Excavation of a settlement and souterrain at Newmill, near Bankfoot, Perthshire

Abstract

The accidental discovery of a souterrain beside the A9 road 14 km (8–7 miles) N of Perth led to its complete excavation and the investigation of several hundred square metres of the settlement with which it was associated. A single grave of the Beaker period was also discovered during excavation and is reported elsewhere in this volume. The souterrain was a massive example of the ‘southern Pictland’ group, and the settlement consisted of timber-framed circular houses of the familiar British Iron Age tradition. Little material cultural remains were recovered, but a series of radiocarbon dates places the souterrain's construction in the last century or so be, its use contemporary with the timber houses alongside, its destruction around 200 AD, and the continued use of the site into the 9th century at least.

Expanding current understanding of the function, style and chronology of Grooved Ware from the A9 Dualling

“…In addition to the Iron Age and early medieval settlement evidence at Newmill (Watkins 1980), which lies immediately to the east of LP6.5, the area surrounding the A9: L to P of B sites is also dotted with potential Neolithic activity, including cropmark evidence of four pit alignments (Canmore ID 27031, 82082, 82116 and 239560). A very early Beaker grave, probably dating to the 25th century BC, was also discovered at Newmill in the late 1970s (Watkins & Shepherd 1980).…”

“…Neolithic activity comprising pits, post holes and structural remains were identified at four sites: LP4, LP6.2, LP6.3 and LP6.5 (Illus 1). These archaeological sites were located along a 1.5km stretch of the scheme (Illus 2) within a geological landscape of sands and gravel substrata, positioned on high ground close to the Ordie Burn, to the south (LP6.5) and south-east (LP6.2 and LP6.3) of Newmill Cottages and Souterrain (Watkins 1980;Canmore ID 27024), and south-east (LP4) of Gellybanks Standing Stones (Scheduled Monument 1548;Canmore ID 27039).…”

Brochs and the Roman occupation of lowland Scotland

“…Brochs are generally assumed to be exotic structures, alien to the architecture of lowland Scotland, but large timber houses were an established feature of settlement there in the latter part of the first millennium BC: these can be found both north of the Forth, at Scotstarvit (Bersu 1948) and Newmill (Watkins 1980b), and south of the Forth, at Dryburn Bridge (Triscott 1982, 120). The recognition of sophisticated carpentry techniques in crannogs and the complex reconstructions based on poor ground-plans (Reynolds 1979, 29^15) indicate that timber round-houses were probably as elaborate as their more durable counterparts.…”

“…Nevertheless, stone had been used consistently as a component in building materials in the south-east: for instance, timber-laced stone hillfort ramparts were quite widespread, occurring both north and south of the Forth (Feachem 1966, 65-8). Furthermore, towards the end of the first millennium BC and the beginning of the first millennium AD, the use of stone seems to have become more and more common in a variety of settlement forms: thus, duns are found in central Scotland and may partly be pre-Roman in date (Aitchison 1983), while the larger souterrains common in Angus and Strathmore, also with their origins in the pre-Roman period, exhibit skilled drystone architecture (Wainwright 1963;Watkins 1980b). Moreover, the settlement form which predominated in the Tyne-Forth region throughout the Roman period (Jobey 1966), appears to have undergone a transmutation from timber to stone construction (Jobey 1973;Jobey 1977).…”

“…North of the Tay, however, there were fewer defensive and more open settlements in the late first millennium BC (Macinnes 1982, 67-9). Radiocarbon dates now suggest that souterrains had begun to form the foci of settlement in some areas towards the end of the first millennium BC: these took a variety of forms, from large single souterrains associated with a single round-house, as at Newmill (Watkins 1980b), large complex souterrains dominating smaller settlement units, as Carlungie (Wainwright 1963, 83-98), or smaller souterrains and smaller houses as at Dalladies (Watkins 1980a). This arrangement continued throughout the Roman period, but some of the numerous undated enclosures in the area probably belong at least partly to this period.…”