Monumental Cemeteries of Pictland: Excavation and Dating Evidence from Greshop, Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch, Perthshire

Juliette Mitchell; Martin Cook; Lindsay Dunbar; Rachel  Ives; Gordon Noble

Monumental Cemeteries of Pictland: Excavation and Dating Evidence from Greshop, Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch, Perthshire

Juliette Mitchell, Martin Cook, Lindsay Dunbar, Rachel Ives, Gordon Noble

AOC Archaeology Group

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Few Pictish barrow and cairn cemeteries of northern and eastern Scotland have been excavated, but in 2012 aoc Archaeology excavated sites at Greshop in Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch in Perthshire. Both were small cemeteries with between three and five barrows excavated, and despite plough truncation, particularly in the case of Greshop, the sites revealed important information about the monument construction and the individuals buried there, as well as providing a suite of new radiocarbon dates. The destruction and ongoing threat to all cropmark sites, including scheduled monuments, is also discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	21-34
Number of pages	14
Journal	Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal
Volume	26
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

At Bankhead aoc are grateful to the Douglas’ of Bankhead of Kinloch Farm who funded the works, and Malcolm Sharp from SAC. The works were completed under the careful attention of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, and special thanks go to Sarah Malone. Thanks are also due to the team
of excavators, Rob Engl, Kevin Paton, Jake Steatfeild- James iii and Jim Knowles for their effort and commitment. In relation to Greshop we are grateful
to Royal Haskoning who funded the works, and in particular Wendy Johnston. The works at Greshop
were completed under the supervision of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service, and special thanks go
to Bruce Mann. Thanks are also due to the team of excavators: Alan Duffy, Charlie Morris and Thomas Bradley-Lovekin for their effort and commitment. During both excavations, John Gooder managed the fieldwork programme while Ciara Clarke managed post-excavation, contributed advice and editing skills. The site plans for both sites were produced by Stefan Sagrott and modified by the University of Aberdeen for publication. The lead author’s research on early medieval barrow and cairn cemeteries (Mitchell 2020) was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (ah/L503915). The article was also supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (rl-2016-069). Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers who provided useful feedback that enhanced the final interpretations of the paper.
This paper was published with the aid of a grant from the University of Aberdeen.

Keywords

Barrow cemeteries
cropmarks
early medieval
square barrows
square cairns
Pictish barrows

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Cite this

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title = "Monumental Cemeteries of Pictland: Excavation and Dating Evidence from Greshop, Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch, Perthshire",

abstract = "Few Pictish barrow and cairn cemeteries of northern and eastern Scotland have been excavated, but in 2012 aoc Archaeology excavated sites at Greshop in Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch in Perthshire. Both were small cemeteries with between three and five barrows excavated, and despite plough truncation, particularly in the case of Greshop, the sites revealed important information about the monument construction and the individuals buried there, as well as providing a suite of new radiocarbon dates. The destruction and ongoing threat to all cropmark sites, including scheduled monuments, is also discussed.",

keywords = "Barrow cemeteries, cropmarks, early medieval, square barrows, square cairns, Pictish barrows",

author = "Juliette Mitchell and Martin Cook and Lindsay Dunbar and Rachel Ives and Gordon Noble",

note = "At Bankhead aoc are grateful to the Douglas{\textquoteright} of Bankhead of Kinloch Farm who funded the works, and Malcolm Sharp from SAC. The works were completed under the careful attention of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, and special thanks go to Sarah Malone. Thanks are also due to the team of excavators, Rob Engl, Kevin Paton, Jake Steatfeild- James iii and Jim Knowles for their effort and commitment. In relation to Greshop we are grateful to Royal Haskoning who funded the works, and in particular Wendy Johnston. The works at Greshop were completed under the supervision of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service, and special thanks go to Bruce Mann. Thanks are also due to the team of excavators: Alan Duffy, Charlie Morris and Thomas Bradley-Lovekin for their effort and commitment. During both excavations, John Gooder managed the fieldwork programme while Ciara Clarke managed post-excavation, contributed advice and editing skills. The site plans for both sites were produced by Stefan Sagrott and modified by the University of Aberdeen for publication. The lead author{\textquoteright}s research on early medieval barrow and cairn cemeteries (Mitchell 2020) was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (ah/L503915). The article was also supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (rl-2016-069). Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers who provided useful feedback that enhanced the final interpretations of the paper. This paper was published with the aid of a grant from the University of Aberdeen.",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

day = "1",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

pages = "21--34",

journal = "Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal",

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T2 - Excavation and Dating Evidence from Greshop, Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch, Perthshire

AU - Mitchell, Juliette

AU - Cook, Martin

AU - Dunbar, Lindsay

AU - Ives, Rachel

AU - Noble, Gordon

N1 - At Bankhead aoc are grateful to the Douglas’ of Bankhead of Kinloch Farm who funded the works, and Malcolm Sharp from SAC. The works were completed under the careful attention of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, and special thanks go to Sarah Malone. Thanks are also due to the team of excavators, Rob Engl, Kevin Paton, Jake Steatfeild- James iii and Jim Knowles for their effort and commitment. In relation to Greshop we are grateful to Royal Haskoning who funded the works, and in particular Wendy Johnston. The works at Greshop were completed under the supervision of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service, and special thanks go to Bruce Mann. Thanks are also due to the team of excavators: Alan Duffy, Charlie Morris and Thomas Bradley-Lovekin for their effort and commitment. During both excavations, John Gooder managed the fieldwork programme while Ciara Clarke managed post-excavation, contributed advice and editing skills. The site plans for both sites were produced by Stefan Sagrott and modified by the University of Aberdeen for publication. The lead author’s research on early medieval barrow and cairn cemeteries (Mitchell 2020) was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (ah/L503915). The article was also supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (rl-2016-069). Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers who provided useful feedback that enhanced the final interpretations of the paper. This paper was published with the aid of a grant from the University of Aberdeen.

PY - 2020/11/1

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N2 - Few Pictish barrow and cairn cemeteries of northern and eastern Scotland have been excavated, but in 2012 aoc Archaeology excavated sites at Greshop in Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch in Perthshire. Both were small cemeteries with between three and five barrows excavated, and despite plough truncation, particularly in the case of Greshop, the sites revealed important information about the monument construction and the individuals buried there, as well as providing a suite of new radiocarbon dates. The destruction and ongoing threat to all cropmark sites, including scheduled monuments, is also discussed.

AB - Few Pictish barrow and cairn cemeteries of northern and eastern Scotland have been excavated, but in 2012 aoc Archaeology excavated sites at Greshop in Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch in Perthshire. Both were small cemeteries with between three and five barrows excavated, and despite plough truncation, particularly in the case of Greshop, the sites revealed important information about the monument construction and the individuals buried there, as well as providing a suite of new radiocarbon dates. The destruction and ongoing threat to all cropmark sites, including scheduled monuments, is also discussed.

KW - Barrow cemeteries

KW - cropmarks

KW - early medieval

KW - square barrows

KW - square cairns

KW - Pictish barrows

M3 - Article

VL - 26

SP - 21

EP - 34

JO - Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal

JF - Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal

ER -

Monumental Cemeteries of Pictland: Excavation and Dating Evidence from Greshop, Moray, and Bankhead of Kinloch, Perthshire

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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