peeblesshire-1967-vol-1/03_064

Transcription

INTRODUCTION: THE EARLY IRON AGE

a third palisaded settlement, on Hillside Knowe (No. 200), ahs been almost entirely obliterated
by a later structure.
Four homesteads enclosed by single palisades have been found in the county. One of
them, on Glenachan Rig (No. 197), shows surface traces of two timber houses, with those of a
third close by outside. On the other hand, the homesteads on White Knowe (No. 208), and
near the Meldon Burn (No. 202), are both Einzelhof steadings containing only a single house
in each case. The fourth homestead, on South Hill Head (No. 205), has an annexe similar to
that of the Castle Hill settlement referred to above, the only difference being that the palisades
bounding the homestead and the annexe respectively converge on either side of a common
entrance.
In several instances enclosures formed by palisades exhibit no traces of houses, but, as has
been explained above (p. 21), this may be due to the fact that they contained houses of a kind
that leave no surface remains, rather than to their having been merely stock enclosures. The
palisaded enclosure on White Hill (No. 207) is the largest of its kind so far recorded. It contains
an area of 1 3/4 acres, which is considerably larger than the enclosures formed by the primary
defences at Hownam Rings ¹ or Castle Law, ² for example, and a little larger than the palisaded
enclosure on Stanshiel Hill. ³ At White Hill, as at Hayhope Knowe, the replacement of the
timber stockades by ramparts and ditches was begun but left unfinished.
The embanked palisades were first discovered during excavations at Harehope (No. 199),
where it was found that what appeared to be simple earthen banks or ramparts had, in fact, had
palisades set in continuous trenches along their crest. No trace of these appeared on the sur-
face, but this may have been due to the thick grass with which the banks were covered; for at
Dead Side (No. 196), where the banks were almost free of vegetation, the slight depression of
the palisade trench was clearly visible. At Woolshears Wood (No. 209), too, the grass on the
enclosing bank was long, and no vestiges of the palisade appeared on the surface. But, shortly
before the date of visit, a Forestry Commission trenching plough had passed over the site,
revealing the stone packing of the palisade at several places along the crest of the bank.
The probable palisaded enclosure at Hogbridge (No. 201) is discussed separately on p. 36.

(iv) HOMESTEADS AND SETTLEMENTS WITH TIMBER HOUSES
(INCLUDING SCOOPED HOMESTEADS AND SETTLEMENTS)

Circular timber houses, similar to those found in palisaded works, have also been noted in the
county, or inferred, in six homesteads and forty-seven settlements surrounded by walls or
banks. The homesteads are all enclosed by boulder-faced, rubble-cored walls, and the dwellings
are indicated in each case by house platforms. The settlements, on the other hand, can be
subdivided into the following five types.
Type A. Fifteen settlements are surrounded by walls and show no evidence of internal quarry-
ing. Of these, ten have walls constructed wholly of stone (Nos. 210, 216-17, 226, 230, 243, 251,
256-7, and 284), while the cores of the boulder-faced walls enclosing the other five settlements
are composed of earth and rubble (Nos. 213, 215, 218, 219 and 328). Traces of ring-groove or

1 P.S.A.S., lxxxii (1947-8), 193 ff.
2 Ibid., lxxxvi (1951-2), 191.
3 Inventory of Roxburghshire, No. 317.

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