Bronze Age settlement found beneath Aberdeen park

4,000-year-old pottery from the early Bronze Age, the remains of timber roundhouses and evidence of Iron Age smithing are among the discoveries made by archaeologists investigating a proposed park and ride site near Aberdeen.

The Archaeological dig undertaken by AECOM and Headland Archaeology ahead of construction work on the “Park and Choose” site, which is being developed as part of new link road, took place on a “relatively undisturbed” site where archaeological discoveries have been made in the past.
Their finds suggest agricultural, industrial and domestic activity, and show that the site was used from the early Bronze Age (2300BC) right through to the 1800s.
"Domestic occupation in the area has been found in the form of the remains of timber constructed roundhouses, with hearths and remnants of compacted floor and activity surfaces, which so far seem to indicate prolonged occupation on the same site, with phases of rebuilding occurring,” said Archaeologist Steve Thomson.
"The site appears to have been significant over a 2,000 year period with Iron Age occupation and evidence of smithing and domestic life.”
Small pits and post-holes can be seen on the ground - some of them indicating circular roundhouses with their entranceways clearly visible. Partial quern stones, used for grinding cereal crops, have been also been found along with metal working residues and pots containing what Thomson described as “probable fire rakings of meals and everyday life."
Thomson, who said the finds revealed “a wonderful jigsaw of people working and living within a landscape” described how the site provided all its occupants needed right up to the present day.
"The continuity of use of the land is remarkable,” he said. “Clearly a sense of place was important, not purely for practical reasons. Seeing the landscape, even today, helps the team understand why it was a focus for so long for continued use. It is genuinely exciting to be so close and even walk on surfaces our predecessors used thousands of years ago.
"The Headland Archaeology team are genuinely excited by the opportunity to excavate the site, and while there is still much to do to fully understand the picture, once the excavation has been completed, the team have welcomed the opportunity to begin to tell a real story of early life in Aberdeen."
Any archaeological artifacts recovered will be allocated to museums by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel.