east-lothian-1924/05-047

Transcription

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

thick and which is not continued along the precipitous south-eastern flank,
is about 1100 yards in length. That it has been occupied from very early
times is proved by the relics found, and the numerous structural remains and
refuse heaps betoken the presence of a considerable population. There have
been two forts on Traprain, the earlier fort occupying an area much smaller
than that which is enclosed by the more recent ramparts. The wall of the
first fort is different in character from the massive outer wall and encloses a
much smaller area round the summit of the hill. It can only be traced in
parts, and there only the dilapidated facing of the wall is to be seen.
Miscellaneous. - Along the valley of the Whitadder near Millknowe on the
line of the old Herring Road, which crosses the hills from Dunbar to Lauder,
are several large enclosures surrounded by a single earthen rampart, probably
cattle folds or sheep pens for the convenience of drovers passing over these
tracks. Along the steep northern slope of Newlands Hill, Garvald, is a
rampart about 150 yards long with a ditch on the upper side. Towards one
end of the ditch are a number of contiguous hollows excavated in the bottom
of the trench. The Herring Road from Dunbar to Lauder, an old hill track,
can be traced in many places, and on the east side of Spartleton Edge an
excavated road can be traced for some distance following a south-easterly
course. Near these tracks on the Dunbar Common can be seen the earthen
foundations of old cattle folds and human shelters. In many parts of the
Lammermuirs at a considerable elevation, as a rule about the line where the
grass and heather meet and within a few hundred yards of a water supply,
small excavated hollows, oval or circular, generally banked on the lower side
only, occur usually in groups. It is believed that these may be the remains of
shielings or the little structures built to shelter the people in olden days,
when they took their flocks to the hills during the summer. Fine groups are
found on Harelaw (No. 261) and near Johnscleugh. That shielings must have
been very numerous along the northern slopes of the Lammermuirs is seen
in the recurrence of the word in place names of that district such as Stobshiel,
Mayshiel, Penshiel, Gamelshiel and Bransleyshiel.
Very few burials dating to the early Iron Age have been identified in
Scotland. The extensive cemetery of this period discovered at Gullane (No. 30)
the first recognised in the country, was destroyed by a mob after only one
cairn out of at least forty had been examined. Five skeletons were discovered
under a cairn of stones measuring 20 feet in length by 13 feet in breadth.
A spiral bronze finger ring and the blade of an iron knife were found in
the cairn. The short cist burials at Seacliff appear to belong to the early
Iron Age.
There are also cemeteries of a later period, in which the bodies were
buried in an extended position. Where the orientation was noted it was
found to be east and west, implying that they belonged to the Christian
period. No relics were found in the interments, the general practice of
depositing grave goods in the tomb having ceased with the introduction of
Christianity. (cf. p. xiv). Burial grounds of this description have been
discovered at Penicuik, North Berwick, Belhaven near Dunbar, at the junction
of the road 3/4 mile east of Innerwick, at Woodend Stenton, at Nunraw, where
twenty-four graves were uncovered, and at 300 yards north of Lennoxlove

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