The Timber Monuments of Neolithic Scotland

In northern Europe the construction of largescale ceremonial enclosures appears to have been a crucial element of what it was to be Neolithic. In this chapter we explore the significance of monumental architecture during the third millennium BC in lowland Scotland. The construction of monuments in this region involved the radical reshaping of the landscape through massive investments in labour that transformed the environment. Through a case study exploring the palisaded enclosures at Forteviot and at Leadketty — perhaps now one of the most extensively excavated and studied monument complexes of Britain and Ireland — both in central Scotland — we explore the significance of the processes involved in the creation, maintenance and destruction of large-scale monuments in the later Neolithic. In particular, we focus on the social significance of construction and on the longterm history of a landscape that remained a focus for acts of monument construction and ritual practice over the course of a millennium or more.

2003

"The aim of this work is to contribute to the quantitative analysis and development of testable hypotheses concerning archaeological sites in the landscape. The initial intention was to ensure that valid and reliable outcomes regarding the original use of the freestanding megalithic monuments of western Scotland were possible through its use of appropriate spatial and statistical analyses. Whilst this objective remains, it is no longer the sole objective. Rather, more complex theories regarding the nature of the cosmology of those who built the monuments and the possible cosmological connections between them, other monuments and the environment are considered. Based upon the methodologies and outcomes of the initial investigations, further development of sound hypotheses and robust experimental designs that could be used in conjunction with GIS data and applications was then possible for those more complex considerations. This project attempts to incorporate systematic project design and quantitative analysis in archaeological investigations. Conferred 2003 Keywords: landscape archaeology, archaeoastronomy, cosmology, methodology, GIS, viewshed, orientation, spatial analysis, visibility, directionality, Scotland, megaliths, Bronze Age, Neolithic Age. "

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 2007

The large and growing number of timber circles recorded in Scotland as cropmarks on aerial photographs testifies to the important part they must have played in the later Neolithic monumental repertoire. However, this record of plough-levelled sites remains poorly understood, partly due to the problems involved in the interpretation of timber circles from cropmarks and the limited research that has taken place. In addition, it is rarely integrated with evidence from excavations. This paper, based upon research undertaken in 2003 for a Masters dissertation (Millican 2003) and recently updated, is an attempt to remedy this imbalance and outlines the current evidence for timber circles in Scotland and the new insight this provides into these enigmatic sites.

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2012

This paper considers the impact of landscape and environment upon monuments built during the Neolithic period. Taking a group of timber monuments of Neolithic date in the Nith Valley region, Dumfries and Galloway, it examines their relationship to the topography and environment and seeks to explain their uniquely linear nature, a feature of timber monuments built in this region. It discusses the importance of incorporating plough-levelled sites into landscape approaches to monuments, the potential impact of vegetation upon visibility patterns and the value of considering the immediate locations of monuments, arguing that monuments built upon a heightened awareness of landscape topography, arising out of a long-term relationship with place.

New Light on the Neolithic of Northern England, 2020

The role of monuments of earth, timber and stone has long been identified as one of the key issues in the Neolithic archaeology of northwest Europe. And, as Andrew Sherratt once argued (1997: 148), it was the further development of monuments of prodigious size and scale, organised into ‘complexes’ that developed over an appreciable period of time, that set Britain and Armorica apart from central Europe in the later Neolithic. The defining characteristic of a monument may be seen as either its massiveness, its durability, or its commemorative capacity (Thomas 2013: 315), and consequentially archaeologists have addressed the phenomenon in a variety of different ways, only some of which are mutually compatible. Monument building has been identified as a conspicuous expenditure of effort, which may serve as a manifestation of elite power (Trigger 1990: 124). The scale of construction might represent an index of social complexity, reflected in the ability to mobilize labour (Renfrew 1973). But alternatively, building projects could be a means of bringing social cohesion or personal prestige into being, rather than reflecting any pre- existing situation, and this might prove a risky undertaking (Richards 2004: 108). The imposing scale and permanence of monuments can render them as presiding features of landscapes over the long term, and in traditional societies lacking state institutions, they can be connected with forms of authority that devolve from the past (Bradley 1984: 61). But monuments are also meaningful architecture, whose component materials may be significant, and which may serve as the settings for assemblies and performances of various kinds, some but not all of which might be ritualized in character. Furthermore, their physical endurance may have the result that their meanings change over time in ways that were not intended by their builders (Osborne 2014: 5). Therefore, the progressive development of regional groupings of monuments may be either planned or haphazard, with each new structure responding to and transforming the significance of earlier acts of construction.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014

Journal of Archaeological Science. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2012

This report outlines the unexpected discovery of a group of Late Neolithic structures at Greenbogs, Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, along with a series of later prehistoric features in the mid-1990s. Recent radiocarbon dating shows that two four-post timber structures found here date to the period 2890–2490 calbc. These were found in association with a range of other features including an oval structure and diffuse areas of burning. The closest parallels for the four-post structures can be found in a slowly growing body of Late Neolithic timber structures, some being interpreted as roofed dwellings and others as roofed or unroofed monuments. This article places the Greenbogs structures in their wider context, identifies a number of unexcavated parallels in the aerial record and addresses the nature of the four-post structures found across Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland and suggests that four-post structures were a more common element of Late Neolithic architecture than previously ide...

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2012

This paper considers the impact of landscape and environment upon monuments built during the Neolithic period. Taking a group of timber monuments of Neolithic date in the Nith Valley region, Dumfries and Galloway, it examines their relationship to the topography and environment and seeks to explain their uniquely linear nature, a feature of timber monuments built in this region. It discusses the importance of incorporating plough-levelled sites into landscape approaches to monuments, the potential impact of vegetation upon visibility patterns and the value of considering the immediate locations of monuments, arguing that monuments built upon a heightened awareness of landscape topography, arising out of a long-term relationship with place.

