The history of crannog survey and excavation in Scotland

Dixon, Nicholas

doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1991.tb00289.x

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The keeping of live animals on the crannogs is further evidenced by bracken, traditionally used for bedding and as part of the crannog flooring 27 . A Romano-British period crannog from southern Scotland revealed over 1 m of fern (bracken) at its base 28 , whilst underwater excavations of Oakbank crannog in Loch Tay revealed layers of bracken laid down, probably as flooring 29 . Coprophilous fungal spores and the unusual amounts, and pollen clusters of, ribwort plantain pollen, were most likely from sheep/cattle/goat faeces or stomachs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Brown

Hardenbroek

Fonville

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Direct evidence of ancient human occupation is typically established through archaeological excavation. Excavations are costly and destructive, and practically impossible in some lake and wetland environments. We present here an alternative approach, providing direct evidence from lake sediments using DNA metabarcoding, steroid lipid biomarkers (bile acids) and from traditional environmental analyses. Applied to an early Medieval Celtic settlement in Ireland (a crannog) this approach provides a site chronology and direct evidence of human occupation, crops, animal farming and on-site slaughtering. This is the first independently-dated, continuous molecular archive of human activity from an archeological site, demonstrating a link between animal husbandry, food resources, island use. These sites are under threat but are impossible to preserve in-situ so this approach can be used, with or without excavation, to produce a robust and full site chronology and provide direct evidence of occupation, the use of plants and animals, and activities such as butchery.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Brown

Hardenbroek

Fonville

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The typical view expressed in general works is that they can date anywhere from the prehistoric period right up until the 17th century AD (Morrison 1985;Dixon 1982;1991).…”

Section: Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The chronological range of crannogs is, like their distribution, also considered to be extremely wide. The typical view expressed in general works is that they can date anywhere from the prehistoric period right up until the 17th century AD (Morrison 1985;Dixon 1982;1991 -3469). Even earlier evidence than this has been suggested from the neolithic island dwelling of Eilean Domhnuill in Loch Olabhat, North Uist (Armit 1989;1996 43-54;Dixon 1989, 21).…”

Section: Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Islets through Time: The Definition, Dating and Distribution of Scottish Crannogs

Henderson

1998

Oxford J Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scottish crannogs or lake dwellings are considered to be structurally varied sites with an extremely wide distribution, used from the neolithic up until at least the 17th century AD. As a result assumptions about the dating and form of individual sites are considered impossible without excavation. This paper demonstrates that the current classifications lack utility and that the long chronology view is misleading. It is suggested that there is a far more subtle spectrum of identifiably distinct monuments which can be arranged into types, and that these types have, on the basis of the current radiocarbon evidence, a chronological significance.

show abstract

“…The first recorded investigations of the marine crannogs in the Firth of Clyde date to the end of the nineteenth century, when the earliest stages of Scottish wetland archaeology were coming to an end (Dixon, 1991). The first excavation, at the site of the Dumbuck crannog, was undertaken in 1898–89, under the direction of John Bruce and William Donnelly (Bruce, 1900).…”

Section: Archaeological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Site Formation and Building Local Contexts through Wiggle-Match Radiocarbon Dating: Re-Dating of the Firth of Clyde Crannogs, Scotland

Jacobsson

Hale²,

Hamilton

2017

Eur. j. archaeol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There are at least four wooden intertidal platforms, also known as marine crannogs, in the Firth of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The interpretation of these sites partly depends on their dating and, if coeval, they could point to the presence of a native maritime hub. Furthermore, the spatial coincidence with the terminus of the Antonine Wall has led to speculation about the role they may have played in Roman-native interaction during the occupation of southern Scotland in the early first millennium calad. Hence, a better absolute chronology is essential to evaluate whether the marine crannogs were contemporary with one another and whether they related to any known historic events. This article presents results of a wiggle-match dating project aimed at resolving these uncertainties at two of the sites in question, Dumbuck and Erskine Bridge crannogs. The results show that the construction of these sites pre-date direct Roman influence in Scotland. Furthermore, the results indicate that the two sites were built at least 300 years apart, forcing us to consider the possibility that they may have functioned in very different historical contexts. Other findings include technical observations on the fine shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve near the turn of the first millenniabc/adand potential evidence for persistent contamination in decayed and exposed sections of waterlogged alder.

show abstract

The history of crannog survey and excavation in Scotland

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Islets through Time: The Definition, Dating and Distribution of Scottish Crannogs

Exploring Site Formation and Building Local Contexts through Wiggle-Match Radiocarbon Dating: Re-Dating of the Firth of Clyde Crannogs, Scotland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About