Document record MAB58721 - ADEN ARBORETUM

Evaluation carried out at this site in April 2009 by GUARD as part of the Book of Deer Project.

Evaluation carried out at this site in April 2009 by GUARD as part of the Book of Deer Project. Eleven trenches were excavated in an attempt to locate the site of the Monastery of Deer. Two radiocarbon dates were obtained from the evaluations: one Mesolithic date (4910-4710 BC) from a firepit in Trench 3, and one Iron Age date (50 BC to 140 AD) from the matrix of a disturbed wall with stake-hole located outside the churchyard wall. Other trenches revealed traces of probable later prehistoric cultivation and a substantial mortared wall of post-medieval date. These were sealed beneath deep waterborne and hillwashed deposits, which lay across the area to the east of the church. Thick modern midden deposits over waterlogged subsoil were found around Grains Well, in the south of the village. The results indicate that if Old Deer is the site of the original monastery, the low lying ground to the east of the church was not used to accommodate dwellings, workshops or other permanent components of the monastery's infrastructure, probably because of its propensity to flooding, while the area around the well appears to have been historically boggy.

Period Notes
GU-19160: 1940+/- 40BP (which equals 45 BC - 136 AD cal to 2 sigma); GU-19161: 5930+/- 40BP (which equlas 4931 BC - 4716 BC cal to 2 sigma).

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 22/04/2009 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

GUARD, 2009, THE MONASTERY OF DEER ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT: DESK BASED ASSESSMENT & FIELD EVALUATION (Bibliographic reference). SAB2613.

Apr 20 2009 , DG0255-265, 326-29, DG0255-265, 326-29 (Ground Photograph). SAB20008.

Author unknown, n.d., BUCHAN OBSERVER, 28/04/2009 (Bibliographic reference). SAB113.

Record last edited

Feb 2 2026 3:26PM