lanarkshire-1978/03_141

Transcription

No. 241 -- CRANNOGS -- No. 242

[Drawing inserted]

Fig. 66. Fort, West Whitecastle (No. 240)

all other traces of the outer rampart and has even
encroached upon the NE sector of the inner rampart.
The latter sector has been further obscured by planta-
tion bank and an associated small turf enclosure. What
seems to have been the only entrance is situated in the
WSW arc of the inner rampart. The interior of the fort,
which is crossed by a post-and-wire fence, shows no
signs of structures.

011415 -- NT 04 SW -- November 1976

CRANNOGS

241 Crannog, Green Knowe (Site). The position of
this crannog can just be distinguished as a slight swelling
in the surface of the marshy ground 650m NE of Coulter
Shaw, between Cow Castle (No. 226) and Shaw Hill.
It is described in the New Statistical Account ¹ as an oval
mound measuring about 120 feet by 90 feet (36.6 m by
27.4 m) and standing to a height of 2 feet to 3 feet (0.6 m
to 0.9 m) above the surrounding moss. The mound,
which had by this time been severely denuded by quarry-
ing, was composed of stones consolidated by upright
timbers; a causeway linked the crannog to firmer
ground.

042335 -- NT 03 SW -- July 1970

242 Crannog, Hyndford. The remains of this crannog
are situated among trees 130m NNW of Hyndford.
Formerly an artificial islet near the margin of a small
loch, it now appears as a low, roughly circular mound
measuring about 23 m across and surrounded by a dry,
ditch-like hollow, 0.8 m in average depth, which varies
in width from 4.0 m on the N to as much as 12.0 m on
the SW. The following description is largely based on
the published report of excavations carried out on the
site in 1898. ²
The crannog was founded on a platform composed of
a layer of brushwood laid directly on the bed of the loch
and covered by a layer of fine clay, which formed the
floor of a circular house measuring about 10.4 m in
diameter within a wall constructed on a framework of
upright wooden posts. The posts were disposed some-
what irregularly in what appeared to have been two, or
possibly three, closely-set concentric rings, about 15 m
in diameter over all, with their stumps projecting up to
0.6 m above the clay floor, and with their bases firmly
lodged in the brushwood layer beneath. Although their
primary function was to provide the outer framework
for the house, they would also have served to consolidate
the substructure. It should be noted that the limits
of the excavation extended only a short distance outside
the outer ring of posts, leaving a strip, between 3.0 m
and 4.5 m wide, round the perimeter, which could not
be fully investigated because of flooding.
Within the central area enclosed by the posts there
were at least three hearths, each consisting of a roughly
circular area of paving about 0.6 m in diameter, sur-
rounded by ashes. To counteract the gradual subsidence
of the underlying brushwood foundation, the levels of
both the floor and the hearths had been periodically
raised, and one of the hearths had been rebuilt on two
occasions.
A large quantity of ashes, charcoal and animal bones
was discovered throughout the layer of mixed debris,
up to 0.9 m deep, that had accumulated over the floor.
A particularly heavy concentration of rubbish, situated
partly within and partly outside the circle of piles on the
SE, probably represented the principal kitchen-midden.
In addition, however, to this organic material the site
yielded a large assemblage of relics remarkable alike
for their variety as for their quantity. The collection, which
is in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland,
comprises mainly objects of metal, glass, pottery and
stone. The metal objects include a torc (Pl. 5F) con-
sisting of bronze beads strung on a thin iron rod;

1 NSA, vi (Lanark), 346; PSAS, vi (1864-6), 160-1.
2 PSAS, xxxiii (1898-9), 373-87.

-- 108

  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

CorrieBuidhe- Moderator, M.McConnell, AMRM

  Location information for this page.