Excavations of three cropmark sites at Melville Nurseries, Dalkeith

room with a view

“…The similarities between these sites may indicate a continuation of settlement type and construction methods from the Late Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age, a continuity that may also be reflected in the Ravelrig lithic assemblage, which conforms to several of the characteristics that Humphrey suggests are indicative of Iron Age lithic production (Humphrey 2003: 20). This continuity in settlement form is known from several sites in the east of Scotland, notably Douglasmuir (Kendrick 1982), Melville Nurseries, Dalkeith (Raisen & Rees 1996), Craig's Quarry (Piggott 1957-8) and Dryburn Bridge (Triscott 1982), perhaps reflecting a geographical trend that bridged the transition between the Bronze and Iron Ages.…”

Excavations on the Route of the Dalkeith Northern Bypass, 1994-95 and 2006

“…As such, the features would appear to be isolated and without contemporary structural or settlement associations, at least within the excavated areas. In some cases similar features have been located in native settlement contexts without evidence of Roman activity, such as Melville Nurseries, Eskbank (Raisen & Rees 1995) and Dundee High Technology Park (Gibson & Taverner 1990). However, pit 2027 certainly cannot be ruled out as being of Roman military origin on the basis of the excavated evidence, an ambiguity of interpretation contributed to by a lack of secure evidence for the functions of those excavated 'ovens' that can be more securely associated with Roman temporary camps.…”

“…Excavations 1km to the south-east of Castlesteads at Thornybank (Rees 2002) have revealed a ring-groove structure of similar size and type to the Castlesteads examples, found in close association with a pit alignment, traces of an associated bank and a parallel palisade. The Lamb's Nursery and Melville Nursery sites in Dalkeith (Cook 2000;Raisen & Rees 1995) also produced structures of this type. Further afield, many examples of ring-groove house type have been excavated in the Lothian plain area, such as those at Broxmouth (Hill 1982), Dryburn Bridge (Dunwell 2007) and St Germains (Alexander & Watkins 1998).…”

“…Ring-groove roundhouse construction is evidenced in the Lothians in the first millennium bc at sites such as Melville Nurseries (Raisen & Rees 1995, 770-400 cal bc; GU-2888) and Dryburn Bridge (House 9; Dunwell 2007, 770-410 cal bc, AA-53704).…”

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“…Elsewhere in the Lothians these types of structures have yielded dates from the Middle Bronze Age (Lamb's Nursery, Dalkeith (Cook 2000) and Maybury Park (Moloney & Lawson 2007)) to the Later Iron Age (Monktonhall, Inveresk (Hanson 2002), Fishers Road, Port Seton (Haselgrove & McCullagh 2000) and Melville Nurseries (Raisen & Rees 1995)). Structure 4 is Iron Age in date and it seems likely that Structures 5 and 6, which are similar in morphology and size and form a cluster with Structure 4, are of similar date.…”