Inherited Place TOC

An I nherited P lace

Contents

Summary

xv

Résumé: French summary xvii Zusammenfasung: German summary xix List of contributors xxi List of illustrations xxv List of tables

xxxiii

Acknowledgements xxxvii Part I INTRODUCING BROXMOUTH 1

An Iron Age inheritance

1.1 Background 1.2 Location, topography and geology 1.3 Discovery and excavation 1.4 Excavating the archive: 30 years on 1.5 Iron Age studies: from the 1970s to the 2010s 1.6 Structure of the volume

2 Stratigraphy and phasing

3 3 3 5 7 11 13 15

2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 The recording system 15

2.2.1 Context recording 15

2.2.2 Finds recording 16 2.3 Visual material: presentation and limitations 16 2.4 Interpretations: then and now 16 2.5 Defining the key areas 16

2.5.1 General 16

2.5.2 The South-west Entrance area 17

2.5.3 The West Entrance area 17

2.5.4 The East Entrance 17

2.5.5 The interior 17

2.5.6 The cemetery 17 2.6 Phasing 17 2.7 Survival and truncation 19 v

A n I n h e r it e d Pl ac e Part II  THE SETTLEMENT SEQUENCE 3 Phase 1: The Early Iron Age settlement 25 ian armit, rachael kershaw and jo mckenzie

3.1 Introduction 25

3.1.1 Broxmouth before the Iron Age 25

3.1.2 Survival of Phase 1 features 26

3.1.3 Characterising the surviving Phase 1 deposits 26

3.1.4 Chronology 26 3.2 The palisade and early ditch 26

3.2.1 The palisade 26

3.2.2 The early ditch 28

3.2.3 Interpretation: the early enclosure 28 3.3 Early houses and associated activity 29

3.3.1 House A 29

3.3.2 House B 33

3.3.3 Reconstructing the structural form of Houses A and B 37 3.4 Interior burials 38 3.5 Broxmouth, Dryburn and the Early Iron Age in south-east Scotland 39

