Excavation of a multi-phase site at Succoth
Enclosure under excavation showing packing stones, photo copyright WoSAS
Fieldwork has just finished on the excavation of a multi-phase site at Succoth, in the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. This work was carried out in advance of construction of housing, in response to a condition that was attached to the grant of planning consent by the Park Authority on the advice of the West of Scotland Archaeology Service. The site was identified as having the potential to produce significant archaeological material due to its position overlooking the head of Loch Long and at the mouth of Glen Loin, in a position likely to have been just above the shoreline. We therefore advised the National Park to ask for a programme of evaluation trenching to assess whether buried deposits survived within the potential development area, and this was carried out by Dr Clare Ellis of Argyll Archaeology Ltd in November of 2014. The initial evaluation identified a series of spreads of charcoal-rich material and a number of pieces of worked quartz and flint, and as a result of this, we advised that a further phase of work would be required to excavate and record this material prior to its being removed by construction.
Sections across Neolthic ditches, photo copyright WoSAS
This second phase of work, which was again carried out by Argyll Archaeology Ltd, involved the removal of topsoil from the development area under archaeological supervision, followed by the excavation and recording of the features revealed by this process. These comprised a small complex of ditches, of apparent Neolithic date, which were present towards the northern end of the development area. The earliest fill of these features appeared to be composed of burnt material, which seems to have been cut by a second phase of activity, which included the backfilling of the ditch with sand and gravel; this appears to have been followed by a period of in situ burning within the ditch, then finally two smaller curvilinear ditches were dug, two of which were lined with posts. The purpose of these features is not immediately clear, something that is not unusual on Neolithic sites - it is possible that post-excavation analysis of the recovered material may shed light on their function, but as a minimum, should provide a greater degree of confidence as to the dates of the phases.
The Neolithic features were cut by a later circular enclosure, which is shown in the picture at the top of this page. This was visible as a double line of stones packed into a narrow circular trench, with the stones presumably having supported some form of organic walling, possibly either wood or wattle. No material was recovered to provide a date for this feature, but it is likely to post-date the Neolithic - however, it could conceivably be anywhere from Bronze Age to early Medieval. This may also be resolved during post-excavation analysis, as although on-site work has been completed, the post-excavation analysis of the recovered material and the publication of the results has still to take place.