Dig hopes to uncover Scotland's 6,000-year-old farming origins

9 hours ago

David KnoxBBC Scotland News

News image — Cathy MacIver from AOC Archaeology is leading the excavation at Sprouston

BBC A woman with blonde hair and glasses, wearing a blue t-shirt, looks at the camera — Cathy MacIver from AOC Archaeology is leading the excavation at Sprouston

An archaeological dig is hoping to uncover more secrets from a farming enclosure older than Stonehenge, which was first spotted from the sky as crop marks in the 1970s.

Earlier surveys on grazing fields near the village of Sprouston in the Borders have identified buildings and ditches believed to date from early Neolithic times all the way through to the medieval period.

The possibility of locating the world's northernmost causeway-accessed Stone Age settlement is exciting experts the most.

Archaeologist Cathy MacIver said: "If the proposed interpretation of this feature as a causewayed enclosure is correct, this would be the most northerly example and an exceptional monument."

Four men around a big excavation dug out for an archaeological dig in the Borders. Two are using shovels to take dirt out of the hole, one has a wheelbarrow and the other is on his hands and knees next to an orange bucket. — The dig is taking place over three weeks on the banks of the River Tweed

The Neolithic period began in what is modern-day Scotland about 6,000 years ago, with farming communities arriving from continental Europe and replacing the hunter-gatherer way of life.

As well as creating farming communities by introducing domesticated crops, they brought livestock to their new surroundings and began constructing permanent homes and enclosures.

While many other buildings dating from the Neolithic period have been identified and excavated across Scotland, the discovery of a causeway-accessed enclosure would lead to a rethink over Stone Age farming advancements and people distribution.

Cathy MacIver told the BBC that the main feature they were investigating is a segmented enclosure ditch.

She said: "It's been proposed to be an early Neolithic causewayed enclosure - you get loads of them down south, but if this is proved to be early Neolithic then it would be the most northerly example yet.

"We know we have early Neolithic activity across Scotland with early farmers moving into the area and clearing areas of woodland.

"What this would add is an understanding that these causeway enclosures aren't something that's really limited to the south and that the same practices were also coming north over time."

Three pieces of bone held in someone's palm — Animal bones with signs they had been butchered have been found in one pit

Two small sharpened pieces of stone in someone's palm — Mesolithic cutting blades which date back around 6,000 years have been unearthed

Crop marks were first identified on the riverside fields at Sprouston in the 1970s.

Further aerial imagery and geophysics surveys have been conducted more recently, and have confirmed beneath-the-surface structures and soil anomalies.

As well as the possibility of hosting a 6,000-year-old Stone Age enclosure, it is expected the dig will uncover remains of Iron Age and medieval ditches and buildings.

During the first week of excavations, the Sprouston dig has unearthed 8,000-year-old Mesolithic cutting tools, early Neolithic scrapers, an Iron Age stone weight, bones from butchered animals and even an unidentified copper-alloy coin, believed to date from the Roman period.

Destination Tweed An aerial shot looking down across green and yellow fields with a river in the foreground — Crop markings at Sprouston were first noticed in the 1970s

Once the excavation has concluded, several months of dating and analyses will follow to help build up the picture of human life on the banks of the Tweed at Sprouston over the past eight millennia.

The findings will also feed into a wider Destination Tweed project, involving five other archaeological sites along the river.

Project officer Charlotte Douglas said: "It's a very wide timescale that they're investigating here at Sprouston - several thousand years worth of activity.

"You can tell it must have been a very appealing place to live in the past so communities have repeatedly chosen to settle at this spot on the bend of the river.

"Destination Tweed has carried out a number of excavations, geophysical surveys and other sorts of work all along the river to be able to put together a really interesting insight into the landscapes and the communities who've lived here.

"It will allow people to appreciate the area even more, not just recent history but prehistory going back thousands of years."

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a blue jacket, looks at the camera — Charlotte Douglas from the Destination Tweed project said the spot must have been an appealing place to live

While other Destination Tweed excavations have already unearthed exciting insights into life along the Borders river since the Stone Age, the Sprouston dig is the first on an already recognised scheduled monument.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is just one of the projects backers.

Dr Susan O'Conner, from HES, said: "These community-based archaeology initiatives are vital for improving and sharing our understanding of Scotland's history."