The excavation of a square-ditched barrow and other cropmarks at Boysack Mills, Inverkeilor, Angus

Murray, Diana; Ralston, Ian; Ashmore, Patrick; Harman, Mary; Shepherd, Ian A G; Thoms, Lisbeth M

doi:10.9750/psas.127.359.386

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The presence of an extensive cemetery directly to the east also begins to makes more sense, because of its proximity to a large settlement (illus 14). Here, the cropmarks reveal evidence for square barrows with both continuous and broken corner ditches, which may suggest, based on the loose chronological parameters provide by the excavated cropmark sites at Boysack Mills (Murray & Ralston 1997) and Redcastle (Alexander 1999), both in Angus, that certain elements of this cemetery were contemporary with the settlement nuclei.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Survey and excavation at Tarradale, Highland

Gregory¹,

Jones²,

Mcgill³

2002

PSAS

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Report on the trial excavation between 1991 and 1993 of a cropmark enclosure. Excavation revealed three possible phases of activity. These include possible Mesolithic activity; a probable unenclosed phase of settlement dating to the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age; and finally a phase of enclosure which may be associated with the formation of a substantial settlement dating to the middle centuries of the first millennium AD. Includes

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Survey and excavation at Tarradale, Highland

Gregory¹,

Jones²,

Mcgill³

2002

PSAS

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“…In some cases, where there were no capstones present, it is possible that timber lids may have covered the graves, although there was no direct evidence for this. The excavation of the deep grave at Boysack Mills (Murray & Ralston 1998) also revealed evidence of a burial placed in a wooden coffin which was then covered with very large stone slabs. Unfortunately, there was no bone survival at Boysack Mills and radiocarbon dates had to be obtained from charcoal within the grave backfill.…”

Section: Discussion Of the Cemeterymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the number of known square barrow sites in Scotland has increased, mainly through aerial photography, few have been excavated and their date is still a matter of debate. Excavation of the site at Boysack Mills, 6.5km to the west of Redcastle, uncovered one complete square barrow and the remains of another (Murray & Ralston 1998). The central burial at Boysack contained an iron ring-headed pin which suggested a date in the first-second centuries ad (ibid, 379).…”

Section: Archaeological Background and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redcastle, Lunan Bay, Angus

Alexander¹,

Carter²,

Church³

et al. 2006

PSAS

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Cropmarks of a cemetery containing square- and round-ditched burials were excavated at Redcastle in 1997 and 1998. A total of sixteen graves was recorded: five in square barrows, two in round barrows and nine unenclosed graves. Another round barrow is clearly visible on the aerial photograph outside the excavation area. Preservation of the graves and the human remains therein varied considerably. Analysis of the bones identified two females, three possible females and one possible male. Radiocarbon dating showed that the burials dated from the third to eighth centuries AD. There was no readily apparent connection between gender or age and the use of square or round ditches to enclose the graves. Some evidence was recovered for Neolithic activity in the area while the remains of a timber-lined souterrain were also excavated. The fill of the souterrain contained a range of artefacts including native and Roman pottery, Roman glass and iron tools. Detailed palaeoenvironmental studies were undertaken of the basal deposits in an attempt to clarify the use of the souterrain. Radiocarbon dates indicate that it was in use prior to and during the first to fourth centuries AD. Includes separately authored reports on

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Transforming Beaker Culture in North-West Europe; Processes of Fusion and Fission

Needham

2005

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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It is the slippery assemblages and the social traditions they represent, that we are trying to precipitate from the mass of beaker data'. Clarke 1970, 33 The pottery we collectively call 'Beakers' is united by the thread of a potting and style tradition, trapped up in that tradition are also expressions concerning what such a pot is for and who it may represent. Both style and those embedded meanings mutate through the long currency of British Beakers. Indeed, the newly emerging chronology for Beaker grave groups suggests that there was one critical point of rapid mutation in both pot form and associated artefacts. This phase is referred to as a fission horizon, c. 2250-2150 cal BC, and it underlines the difficulties that past schemes of steady evolution have run into. In reviewing the continental background for Beaker-carrying cultures, a corridor of Bell Beaker/Corded Ware fusion is perceived along the southern flanks of the Channel. This created a modified spectrum of Beaker culture which stands at the head of the insular phenomenon. The long ensuing currency of Beaker pottery and Beaker graves in Britain does not hold up as a unified, steadily evolving entity. Instead, three 'phases of meaning' can be suggested: 1) Beaker as circumscribed, exclusive culture; 2) Beaker as instituted culture; 3) Beaker as past reference. The fission horizon initiates phase 2.

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The excavation of a square-ditched barrow and other cropmarks at Boysack Mills, Inverkeilor, Angus

Cited by 6 publications

References 17 publications

Survey and excavation at Tarradale, Highland

Survey and excavation at Tarradale, Highland

Redcastle, Lunan Bay, Angus

Transforming Beaker Culture in North-West Europe; Processes of Fusion and Fission

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