This report outlines the unexpected discovery of a group of Late Neolithic structures at Greenbogs, Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, along with a series of later prehistoric features in the mid-1990s. Recent radiocarbon dating shows that two four-post timber structures found here date to the period 2890–2490 cal bc. These were found in association with a range of other features including an oval structure and diffuse areas of burning. The closest parallels for the four-post structures can be found in a slowly growing body of Late Neolithic timber structures, some being interpreted as roofed dwellings and others as roofed or unroofed monuments. This article places the Greenbogs structures in their wider context, identifies a number of unexcavated parallels in the aerial record and addresses the nature of the four-post structures found across Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland and suggests that four-post structures were a more common element of Late Neolithic architecture than previously identified. A common building type appears to have been shared across large areas of Britain and Ireland in a variety of contexts, from the seemingly mundane to the more ‘charged’, as part of elaborate monument complexes. The later prehistoric features identified at Greenbogs include a concentration of Middle Bronze Age features including graves containing cremated human bones, one with an upright urn, and a number of Iron Age pits and other features.Dieser Bericht stellt die unerwartete Entdeckung einer Gruppe spätneolithischer Strukturen bei Greenbogs, Monymusk, in Aberdeenshire vor, die dort zusammen mit einer Reihe jüngerer vorgeschichtlicher Befunde in der Mitte der 1990er Jahre angetroffen wurden. Jüngst vorgenommene Radiokarbondatierungen zeigen, dass zwei hier gefundene Vierpfostenbauten in die Zeit von 2890–2490 cal bc datieren. Diese wurden in Zusammenhang mit einer Reihe weiterer Befunde freigelegt, darunter eine ovale Struktur und diffuse Brandstellen. Die nächsten Parallelen für die Vierpfostenbauten finden sich in einer wachsenden Zahl spätneolithischer Holzbauten, von denen einige als bedachte Gebäude interpretiert werden und andere als Monumente mit oder ohne Dach. Dieser Artikel stellt die Strukturen von Greenbogs in ihren weiteren Kontext, identifiziert eine Reihe noch nicht ausgegrabener Parallelen auf Luftbildern und spricht den Charakter der Vierpfostenstrukturen an, die aus dem Spätneolithikum Großbritanniens und Irlands bekannt sind; er schlussfolgert, dass Vierpfostenstrukturen ein weit häufigeres Element der spätneolithischen Architektur waren als bisher bekannt war. Ein gemeinsamer Gebäudetyp scheint in einem großen Raum in Großbritannien und Irland genutzt worden zu sein, jedoch in unterschiedlichen Kontexten, von scheinbaren ‚alltäglichen‛ zu mehr ‚bedeutungsgeladenen‛ als Teil elaborierter Monumentalkomplexe. Die jüngeren vorgeschichtlichen Befunde von Greenbogs umfassen eine Konzentration von Befunden aus der mittleren Bronzezeit, einschließlich Gräbern mit Leichenbrand, darunter eine mit einer aufrecht stehenden Urne, sowie eine Anzahl eisenzeitlicher Gruben und weitere Befunde.Este informe presenta el inesperado descubrimiento a mitad de los años 90 de un grupo de estructuras del Tardo Neolítico en Greenbogs, Monymusk en Aberdeenshire, junto con una serie de hallazgos prehistóricos más tardíos. Dataciones al radiocarbono recientes muestran que dos de las estructuras de cuatro postes de madera encontradas datan al periodo 2890–2490 cal a.C. Éstas fueron halladas asociadas a una variedad de otras evidencias, que incluían una estructura ovalada y zonas difuminadas en las que se veían indicios de fuego. Los paralelos más cercanos para las estructuras a cuatro postes se encuentran en un grupo cada vez mayor de evidencia de estructuras de madera pertenecientes al Tardo Neolítico, algunas de las cuales han sido interpretadas con viviendas techadas y otras como monumentos techados o al descubierto. Este artículo sitúa las estructuras de Greenbogs en un contexto más amplio, identifica en los archivos de fotografías aéreas una serie de paralelos aún no excavados y cuestiona la naturaleza de las estructuras de cuatro postes encontradas a lo largo del Tardo Neolítico de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda. El trabajo propone que las estructuras de cuatro postes eran más comunes en la arquitectura del Tardo Neolítico de los que se había identificado previamente. Un tipo de edificio frecuente parece haber sido compartido a lo largo de extensas zonas de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda en una variedad de contextos, desde el aparentemente mundano al más ‘significativo’, como parte de elaborados complejos monumentales. Los hallazgos prehistóricos más tardíos identificados en Greenbogs incluyen una concentración de restos de la Edad del Bronce Media que incluyen tumbas con restos óseos humanos incinerados, una con una urna en posición vertical, y un número de hoyos de la Edad del Hierro junto con otros restos.

The Antiquaries Journal

This paper presents the results of a survey project investigating a complex of prehistoric archaeological sites at Lochbrow, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. An Early Neolithic timber cursus, Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age timber circles and Bronze Age round barrows were first recorded as cropmarks on aerial photographs in the 1980s and 1990s. The Lochbrow Landscape Project set out to investigate and understand this lesser-known complex of prehistoric sites and their layout in the landscape using non-destructive survey techniques, including geophysical survey, experiential survey and re-assessment of aerial photographs. A pilot survey was undertaken in 2010 followed by a series of short field seasons from 2011 to 2015. Interpretation of the results from geophysical survey has proved challenging because of strong geological and geomorphological signals, but has been successful in detecting both the features known from aerial photographs and additional archaeological features. ...