Investigating Burnt Mounds in Clydesdale during Motorway Construction

Summary Two small burnt mounds were excavated as part of the programme to mitigate the impact of motorway construction in the Crawford area. The excavations followed a research strategy designed to address questions of date and function. This paper surveys the various competing theories about burnt mounds and how the archaeological evidence was evaluated against those theories. Both sites produced radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age and evidence to suggest that they were cooking places. In addition, a short account is presented of two further burnt mounds discovered during the construction of the motorway in Annandale.

Excavations of Two Iron Processing Sites at Scabgill and Boghall, Clydesdale, 1991

Summary Excavations were carried out on two sites containing traces of iron ore processing, as part of the N-W Ethylene Pipeline Project, funded by Shell Chemicals UK Ltd. The excavations at Scabgill revealed a small part of an iron ore processing site apparently dating to the later medieval period or earlier. At nearby Boghall, a small furnace was excavated, which, while not itself datable, was also used in the processing of low grade, bog iron ores.

Rescue Excavations at Plean Castle, Stirling District

Summary Excavations within the courtyard of the fifteenth century towerhouse were undertaken to fulfil conditions of Scheduled Monument Consent. They revealed some new details of the medieval structures, but encountered few stratified deposits. Most secure archaeological deposits appear to have been removed during the early twentieth century restoration.