Today our teams headed back into the field, the survey team exploring the landscape of lairig Gartain, the digital media team worked hard with the material collected earlier in the week to develop an audio visual installation piece for our open day at the NTS centre on the 12th.
Survey: Samantha Bodiam
We went to lower Lairig Gartain to do a walkover survey. We spread out in a long line and walked parallel to the path. We saw a few features that we marked with flags for further investigation, but they all turned out to be geological.
We then looked for a site that had previously been documented, to see if it could be recorded in greater detail.
Here the group split into two. Half of us surveyed that site (a small circular stone platform) and another half explored an area close by where there was a depression in the peat. While interpreting these sites, we realised that we were probably looking at an area of peat cutting and an associated drying platform.
Excavation: Edward Stewart
Today we continued excavation the collapse layers within the structure, and with the help of some local volunteers began exploring possible midden features on the structure’s exterior. Under the collapse layer inside we identified several secure occupation deposits with rich organic inclusions and diagnostic finds which suggest that this accumulation above our slab floor may date to the 17th century. Special finds incuded some possible imported pottery, some nice slipware dining wares, a bronze hair pin and two coins – a William and Mary and a George (?) coin.
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