Post-excavation: Radiocarbon Dates
| Structure / Phase | Lab code | Material dated | Context | Radiocarbon date, calibrated to 95.4% confidence (two sigma) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
SUERC-26136 |
Cattle tooth |
205 trampled hearth waste |
750 – 390 BC |
| 5 |
SUERC-26148 |
Single grain of Hordeum vulgare var vulgare |
238 first external midden deposit |
740 – 390 BC |
| 5 |
SUERC-26144 |
Cattle distal humerus |
234 old ground surface |
410 – 230 BC |
After 5 |
SUERC-26135 |
Cattle tooth |
171 thick occupation deposit |
400 – 200 BC |
| After 5 |
SUERC-26142 |
Cattle tibia |
130 midden with shells and bone |
380 – 200 BC |
| After 5 |
SUERC-26138 |
Sheep/goat scapula |
102 loose midden over rubble 144 |
210 – 40 BC |
| 3 |
SUERC-26147 |
Salix charcoal |
090 scorched clay in floor |
200 – 40 BC |
| 1 |
SUERC-26145 |
Single grain of Hordeum vulgare sl |
038=049 hearth waste |
160 BC – AD 60 |
| 1 |
SUERC-26143 |
Sheep/goat mandible |
184 occupation deposit under/between paving 124 |
110 BC – AD 60 |
2 and 3 |
SUERC-26146 |
Single grain of Hordeum vulgare sl |
057 trample in both cells |
50 BC – AD 9 |
| 1 |
SUERC-26126 |
Burnt cattle bone/?tooth |
122 midden |
40 BC – AD 130 |
| 1 |
SUERC-26127 |
Burnt horse tooth |
127 hearth/occupation waste |
AD 0 – 140 |
| 1 |
SUERC-26133 |
Cattle tooth |
033 midden/occupation material |
AD 80 -240 |
| 3 |
SUERC-26134 |
Cattle tooth |
036 occupation deposit |
AD 80 – 240 |
| After partial collapse of structures |
SUERC-26132 |
Cattle tooth |
007 sandy midden |
AD 80 – 240 |
| 5 |
SUERC-26137 |
Cattle tooth fragment |
215 hearth waste over paving 220 |
AD 120 – 330 |
| 2 |
SUERC-26125 |
Burnt cattle bone/?tooth |
059 heap of bog iron ore |
AD 130 – 340 |
| Burial |
SUERC-10745 |
Human rib bone |
022 burial |
AD 130 - 390 |
| Latest phase of occupation |
SUERC-26128 |
Cattle tooth |
005 occupation layer on surface of sand dune |
AD 400 – 550 |
The 19 radiocarbon dates, which were funded by Historic Scotland, are listed above from earliest to latest. They have gone a long way towards resolving questions about how long the settlement was occupied and how its different elements evolved. Although there are several anomalous dates, overall they demonstrate the development of the settlement from the middle Iron Age until its abandonment by as early as the second century AD. Structure 5 was constructed first during the middle of the first millennium BC, followed by the other compartments during the last two centuries BC to the first century AD. The collapse of the structures, their being covered with windblown sand and the insertion of the inhumation burial appear to have taken place in relatively short order during the second to fourth centuries AD. A final phase of probably temporary occupation took place on the sand dune that covered the Iron Age building during the fifth to sixth centuries AD. The publication report will consider the implications of these radiocarbon dates within the context of the stratigraphic and artefactual evidence.
