A complex enclosure identified by aerial photography at Dunragit
Galloway, was demonstrated by excavation to have been of Late
Neolithic date, and comprised three concentric timber ramped
post-rings, 120–300 m in diameter. The two outer post-rings each
comprised large uprights interspersed with smaller members, probably
forming a continuous palisade. Each was a single-phase structure and
the posts had rotted out. The inner ring had largely been made up of
large, freestanding posts, most of which had rotted away, but some of
which had been deliberately removed, the post-holes being considerably
larger than those of the two outer rings. Where posts had been pulled
out, a number of elaborate deposits had been placed in the crater left
by the post-removal. The entrances to the post-rings are not aligned
and the preferred interpretation is that the monument as a whole had
two phases of construction, in each of which a timber circle was
surrounded by a palisade, and in which the middle post-ring succeeded
the outer, or vice-versa. The enclosure had been preceded by a
post-defined cursus monument in which all the post had been burned in
situ and numerous other post-holes were located on the same axis as
the cursus, extending beyond the monument itself. The most elaborate
entrance, connected with the middle post-ring, is composed of two
parallel lines of features, presumably post-holes, opening toward the
south, and aligned on a large earthen mound at Droughduil, 400 m away.
Droughduil Mote, though recorded as a medieval motte, recalls the
association of various very large mounds with with henges or palisaded
enclosures, as at Silbury Hill, Wiltshire. Excavation demonstrated
that it had been constructed with stepped sides, and that a stone
cairn had been constructed on its summit. A series of optically
stimulated luminescence dates on the accumulated sand over the surface
of the mound demonstrated that it was certainly not medieval, and was
probably Neolithic in date.
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Excavations at Dunragit and Droughduil, 1999–2002
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781782979715
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxbow Books
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter