Newsletter – Issue 139, August 2002
Cramond Excavations (from Val Dean)
It’s finally happened – the EAFS site at Cramond has been backfilled, de-fenced and generally tidied up. It is rapidly disappearing beneath a forest of sprouting vegetation. Some of us have vivid memories of trying to clear enough space to lay out the first trench in 1988. Over the years, we have been extremely fortunate in having so many people willing to spend their leisure time digging out more than 250 cubic metres of earth and stones – and then putting it all back! And they also had to clean, number and bag all the bits of pottery, glass, iron and bones, etc. A heartfelt thank-you to all those people.
We are now assessing the 40,000 finds – minus the heaps of shells and pantile chunks which were counted, recorded and then reburied. A comprehensive catalogue has to be compiled, and specialists sought to report on the various finds categories. This will inevitably incur expense, leading to applications for grants, etc. A group of members is meeting at City Archaeologist’s premises on a regular basis to tackle this work.
Planned Outings
1) A Cremation Circle, Burnt Mound and Bastle House at Daer Reservoir
Tam Ward and his associates from the Biggar Museum Trust have been busy over the last six months excavating several sites on the high ground to the west of the Daer Reservoir. Amongst the finds have been an extremely well preserved cremation circle and a burnt mound, adding yet further to the plethora of Neolithic and Bronze Age material from this part of Lanarkshire. They have also uncovered a bastle house (a small fortified building associated with 16th century Border Reivers).
A visit has been arranged to this site above the Daer Reservoir for 1400 hrs on Sunday, 11th August.
2) East Coldoch Excavations
Dr D J Woolliscroft, a prominent excavator of Roman and Iron Age sites, will be investigating an Iron Age settlement in Stirlingshire in the near future. Arrangements have been made to visit the site at 1400 hrs on Friday, 23rd August.