Dates and destruction at ancient dwelling
DIGGING INTO THE PAST with Dr Murray Cook
Gallow Hill dig
I promised you an update on the results of my dig on the broch at Gallow Hill near the wonderful Argaty Red Kite Centre and this is being written on the last day.
The picture is the result of 11 days of work by 15 people and I admit at first glance it’s rather underwhelming, but….wait for it!
This is the bottom course of the outer edge of the broch wall; it looks like it has been completely destroyed by ploughing.
Now, the site hasn’t been ploughed in living memory and I think it probably took place in the 18th century.
This is obviously disappointing but the collapsed wall preserved an outer fence or palisade that contained a burnt in situ post.
This means that we can carry out a radiocarbon date….one of the key aims of the dig. It also means that someone destroyed the site…but who?
At present we don’t know but the radiocarbon date will give a clue. Was it perhaps the Romans?
Certainly, they destroyed Leckie broch, but we also think that sometimes people destroyed their own homes, perhaps after a death? Of course, if you live in what looks like a chimney with a bone dry timber and thatch roof, perhaps accidental fires were very common!
Another unexpected bonus was that, as the wall had been destroyed, we were able to look at its construction and the foundation layer of the wall was associated with lots and lots of quartz.
This looks like some form of consecration layer - perhaps a way to ensure that the gods approved of the broch and that its inhabitants would have a long and prosperous life.
At the moment it’s looking like the offering failed, and that the building was consumed by fiery destruction.
What else does the site contain?
Well we’ll have to wait to the next season!