Meldon Bridge
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Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 129(1999), 1-118 Meldon Bridge centrthir:a e th df eo millenniu m BCn i Peeblesshire Stephen Speak* & Colin Burgess^ with contributions by T B Ballin, D S Brown, R Coleman-Smith, GreeneT K GriffithsA J , JohnsonM , HodgsonR N , LukeA D , , A MacSween, J Price, J E Roberts, M Savage & J Weyman ABSTRACT Rescue excavations extensivean on cropmark confluence the site Lyneat the of Water Meldonand Burn in the 1970s revealed several episodes of activity. A limited Mesolithic presence is indicated by the stone finds, but more intensive use is attested from the early/mid fourth millennium BC. Widely scattered groups of pits contained Impressed localWarethe of style. Radiocarbon dates chart this activity early/middownthe to third millennium whenBC, massive a timber up long m wall, and 600 tomheight,4 in constructedwas promontory ha shut to 8 offthe between Lynethe Waterand Meldon Burn. A timber avenue led into the enclosure on the north-west; standing posts and stones and settings of posts and stakes were erected; and cremation burials took place in the interior. No cultural material certainlycan associatedbe with this probably phaseit and lasted centurya less.or largeA stockade within mainthe enclosure datedcouldbe not with certainty. disturbedA cist burial, yielding pendant,ajet 'slug' possibleknifeand Food Vessel sherds, havemay been interredof one as the final acts thisin phase. Renewed activity mid/latecamethe in second millennium whenBC, the extensive an usedsite was for cremation cemetery. This involved erecting rows posts,of some standing in pits containing cremations. There was also a burial in a rough cist, and two cremations deposited in Cordoned Urns. There is no evidence for further activity until the Roman period when the road from Newstead to Castledykes was driven through the site, disturbing some of the prehistoric features. There were Roman forts west just the Easter at to Happrew Lyne, largeand and temporary camps at Meldon Bridge itself. One of these partly overlay the prehistoric site, and appeared to have been constructed afterroad.the Long afterwards 18th-centuryan turnpike road laidwas downon top of the old Roman road. At least some of the gravel pits found on both sides of the road were dug in this phase. INTRODUCTION The site known as Meldon Bridge or Meldonfoot lies in the old county of Peeblesshire, now part of Scottish Borders wesGlasgof m o Peeblesf k o tE sout5 ,m k ES w Edinburgf 5 ho m 3 , k 0 7 d han * Tyne and Wear Museums, Archaeology Department, East Lodge, Jesmond Old Cemetery Gates, Jesmond Road, Newcastle upon Tyn1N2 JeNE T Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU 2 | SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1999 (NGR: NT 205 404). It occupies the spur of a gravel terrace within the confluence of the Lyne Water and its tributary the Meldon Burn; the Lyne in turn flows into the Tweed just 1 km to the east (illus 1)t thiA . s poin Uppee tth r Tweed Valley widen t ints ou obasi a flatf no , relatively low- lying land coverin , consisting km som q s e6 terracef go d an t variou sa , m0 OD s18 levelo t p su rimmed by hills rising to 800 m and more. The attractions of the area for settlement and agriculture are obvious, and it has long been intensively farmed. As a result there are no traces of the Meldon Bridge site on the surface. Left to normal fieldwalking it may never have been detected, and certainly its character is unlikely to have been recognized: during the years of excavation, intermittent scrutin generae th f yo l area when unde plouge rth h faile identifo dt y yan relevant archaeological material. Meldon Bridge nestles on the northern edge of the Lyne Basin below the rising heights of Meldoe th n Hills majot liea I . t sa r convergenc routesf eo faca , t whic doubo hn t accounts it r sfo importance in times past. To the north the Meldon Burn valley provides access to the Eddleston Water and thence to Edinburgh and the Forth; westwards the tributaries of the Lyne lead to the Upper Clyde d thencan , o Glasgowt e ; southward Tweee th s d leads upriver into south-west Scotland, and eastwards to the lower Tweed and the North Sea. The present A72 road, which runs throug site hth e from Galashiel Peebled san Biggao st Glasgowd ran onls i ,latese ya th f o t serie f roado s paso st s this way excavatios a , nannouncemene revealedth s wa