4 Phases 2 and 3: The hillfort 43 4.1 Introduction 43

4.1.1 General 43

4.1.2 The enclosure sequence 43

4.1.3 The excavated ditch profiles 44

4.1.4 The ditch infills and evidence for collapsed ramparts 45 4.2 The East Entrance 47

4.2.1 General 47

4.2.2 The ditch sequence 47

4.2.3 The Inner Ditch 48

4.2.4 The Middle Ditch 48

4.2.5 The Outer Ditch 48

4.2.6 Surface features 49

4.2.7 Interpretation 49 4.3 The Western Ditches 49

4.3.1 General 49

4.3.2 The Inner Ditch 49

4.3.3 The Middle Ditch 50

4.3.4 The Outer Ditch 51

4.3.5 The Outermost Ditch 51 4.4 The Trial Trench 51

4.4.1 General 51

4.4.2 The Inner Ditch 51

4.4.3 The Middle Ditch 52

4.4.4 The Outer Ditch 52 4.5 Phase 2: the early hillfort 53

4.5.1 General 53

4.5.2 Chronology 54

4.5.3 The ditch terminals and ramparts 54 vi

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4.5.4 Phase 2a 55

4.5.5 Phase 2b 56

4.5.6 Phase 2b rampart decay and post-rampart activity 63 4.6 Phase 3: the later hillfort 64

4.6.1 General 64

4.6.2 Chronology 64

4.6.3 Phase 3 in the Inner Ditch West 64

4.6.4 Phase 3a at the south-west: the first Inner Ditch recut 65

4.6.5 Phase 3b: the South-west Entrance Gateway and Middle Ditch recut 66

4.6.6 Phase 3c 70 4.6.7 Phase 3d 81

4.6.8 Phase 3/4 activity 83 4.7 Discussion 86

4.7.1 Redesign and renewal: rhythms of construction and modification 86

4.7.2 The nature of the enclosure system 87

4.7.3 Symbolism and defence 91

4.7.4 Activity inside the hillfort 91

4.7.5 The end of the enclosure system 92 5

Phase 4: The post-hillfort settlement ian armit, rachael kershaw and jo mckenzie

93

5.1 Introduction 93

5.1.1 Characterising Phase 4 93

5.1.2 Chronology 93

5.1.3 The excavated structures and other Inner Ditch deposits 93 5.2 Earliest ditch fills 96 5.3 Structure C 96

5.3.1 Stage 1: construction and occupation 96

5.3.2 Stage 2: secondary use of the interior 97

5.3.3 Stage 3: abandonment (and later re-use?) 98 5.4 Structure D 98

5.4.1  Stage 1 98

5.4.2  Stage 2 99 5.5 Structure F 100 5.6 Phase 4 remains elsewhere on the site 101 5.7 Discussion 101 6

Phase 5: The settlement and associated cemetery ian armit, rachael kershaw and jo mckenzie

103

6.1 Introduction 103 6.2 The cemetery 103

6.2.1 Discovery and excavation 103

6.2.2 The graves 103

6.2.3 Associated pits and other features 108 6.3 The Phase 5 (and Phase 5/6) middens in the Inner Ditch West 109

6.3.1 General 109 vii

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6.3.2 6.3.3 6.3.4 6.3.5

Primary middens and associated deposits 109 Secondary middens and associated deposits 110 Tertiary middens and surfaces (Phase 5/6) 111 Discussion 112

6.4 Grave 3 112 6.5 Discussion 113

6.5.1 Characterising the cemetery 113

6.5.2 Characterising the Phase 5 occupation 114 7 Phase 6: The Late Iron Age village 115

lindsey bĂźster and ian armit 7.1 Introduction 115

7.1.1 General 115

7.1.2 Chronology 115

7.1.3 Characterising Phase 6 115

7.2 The South-west Entrance: enclosure, gateway, roadway and peripheral structures 117

ian armit and jo mckenzie

7.2.1 The roadway 117

7.2.2 Fragmentary structure 117

7.2.3 The Inner Bank and gateway 117

7.2.4 Disuse and redeposition 120

7.2.5 Interpretation 121 7.3

House 1 and underlying deposits 121 lindsey bĂźster, ian armit and jo mckenzie 7.3.1 Introduction 121 7.3.2 Earliest activity 121 7.3.3 Initial Phase 6 activity 121 7.3.4 The roundhouse 121 7.3.5 Unassigned Phase 6 pits 123 7.3.6 Interpretation 126

7.4

House 2 127 7.4.1 Introduction 127 7.4.2 Structure 127 7.4.3 Internal features 131 7.4.4 Floors and paving 132 7.4.5 External features 132 7.4.6 Interpretation 133

7.5

House 3 133 7.5.1 Introduction 133 7.5.2 Stage 1 133 7.5.3 Stage 2 137 7.5.4 Interpretation 137

7.6

House 4 and associated features 138 7.6.1 Introduction 138 7.6.2 Stage 1: the scooped roundhouse 139 7.6.3 Stage 2: recutting and rewalling 141

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7.6.4 7.6.5 7.6.6 7.6.7 7.6.8 7.6.9

Stage 3: stone paving and spatial reordering 145 Stage 4: rewalling and repaving 147 Stage 5: rewalling and repaving 149 Stage 6: decay and abandonment 150 Pits north of House 4 150 Interpretation 150

7.7 House 5 152

7.7.1 Introduction 152

7.7.2 Stage 1: the double ring-groove roundhouse 152

7.7.3 Stage 2: the scooped roundhouse 153

7.7.4 Stage 3: rewalling and repaving 155 7.7.5 Stage 4: abandonment 156

7.7.6 Interpretation 156 7.8 House 6 157

7.8.1 Introduction 157

7.8.2 The double ring-groove roundhouse 157

7.8.3 Internal and external features 157

7.8.4 Interpretation 161 7.9

House 7 161 7.9.1 Introduction 161 7.9.2 Stage 1: the scooped roundhouse 161 7.9.3 Stage 2: stone paving 167 7.9.4 Stage 3: major repaving and conflagration 167 7.9.5 Stage 4: rewalling 168 7.9.6 Stage 5: disuse and infilling 169 7.9.7 Interpretation 170

7.10

House 8, associated and later activity 170 lindsey büster, ian armit and rachael kershaw 7.10.1 Introduction 170 7.10.2 House 8 170 7.10.3 Later Phase 6 paving and associated features 172 7.10.4 Interpretation 174

