Excavations at Stirling Castle 1977-1978

Abstract

An excavation and survey were carried out on the Spur Battery and adjacent areas of Stirling Castle (NS/790940) over three phases of excavation. The subsequent findings conformed with the plans of the 16th-century ‘French Spur’ as illustrated by Slezer and Dury. Further evidence of the 16th-century defences was uncovered in the area adjacent to the Queen Anne Battery.     

Excavations at 18 Castle Street (Albion Court), Aberdeen

Abstract

A small terrace of buildings in a lane behind the north side of Castle Street, Aberdeen (NJ945064) was surveyed prior to demolition. Subsequent excavation revealed that it had been constructed as a two-storied row in c. 1650–60. There was a substantial rebuilding c. 1750–60 with the addition of attics lit by dormer windows. Contemporary rebuilding was also taking place on the Castle Street frontages. In c. 1830 further rebuilding was carried out on the southern end of the terrace. By the middle of the 19th century the whole terrace was being rented for multi-tenancy occupation.     

A Note on the Results of Recent Excavations at Camber Castle,Sussex

Abstract

A significant number of clay tobacco pipes in the style of the Ottoman ‘chibouk’ can be found in museums and private collections on the islands of Malta and Gozo. Indeed the smoking of these pipes remains a folk memory with the majority of senior citizens. It became obvious that very few of these artefacts were made locally and that the Maltese, being at the geographical centre of Mediterranean culture, might have received their imports from anywhere.

In 19th-century Tunisia (Malta’s nearest North African neighbour) three-quarters of the European population were Maltese migrants. Therefore, this study set out to discover whether Tunisia was a source of supply.

In Tunis it became obvious that although clay tobacco pipes had turned up in local excavations, little attention had been paid to them and a fuller examination was welcomed. A by-product of this examination was to establish a locally made Tunis pipe, although little evidence was found for trade to Malta in that particular commodity.     

Recent Excavations in the Keep of Farnham Castle,Surrey

Abstract

Several alternative schemes for the dating if Pictish relief sculpture have been advanced during the last century. Representations if artifacts which can be dated archaeologically, decorative devices associated with the Viking Period and details if animal ornament are used to provide new date-ranges for some stones usually dated earlier. The early dating often advanced for some low-relief sculptures is accordingly questioned, and a tentative scheme for the dating if Pictish relief sculpture proposed.     

Excavations at Tilbury Fort,Essex

Tilbury Fort is situated on the N. bank of the Thames 25 miles doumstream from London (TQ 651 754) (FIG. 1). It is the best preserved example of late 17th-century military engineering in England and has been in guardianship since 1950. Plans by the Department of the Environment to alter the visitor access to the site from the riverfront to the landward approach necessitated excavations to establish the original construction of the earthworks, redan and ravelin and to identify the routes and levels of the roadways. Excavations were undertaken in 1973 by Jerry Pratt, concentrating on the ravelin, and in 1980 by the Passmore Edwards Museum. The results of both excavations are presented in this report.     

Excavations at Lochrin Distillery,Edinburgh

Abstract

Lochrin Distillery was founded by John Haig around 1780, at a time when the scale of Scottish distilleries was increasing dramatically and distilling was, briefly, the most significant industry in the land. Nevertheless, frequent increases in excise duty meant that these were challenging times for distillers, and Lochrin was mothballed and re-opened several times before finally closing in 1848. By the end of the century, the distillery buildings had been swept away.

In 2005, Abercorn Archaeology LLP excavated parts of the former distillery prior to redevelopment, concentrating on the still house. Remains of six still bases considered to derive from three phases of construction were recorded, together with the footings of a worm tub and a large basement structure. The excavations have clarified the evolution of the distillery, confirming that large lowland distilleries of the period were dynamic enterprises, frequently adapted in the light of the challenges facing the industry.     

Underwater Excavations at the Etruscan Port of Populonia

Abstract

The 1987/1988 field season at the U-shaped civic ceremonial center of Cardal in the Lurin Valley, Peru, included mapping and excavation of public and domestic architecture. Occupied from 1150 to 800 b.c., Cardal provides evidence of a more elaborate ground plan than was previously recognized, including dual causewayed plazas, and 10 semisubterranean circular courts. Excavations of the public architecture revealed the periodic burial and construction of ritual buildings, including a steep central stairway and an atrium whose exterior wall was decorated with a polychrome mural of a gigantic mouth band with massive fangs and interlocking teeth. The investigations on the pyramid summit also yielded evidence of a free-standing building with a dual altar, and a burial area. Information on domestic architecture and subsistence recovered from behind the public complex is also discussed. Finally, Cardal is compared to Garagay, a coeval U-shaped center in the neighboring Rimac Valley, and it is argued that the evidence available does not support the hypothesis that these monumental centers were constructed by “complex societies” in the traditional sense of the term.     

Excavations at Potovens,near Wakefield

Abstract

The excavation of pottery and clay pipe kilns at Potovens has indicated the essentially local character of the wares produced and the limited nature of their market. From the late 15th century until the third quarter of the 18th-century potteries were being worked on the margins of the common land north of Wakefield, and documentary evidence provides the names of the potters and details of their activities.