The first millennium AD was a transformative period when many of the medieval kingdoms of Europe began to take shape, but despite recent advances in palaeoecological and archaeological research there ...remains a shortage of interdisciplinary collaborative research targeting this period. For some regions we know relatively little about the societies who lived during this formative period. This current investigation focusses on an early medieval elite centre near to Rhynie in NE Scotland; an important power-centre during the fourth–seventh centuries AD as evidenced by a remarkable series of Class I Pictish symbol stones, fortified enclosures at Cairn more, Tap o’ Noth and the Craw-Stane, as well as high status metal-working and a range of continental imports from the Craw-Stane enclosure. However, by the end of the seventh century AD, elite focus appears to have shifted elsewhere with the Craw-Stane and Cairn More enclosures all being abandoned. By combining paleoenvironmental analysis with available historical and archaeological archives this paper provides new insights into societal change during the first Millennium AD, with focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts caused by the rise and subsequent abandonment of elite nodes of power. A calibrated age of AD 260–415, near the base of the core, coincides with the earliest dates for the Craw-Stane complex and pre-dates the construction of the nearby Cairn More enclosure. The results provide a rare snapshot of the Late Roman Iron Age to Medieval environment of Northeast Scotland. This centre appears to have been supported by a rich agricultural landscape, with evidence of pastoral and arable farming, and potential metal working. One of the most significant findings of this study has revealed that despite abandonment of these elite enclosed sites by the seventh century AD, people continued to utilise the surrounding landscape and available resources right through until modern times.
Iona is renowned for its early monastery, founded following the arrival of Columba in AD 563. This paper uses palaeoecological data to provide insight into the social and environmental ...transformations that influenced the landscape of Iona during the later prehistoric and historic periods. The identification of cereal pollen suggests that arable farming occurred during the Bronze Age and possibly continued through the Iron Age. Pastoral farming was also practiced. It remains unclear as to whether there were people living on the island at the time of the monastic community's arrival. Between AD 630 and 1100, woodland clearance and farming occurred. There were also two phases of woodland regeneration and agricultural decline. The first phase coincides with the period of Viking raids and may have witnessed a decline in population. The second phase occurred in conjunction with increased Scandinavian influence and political restructuring across the wider region; however, small-scale farming continued. After c. AD 1000 there was renewed intensification of landscape management prior to the arrival of Benedictine monks and Augustinian nuns (c. AD 1200). This may be linked to climatic amelioration during the Medieval Warm Period and economic growth in the Hebrides.
The increasing use of digital technologies can provide significant benefits to the excavation and interpretative process in archaeology. Yet, despite major developments in the last two decades, ...digital recording can still be seen as part of the realm of tech savvy archaeologists, well-funded projects, or larger commercial units who can develop their own recording systems or deploy a pre-existing application. The latter are often expensive and can be technologically challenging to implement, and few of these focus on both context recording and feature drawing. In response, this paper presents an accessible and flexible low-cost DIY digital workflow developed by the Comparative Kingship Project, Scotland, allowing field practitioners to benefit from some of the key advantages of "going digital" without the associated costs or complexities of some of the other systems.
Around the beginning of the 3rd millennium cal bc a cremation cemetery was established at Forteviot, central Scotland. This place went on to become one of the largest monument complexes identified in ...Mainland Scotland, with the construction of a palisaded enclosure, timber structures, and a series of henge monuments and other enclosures. The cemetery was established between 3080 and 2900 cal bc, probably in the 30th century cal bc, which is contemporary with the cremation cemetery at Stonehenge. Nine discrete deposits of cremated bone, representing the remains of at least 18 people, were identified. In most instances they were placed within cut features and, in one case, a series of cremation deposits was associated with a broken standing stone. This paper includes the first detailed assessment of the cremated remains at Forteviot and the features associated with the cemetery, and explores how the establishment of this cemetery may have been both a catalyst and inspiration for the elaborate monument building and prolonged acts of remembrance that occurred at this location over a period of almost 1000 years. The paper also outlines the parallels for Forteviot across Britain and, for the first time, draws together the dating evidence (including Bayesian modelling) for this major category of evidence for considering the nature of late 4th/early 3rd millennium cal bc society. The results and discussion have wide implications and resonances for contemplating the establishment and evolution of monument complexes in prehistoric Britain and beyond.