7.11 Discussion 175

7.11.1 Introduction: the enclosed village 175

7.11.2 Roundhouse morphology 176

7.11.3 Roof construction 179

7.11.4 House pairs 180

7.11.5 Rooms, partitions and upper floors 181

7.11.6 Entrances and doorways 182

7.11.7 Hearths 182

7.11.8 Pits 184

7.11.9 Structured deposition, foundation and abandonment 184

7.11.10 How were the roundhouses used? 185

8 Phase 7: Late visitations 187 8.1 Introduction 187 8.2 Grave 4 187 8.3 Later activity 187 ix

A n I n h e r it e d Pl ac e Part III TIME, CULTURE, MATERIALITY 9 Chronology: radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling 191 derek hamilton, jo mckenzie, ian armit and lindsey büster

9.1 Introduction 191 9.2 Results and calibration 192 9.3 Methodological approach 204 9.4 Samples and the model 205

9.4.1 Inner Ditch West 205

9.4.2 Inner Ditch West sequence 207

9.4.3 Inner Ditch West houses 210

9.4.4 The South-west Entrance 212

9.4.5 Inner Ditch south-west 212

9.4.6 Middle Ditch south-west 213

9.4.7 Outer Ditch south-west 214

9.4.8 South-west Entrance: structural features 214

9.4.9 Interior structures 214

9.4.10 Burials 218 9.5 Model results 9.6 Discussion

220 223

10 The finds 225 10.1 Materials and materiality (mhairi maxwell) 225

10.1.1 Introduction 225

10.1.2 Preservation and recovery 225

10.1.3 Phasing and chronology 226

10.1.4 Biographies of materials 228

10.1.5 The materiality of Broxmouth 233 10.2

Pottery 234 10.2.1 Later prehistoric pottery (ann m acsween) 234 10.2.2 Samian pottery ( louisa campbell) 249 10.2.3 Middle Neolithic pottery (trevor cowie) 249 10.2.4 Post-Medieval ceramics (nigel d melton) 250 10.2.5 Baked clay/daub 250 10.2.6 Residue analysis (mhairi maxwell and carl heron) 251

10.3 Worked bone and antler (fraser hunter, anne-marie gibson and julia gerken) 251

10.3.1 Introduction 251

10.3.2 Sources of raw materials 251

10.3.3 Working evidence 254

10.3.4 Production technology and its development 256

10.3.5 Object range 257

10.3.6 Decoration 260

10.3.7 The assemblage in context 261

10.3.8 Catalogue 264

10.3.9 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy of the antler drum (SF278) (mhairi maxwell, adrian evans and howell g m edwards) 309 x

An I nherited P lace 10.4

Coarse stone 309 10.4.1 The rotary quern stones (dawn mclaren) 309 10.4.2 Saddle querns (dawn mclaren and ian armit) 330 10.4.3 Stone balls ( h e m cool and m j baxter) 333 10.4.4 Shale and cannel coal (fraser hunter) 348 10.4.5 Other worked stone ( h e m cool) 357

10.5

Lithics (torben bjarke ballin) 372

10.6

Copper alloy 372 10.6.1 Discussion 372 10.6.2 Catalogue 375 10.6.3 XRF analysis (susy kirk, david dungworth and fraser hunter) 378

10.7

Iron (fraser hunter) 378 10.7.1 Introduction 378 10.7.2 Discussion 379 10.7.3 Catalogue 380 10.7.4 Metallographic analysis (gerry mcdonnell) 382

10.8 Metallurgical and vitrified material (gerry mcdonnell) 393

10.8.1 Introduction 393

10.8.2 Methodology 393

10.8.3 Results 394

10.8.4 Discussion 397

10.8.5 Conclusions 398

10.8.6 Catalogue 399 10.9 Roman glass ( h e m cool) 402 10.10

Glass bangles and the dating of the Phase 6 hoard (james bruhn) 402 10.10.1 Introduction 402 10.10.2 Discussion 402 10.10.3 Dating of the Phase 6 hoard 405 10.10.4 General observations 405 10.10.5 Catalogue 406