t I . f plano t o t s improve this modern road at Meldon Bridge, a threat subsequently exacerbated by a water pipeline scheme, which led to three seasons of rescue excavations at the site in 1974, 1975 and 1977 fulls aren 0.6A .f ywa a o a excavated2h , representin entire g enclosure a th almos h f eo 8 % 8 t , 1d 9 an radiocarbon dates were obtaine thir dfo s remarkable monument interin A . m accouns wa t published at the time (Burgess 1976), but the present report supersedes all earlier publications. HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATIONS Meldon Bridg s discoverewa e s originallProfessoy b t Josep wa S r d ai d K fro e han J yr m th publishe Peeblesshire th n di e Inventory (RCAHMS 1967t alignment pi 370 o a ,n s ) a earliese Th . t aerial photographs show features only in the field bordering the edge of the modern Peebles/ Glasgow road A72 e Inventorye ,th .Th plan show gentlpitsf a o sc runninear g north-east froe mth A72 for nearly 100 m. Extending off to the north-west lay a double, parallel row of pits 35 m in total length; this 'avenue t preciselno s i ' y perpendicula poste th so rt formin perimetee gth e th f ro enclosure. A road-widening scheme led to trial excavations at the site of two weeks' duration in August 1974 foun,s uncoverinA72e nexwa th m d t I . o q that s 0 tare n ploughin50 g a f ao penetrated gha d subsoile th o t , destroying everythin t actuallgno t int gravele ycu o th , although alon margine gth s a greate 2 A7 r e build-uoth f f soio p l promise a dgreate r degre f protectiono e . Before th e excavatio fels t wa tha t sitne i eth t migh tboundar a prov e b o et y feature perhap Iroe e th n Ag f so or Roman period, or even a more recent line of tree-planting, but excavation showed that the pits had held posts of considerable size. Also present were smaller 'interval' post-holes suggesting that this might be a timber barrier or giant palisade rather than a timber facade. Although no finds were forthcoming from these pits, the presence of later Neolithic pottery from features within the alignmene th f easters o it c n ar o t n side raised hopes tha timbee tth r barrier, too, migh thaf o te tb date. Soon afte 197e th r 4 seaso nfurthea r serie Professof so Joseph't S K J r s aerial photographs became available, revealing the continuation of the pit alignment southwards from the known Lyn e bane th th f eks o Water a r alignmenline fa s e.a Th northers pitf it o tt sa n limit coul seee db n SPEA BURGESSK& : MELDON BRIDGE, PEEBLESSHIR3 I E a*'* ••• EDINBURGH.:;/'/:--::: ^ fa-uVM I0=^°^m 20 40 Miles ILLU S1 Meldon Bridge: location maps (BasedOrdnancee th n o Survey maps Crown© copyright) SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1999 ILLUS 2 Aerial view of Meldon Bridge (1977/PB1605 — Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland© Crown copyright) turning sharple eas th o lin t t p wit o u kt y a hfurthe r lin f pito e s show n anotheo n r aerial photograph extending up the slope from the Meldon Burn just south of the A72. The complete coursperimetere th f eo , enclosin aren g a , f som coulao ha e8 d thu determinee sb d with some confidenc t abouA sam. e e th 3) t(illu e& tims2 thes s photographea w ene s became availablea , series of radiocarbon dates for samples from the 1974 excavations was produced, including some for the perimeter post-pits. It was now clear that this was indeed a major timber-walled promontory enclosure of the third millennium BC. Plans to run a major water pipeline scheme north/south across the site led to the mounting f muco h more extensive excavation 1975n si broaA . d swathe throug uncovereds site hth ewa , 290 m long, 13 m wide north of the A72, and 10 m wide south of it. This provided the opportunity examino t e post-pit northere th f so n perimeter t becami d an , e clear that thes held eha d much larger posts than wester e thosth n eo n perimeter, investigate 1974n di . These northern perimeter post-pits wer l rampeeal assiso dt erectinn i t postse gth rampe Th . s were extremely difficulo t t identify, raisin possibilite gth y that these feature alsd sha o t existe 197e no th d 4n d ha i pits t bu , been recognized. More potter recovereds ywa , simila thao t r t foun sepulchrala 1974n di d an , / ritual elemen introduces wa t fore th cremationf m o n d i pitsn si , some associated with settingf so ILLU S3 Excavated areas, 1974-7 6 | SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1999 stake postsd san .