Pits, pots and pitchstone ...

... a palimpsest of prehistory in one corner of Scotland

Post-excavation analysis of the results of an excavation carried out by GUARD Archaeology in 2011 in advance of a housing development in Monkton, Ayrshire (south-west Scotland), has revealed evidence of intermittent human occupation of this landscape from the Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, right up into the medieval and post-medieval periods. ‘The earliest identifiable activity on the site,’ said Christine Rennie, who led the excavation and subsequent analyses, ‘was an accumulation of charcoal-rich material that overlay a circular pit, dated to the seventh millennium BC. However, despite the number of pits and post-holes found across the site, no particular pattern or structures could be identified. Botanical analysis by Susan Ramsay suggests that some Mesolithic occupation took place here, although the quantity of carbonized material indicates that the location was re-visited on more than one occasion.‘

Neolithic activity

Artefactual and botanical evidence for Neolithic activity is more apparent, with several excavated pits containing material dating from this period. Five were found to have been fire pits, indicating settlement of some form, however transitory. A range of pottery vessels, backed up by radiocarbon dates indicate occupation across this site from the middle of the fourth millennium BC into the late third millennium BC.
‘For a small collection, the assemblage is unusual in containing sherds of various types of decorated pottery and more plain cooking pots from the same period,’ said Beverley Ballin Smith, who undertook the analysis of the pottery. ‘The range of vessels was dominated by Impressed Wares that are relatively rare for this region of Scotland, and uncommon when compared to other types of Neolithic pottery. The Monkton assemblage fills a gap in the South Ayrshire area and provides information on a range of different pots and decorative motifs.’

Prehistoric ceramic fragments from Monkton

The Monkton Impressed Ware is significant because of the range of rim/collar and body sherds buried and recovered together from pits. The presence of well-formed and highly decorated rim/collars contrasts strikingly with the more sparsely decorated, and less well made body sherds from pots that were in all likelihood cooking vessels. That three pits had this combination of vessels is probably not coincidental, and the sherds could point the way to an understanding of the rituals and meaning associated with the activities in this area. There is a dichotomy between the presence of sherds that are extraordinary and those that are ordinary, those that are unusual and those that are mundane, possibly reflecting broad ritual and domestic activities.
Although the lithic assemblage recovered from Monkton is also numerically small, it adds to the general understanding of the region’s later Neolithic settlement. Apart from two stray microlith-related pieces, a pitchstone microblade, and a small group of mainly quartz artifacts from the roundhouse (Iron Age) and its surroundings, most finds date to the middle/late Neolithic period. The latter were all recovered from pits, or pit surroundings.
‘These lithic finds,’ said Torben Ballin, who carried out the analysis of the flint, quartz and pitchstone artifacts, ‘inform on later Neolithic lithic artefact forms and technology; the exchange of Yorkshire flint, which until now has been somewhat less common in south-west Scotland in comparison with the importation of flint from Antrim; and site activities. A scale-flaked/serrated piece relates to the processing of vegetable matter; a scraper may have been engaged in the processing of hides, although it cannot be ruled out that it was used to process harder materials, like wood, antler or bone; and two arrowheads relate to either hunting or warfare.’

Iron Age roundhouse

The only structure that could be identified was an Iron Age ring-groove roundhouse, one of several such known but unexcavated around Monkton. Botanical remains from a associated Iron Age pit included barley and oats, in contrast to the traces of barley and wheat from the earlier Neolithic pits. Botanical remains from the roundhouse itself indicate that upright timbers and wattle-work woven between these supporting timbers formed the exterior wall of the roundhouse. Very little charcoal was found in the interior post-holes, making it unlikely that the structure was destroyed by fire, while the rotted remains of a wooden post found in one of the post-holes suggests that the site fell into disuse through abandonment. The roundhouse was later truncated by medieval and post-medieval cultivation furrows.

Plan of Iron Age roundhouse at Monkton

Multi-phase sites

‘The site at Monkton is one of a small but increasing number of excavated sites situated on the raised beaches of the Ayrshire coast,’ said Christine Rennie. ‘Recent GUARD Archaeology excavations at the Curragh near Girvan also revealed a multi-phase site, with activity during the Neolithic, Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Further research into these multi-phase sites of Ayrshire, particularly the raised beach coastal sites, is required in order to better understand the patterns of prehistoric settlement in this relatively neglected area of Scotland.’