Tayside Fife Archaeol J 8

Five locations -- Duncrub, Mountstewart, Ballendrick, Upper Gothens and Nethermuir - with scatters of flaked flint and other stone recovered by fieldwalking were excavated. Only Nethermuir was certainly associated with contemporary dug features: one produced a radiocarbon date of 3370--3020 cal BC, broadly contemporary with the Cleaven Dyke and the Littleour structure nearby. These assemblages were all associated with water or boggy areas and perhaps linked to hunting or waterfowling.

Features representing different phases of Neolithic and Iron Age origin were identified. Many of the more substantial features were Early Neolithic. At least six clusters of pits with charcoal-rich fills containing pottery and carbonised plant remains were recorded. Much Neolithic pottery was recovered from nine large, deep and stratigraphically complex pits. Four small Iron Age souterrains were excavated: two produced rotary querns, charcoal and charred timber. These souterrains had probably been timber-lined and rapidly backfilled. Adjacent features may represent structures above ground associated with the souterrains. Includes separately authored reports on:

While the Pictish symbols carved on the walls of the Wemyss caves have been extensively recorded, little excavation has been undertaken on the deposits around the caves although coastal erosion is now considerable. Excavations and observations indicated that most of these deposits were derived from colluvium and rock fall from the clifftops. Artefacts were derived partly from activity on the clifftops and partly from the shoreline, perhaps including the caves. Some discrete deposits occurred in the coastal stratigraphy, including two medieval burials.

A sizeable group of Scottish White Gritty Ware medieval pottery from antiquarian excavation of mounds or middens in Tentsmuir Forest is described and discussed, and recommendations made about the future research.

Archaeological evaluation of a derelict walled garden in the grounds of the house, probably dating from remodelling of the grounds in 1902, revealed the nature and survival of several internal features, including a summer house, glasshouses, paths and stone settings. Subsequent archaeological recording, documentary evidence and cartographic research shed further light on its history and development.

Timbers from Elie Granary were analysed to discover more about the history of the building and for their potential contribution to the development of dendrochronology for recent historic buildings. Analysis resulted in two oak and two pine chronologies, of which one is so far dated absolutely. A group of oak timbers proved to be north German, felled between AD 1802 and 1818, later than expected, which indicates a previously unknown phase of development at Elie Harbour. This provides the first example of dendro-dated and provenanced early modern oak in a Scottish building and is also the first Scottish example of such late import of oak.