Pratiques d’incinération et la création des complexes monumentaux: Le cimetière à incinération néolothique de Forteviot, Strathearn, Perth et Kinross, Ecosse et ses comparables de Gordon Noble et Kenneth Brophy Aux alentours du début du 3ème millénaire av.J.-C cal un cimetière à incinération fut établi à Forteviot, centre de l’Ecosse, RU. Ce lieu devait devenir l’un des plus grands complexes monumentaux jamais identifiés en Ecosse continentale, avec la construction d’un enclos à palissade, de structures en bois de construction et d’une série de monuments à talus et fossé et autres enceintes. Le cimetière fut établi entre 3080 av. J.-C. et 2900 av.J.-C.cal, probablement au 30ème siècle av.J.-C. cal, ce qui est contemporain du cimetière à incinération de Stonehenge. Neuf dépôts diffus d’os calcinés, représentant les restes d’au moins 18 personnes, furent identifiés. Dans la plupart des cas, ils se trouvaient à l’intérieur de structures creusées et, dans un des cas, une série de dépôts d’incinérations étaient associée à une pierre dressée cassée. Cet article inclut la première évaluation détaillée des restes incinérés de Forteviot et des indices associés au cimetière et explore comment l’ établissement de ce cimetière a pu être à la fois un catalyste et une inspiration pour la construction de ce monument élaboré et les actes prolongés de mémoire qui s’y déroulèrent sur une période de presque 1000 ans. L’article décrit aussi les parallèles de Forteviot à travers la Grande-Bretagne et rassemble, pour la première fois, les témoignages de datations (y compris la modélisation bayésienne) de cette catégorie majeure de témoignages pour l’étude de la nature de la société de la fin du 4ème/début du 3ème millénaire av. J,-C. cal. Les résultats et la discussion ont de vastes implications et résonances pour la reflexion sur l’établissement et l’évolution des complexes monumentaux dans la Grande-Bretagne préhistorique et au-delà.
Praktiken der Leichenverbrennung und die Schaffung monumentaler Komplexe: Der neolithische Brandbestattungsplatz von Forteviot, Strathearn, Perth und Kinross, Schottland, und seine Komparanda, von Gordon Noble und Kenneth Brophy Am Beginn des 3. Jahrtausends cal bc wurde ein Brandbestattungsplatz in Forteviot in Zentralschottland, Großbritannien, angelegt. Dieser Platz entwickelte sich zu einem der größten Komplexe mit Bestattungsmonumenten, den wir auf dem schottischen Festland kennen, mit der Konstruktion eines Erdwerkes mit Palisade, Holzstrukturen und einer Reihe von Henge-Monumenten und anderen Grabenwerken. Der Bestattungsplatz wurde zwischen 3080 und 2900 cal bc eingerichtet, wahrscheinlich im 30. Jahrhundert cal bc, was zeitgleich mit dem Brandbestattungsplatz von Stonehenge ist. Neun separate Deponierungen verbrannter Knochen wurden identifiziert, die die Überreste von mindestens 18 Personen repräsentieren. In den meisten Fällen fanden sie sich innerhalb eingetiefter Befunde, in einem Fall war auch eine Reihe von Deponierungen von Leichenbrand mit einem zerbrochenen Menhir assoziiert. Dieser Beitrag umfasst auch die erste detaillierte Auswertung der Leichenbrände von Forteviot sowie der mit dem Brandbestattungsplatz assoziierten Befunde und untersucht, wie die Einrichtung dieses Bestattungsplatzes sowohl ein Katalysator als auch eine Inspiration für das Errichten elaborierter Monumente und für fortgesetzte Akte des Gedenkens gewesen sein kann, die an diesem Platz über einen Zeitraum von fast 1000 Jahren stattfanden. Zudem zeigt der Beitrag die Parallelen für Forteviot in Großbritannien auf und bringt erstmals die Datierungen (einschließlich Bayesscher Modellierung) für diese zentrale Kategorie archäologischer Daten zur Erörterung des Charakters der Gesellschaft des späten 4./ frühen 3. Jahrtausends bc zusammen. Die Resultate und Diskussionen haben weitreichende Bedeutung für Überlegungen zur Entstehung und Entwicklung von Komplexen von Monumenten im prähistorischen Großbritannien und darüber hinaus.