10.11 Coral bead (fraser hunter) 407 10.12 Worked shell ( sonia o’connor) 408 Part IV PEOPLE, SUBSISTENCE, ECONOMY 11 The dead

ian armit, naomi neale, fiona shapland, hannah bosworth and jo mckenzie 11.1 Introduction 11.2

411 411

Human remains from the cemetery and interior burials 411 11.2.1 Introduction 411 11.2.2 Preservation and completeness 412 11.2.3 Sex assessment 412 11.2.4 Age estimation 412 11.2.5 Stature 413 xi

A n I n h e r it e d Pl ac e

11.2.6 Metric data 414 11.2.7 Health and disease 414 11.2.8 Trauma 417 11.2.9 Skeleton catalogue 417

11.3

Human remains in unlikely places: the disarticulated remains 419 11.3.1 Introduction 419 11.3.2 Preservation and condition 420 11.3.3 Sex assessment 420 11.3.4 Age estimation 420 11.3.5 Health, disease and trauma 421 11.3.6 Working 425

11.4 Chronology 425

11.4.1 General 425

11.4.2 The cemetery 425

11.4.3 The isolated graves 425

11.4.4 The disarticulated fragments 425 11.5

Stable isotope analysis

427

11.6 Death and burial at Broxmouth 428

11.6.1 Enemies and ancestors 428 11.6.2 Burial traditions in East Lothian and beyond 430 12

Reconstructing economy and subsistence at Broxmouth

433

12.1

Introduction

433

12.2

Animal bone ( julia e m cussans) 433 12.2.1 Introduction 433 12.2.2 Recording 433 12.2.3 Taphonomy 434 12.2.4 Species presence and abundance 436 12.2.5 Age at death and animal husbandry 441 12.2.6 Sex 445 12.2.7 Butchery and body part representation 449 12.2.8 Cattle biometry 455 12.2.9 Non-metric traits 455 12.2.10 Other domesticates 460 12.2.11 Specific bone deposits 461 12.2.12 Pathology ( jeanette wooding) 463 12.2.13 Discussion of the large mammal assemblage 465 12.2.14 Micro-mammals ( lenny salvagno) 469

12.3

Bird bone ( lenny salvagno) 471 12.3.1 Introduction 471 12.3.2 Method 471 12.3.3 Results 471 12.3.4 Discussion 473

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Fish ( hannah russ) 473 12.4.1 Introduction 473 12.4.2 Method 474 12.4.3 Results 474 12.4.4 Discussion 474

12.5

Crustacea ( hannah russ) 475 12.5.1 Introduction 475 12.5.2 Method 475 12.5.3 Results 475 12.5.4 Discussion 476

12.6 Marine molluscs (ian armit, paul renner, steffan golby and jo mckenzie) 476

12.6.1 Introduction 476

12.6.2 Method 476

12.6.3 Results 476

12.6.4 Discussion 477

12.6.5 Conclusion 478 12.7

13

Carbonised plant macrofossils and charcoal

478

Broxmouth and its neighbours: the Iron Age landscape and ian armit

479

rachael reader

13.1 Introduction

479

13.2

480

Data and methods

13.3 Enclosure morphology 13.4

482

Distribution and location 484 13.4.1 Upland/lowland divisions 484 13.4.2 Settlement clusters and the ‘Traprain gap’ 486 Part V DISCUSSION

14 Place and memory in the Iron Age of south-east Scotland 14.1 Introduction

491 491

14.2 The great unknowns: evaluating taphonomic processes at Broxmouth

491

14.3

Birth, life and death of a hillfort: a speculative summary

494

14.4

Living and dying at Broxmouth 499 14.4.1 Introduction 499 14.4.2 How many people lived at Broxmouth? 499 14.4.3 How did the community organise itself? 501 14.4.4 Specialisation and co-operation 503 14.4.5 Dealing with the dead 504

14.5

Farmscapes, wildscapes and seascapes 504 14.5.1 The farming economy 504 14.5.2 Wild resources and the sea 505 14.5.3 Landscape and movement 506 xiii

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Social landscapes, hinterlands and networks

506

14.7

Place, memory and landscape

511

14.8 Research directions

Appendix References Index

xiv

513 515 517 533