edition shows the location as the 'Site of Weem'. It was opened by Mr Wilkie of Auchlishie sometime between 1791 and 1820, when a currach (coracle) and querns were found, the currach being subsequently burnt as fire-wood. The currach was possibly a logboat. It may be inferred from its being 'cut up for firewood' that the currach, or boat, contained a considerable quantity of timber in its construction and so was not of a skin-based type. The narrow form of a logboat would presumably be more amenable to storage in a souterrain than that of a plank-built vessel. Examination of the field, still known as 'Weems Park', suggested to Wainwright that the OS siting, which originated with one of Mr Wilkie's family in 1863, should be moved a little southwest, to NO 3873 5786. The Ordnance Survey found no trace of a souterrain, either at the published site or at the spot suggested by Wainwright during a visit in 1977. Both of the sites lay in a pasture field. Between 1993 and 2000 the field was excavated by A. M. Dick to investigate the settlement associated with the missing souterrain. The site yielded occupation evidence from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Excavation revealed a probable Douglasmuir type ring-ditch roundhouse, 11 m in overall diameter which overlaid earlier features. The house had a rectangular hearth at the centre of a 6 m diameter circle of post holes. A further possible house represented by an oval stone-based hearth and shallow post holes was discovered to the north. There were also possible construction trenches. The Souterrain was rediscovered as a parch mark adjacent to the excavations at the ring-ditch house in 1995. The mark was curved and 32 m long. It was a U-shaped flat-bottomed ditch, 1.8 m deep and 2.2 m wide at the bottom. The upper fill contained fragements of pottery and a possible quern fragment. Two further possible Souterrains were discovered by excavation, one beneath the ring-ditch house. All three were either timber-lined or have been stone-robbed. The ring-ditch house was overlain by a silty sand layer and then a later house, which was badly plough damaged. The ditch was found to vary in depth, as though scooped out in segments. Half of a quernstone was reused as paving within the ditch. The ditch contained large quantities of orange-red ash, and carbonised hazelnuts were recovered from this ash. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for the end of the occupation of the ring-ditch house and attached Dalladies type Souterrain of 1st Century cal BC to 1st Century cal BC, and for the settlement after this house dates were from the 1st to 3rd Century cal AD. Downslope from the crest excavation revealed that the site was possibly surrounded by a post-defined enclosure. A thin soil horizon, cut by prehistoric features and associated with worn fragments of pottery (some with impressed fingernail decoration), which may represent a Neolithic cultivation surface. This surface was sealed by a possible Neolithic mound which was removed by ploughing and the erection of the pylon in the field. Three pits in this area revealed pottery of Neolithic date. Across the site the finds, mainly from pits, include fragments of flint and quartz, sherds of Grooved Ware, one Beaker sherd, 3 sherds of Samain Ware, two flint scrapers, several rotary quern fragments and a Saddle Quern, two fragments of a possible shale bracelet and two possible Roman objects, a square button and loop fastener and a decorated disc with loop.

Period Notes
Radiocarbon dates : OxA-8773 charred hazelnut from primary fill of shallow scooped ring ditch defining house SO3. BP 1960 +/- 35, d13C -25.4 (40 cal BC to 130 cal AD). OxA-8774 eight ring slice of pine from half-way down the robbed souterrain. Probably related to earlier investigations of the site. BP 290 +/- 40, d13C -23 (1480 to 1790 cal AD). OxA-8796 twelve ring sample taken from just under the bark of alder charcoal from an ash-filled pit cut into a layer overlying a post-ring house S04. BP 1885 +/- 40, d13C -26.5 (30 to 240 cal AD). OxA-8799 4 mm diameter twig of alder charcoal from a layer on the subsoil in a 1.6 m deep sharply curving ditch F295, a Dalladies type souterrain. BP 1985 +/-40, d13C -28.3 (90 cal BC to 130 cal AD). OxA-8798 Twelve ring sample taken from just under the bank of alder charcoal from a subrectangular pit sealed by same layer as that sealing a post-ring house. BP 1865 +/- 45. OxA-8797 Seven ring sample taken from just under the bark of hazel charcoal from a shallow pit cut into a layer overlying a post-ring house S04. BP 1820 +/-35, d13C -23 (80 to 330 cal AD). AA-45406 Hazel charcoal with Grooved Ware sherds in a pit. BP 3885 +/- 50, d13C -25.4. AA-45407 Hazel charcoal with Grooved Ware sherds in a pit. BP 3820 +/- 55, d13C -26.8.

MS/736/1, MS/736/1 (Photograph). SAB24445.

MS/736/5, MS/736/5 (Photograph). SAB24446.

MS/817/1, MS/817/1 (Photograph). SAB23768.

Dick, A M, {1994}, [Untitled] (Bibliographic reference). SAB11422.

NSA, 1845, [Untitled], Vol. 11, (Forfar), 177-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6203.

Wainwright, F T, 1963, [Untitled], 191-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9962.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 29, No. 233 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8938.

Dick, A M, 1993, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 96 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11406.

Cowie, T, 1993, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 123, 26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11432.

DICK, A.M., 1994, DES. AUCHLISHIE, 83 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2446.

TRIAL EXCAVATION

Dick, A M, 1995, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 94 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11579.

Mowat, R J C, 1996, [Untitled], 11, 110, 121, no. 3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11507.

DICK, A M, 1996, AUCHLISHIE DES 1996 pg 12-3, 12-3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4009.

DICK, A.M., 2000, DES 2000, AUCHLISHIE, p12, 12 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2469.

EXCAVATION

DICK, A.M., 2000, DES. AUCHLISHIE, KIRRIEMUIR (Bibliographic reference). SAB2447.

RADIOCARBON DATES

ARMIT, I, 2000, THE ABANDONMENT OF SOUTERAINS: EVOLUTION, CATASTROPHE OR DISLOCATION? IN PSAS 129 (1999), 577-596 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8747.

Name Book (County), n.d., [Untitled], Book No. 59, 6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5450.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 11:30AM