Prácticas de cremación y la creación de complejos monumentales: el cementerio de cremación de Forteviot, Strathearn, Perth y Kinross, y sus comparaciones, por Gordon Noble y Kenneth Brophy Aproximadamente a principios del III milenio cal bc se estableció un cementerio de cremación en Forteviot, Escocia central, Reino Unido. Este emplazamiento llegó a ser uno de los complejos monumentales más grandes identificados en el interior de Escocia, con la construcción de un recinto empalizado, estructuras de madera y una serie de recintos y henge. El cementerio se estableció entre el 3080 y el 2900 cal bc, probablemente en el III milenio cal bc, por lo que es contemporáneo al cementerio de cremación de Stonehenge. Se han identificado nueve depósitos individualizados de hueso quemado, que representan los restos de, al menos, 18 personas. En la mayoría de los casos, se localizaron dentro de estructuras recortadas y, en un caso, una serie de depósitos de cremación estaba asociada a un hito de piedra quebrado. Este artículo incluye la primera evaluación detallada de los restos cremados de Forteviot y de las características relacionadas con el cementerio, y analiza cómo el establecimiento de este cementerio pudo haber sido un catalizador y una inspiración para la compleja construcción monumental y para los prolongados actos de conmemoración que ocurrieron en este lugar durante un periodo de al menos 1000 años. El artículo también señala los paralelos de Forteviot a lo largo de Gran Bretaña y, por primera vez, aúna la evidencia cronológica (incluyendo la modelización bayesiana) para este importante tipo de evidencia en el seno de la sociedad de finales del IV e inicios del III milenio cal BC. Los resultados y la discusión tienen una amplia implicación y relevancia para reflexionar sobre el establecimiento y la evolución de los complejos monumentales en la Prehistoria de Gran Bretaña y de fuera de ella.
OUR UNDERSTANDING of the nature of late and post-Roman central places of northern Britain has been hindered by the lack of historical sources and the limited scale of archaeological investigation. ...New work at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (NJ 49749 26345), has begun to redress this through extensive excavation and landscape survey. This has revealed a Pictish central place of the 4th to 6th centuries ad that has European connections through material culture, iconography and site character. In addition to reviewing the place-name and historical context, this article outlines preliminary reflections on five seasons of excavation and survey in the Rhynie landscape. The article also provides a detailed consideration of chronology, including radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical analysis. The results reveal the multi-faceted nature of a major, non-hillfort elite complex of Pictland that comprised a high-status residence with cult dimensions, a major centre for production and exchange, and a contemporary cemetery. A series of sculptured stones stood in association with the settlement and cemetery and the iconography of the stones, along with the wider archaeological evidence, provides a rich dataset for a renewed consideration of the central places of early medieval northern Britain with broader implications for the nature of power and rulership in late and post-Roman Europe.
This is an account of the Neolithic period in Scotland from its earliest traces around 4000 BC to the transformation of Neolithic society in the Early Bronze Age fifteen hundred years later. Gordon ...Noble inteprets Scottish material in the context of debates and issues in European archaeology, comparing sites and practices identified in Scotland to those found elsewhere in Britain and beyond. He considers the nature and effects of memory, sea and land travel, ritualisation, island identities, mortuary practice, symbolism and environmental impact. He synthesises excavations and research conducted over the last century and more, bringing together the evidence for understanding what happened in Scotland during this long period. His long-term and regionally based analysis suggests new directions for the interpretation of the Neolithic more generally.
Our knowledge of the use of livestock in early medieval Scotland is fragmentary and relies on a handful of well-studied faunal assemblages, with few from Pictland (north-east Scotland), an important ...and enigmatic group and latterly kingdom in Northern Britain that existed between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD. The assemblages that have been recovered and studied mainly occur at the limits of this territory, beyond the heartland of the Picts in the northern and eastern mainland. Recent archaeological excavations at three high-status sites in eastern Scotland have unexpectedly yielded well-preserved faunal remains providing a unique and long-awaited opportunity to explore further human-animal relationships and the use of animals in Pictish society. This paper presents new data from the initial study of these assemblages. It discusses the implications in terms of animal economy in Pictland, the potential of these sites to yield larger faunal assemblages and the directions of future research. Results show that cattle were a pivotal element of the economy, playing a multi-faceted role (beef and secondary products), pigs ranked second in frequency which likely reflects the high status of these sites and sheep appear as a marginal resource and were primarily raised for consumption. Results also suggest that these sites may have operated within an integrated network rather than functioning solely as self-sufficient entities.
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