The Palisaded Settlements at Harehope, Peeblesshire 175 Location of Harehope
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PALISADEE TH D SETTLEMENT HAREHOPET SA , PEEBLESSHIRE. EXCAVATIONS, 1960 . FEACHEMW . 'byR , M.A., M.SC., F.S.A., F.S.A.SCOT. I INTRODUCTION THESE structures are situated at a distance of 700 yds. NE. of Harehope farm-house heigha t a gentl e f 110d o t th . O.D an . 0slopft n eE o . Crailzif eo e Hille para th , f o t ridge forming the watershed between the Flemington and Meldon Burns, 4 miles NW. of Peebles. An,earthwork of generally similar appearance lies 1,100 yds. to the SSW., and another the same distance to the NE. (fig. i). The open, well- drained land in the vicinity of these monuments is alt under grass pasture, in con- tras mano t t y comparable hillsides within view upon which heather predominates. settlemente Th s were chose excavatior nfo n durin preparatioe gth Inventore th f no y of Peeblesshir Royae th y leb Commissio Anciene th n no t Monument f Scotlano s d because they are typical examples of a class of earthwork of unknown affinities that has been recorded throughout southern and eastern Scotland. Typically, a structure of this class is a sub-oval enclosure - often with a suggestion of the subrectangular - forme shalloa y db w ditc eithen ho rearthe w sid lo f whic o ea ns i h banke Th . banks meet roune entranc e ditce headth th th dt a f h, occasionallyo s or e o tw , entrances. In greater Tweed-dale alone 23 such structures survive (fig. a).1 While three times as many earthworks of unknown date and purpose are in addition recorded in the same area, none conform closely enough with the above specification to warrant their inclusion here. This is not to say, of course, that some of them may t belonsame no th eo gt periodevidenco n t bu , e wil available b l e until excavations have been carried out. The Commissioners decided that the excavation of the Harehope earthwork might help to throw some light on this widespread type of structure, and the work was don Juln Augused i yan t indebte1960m a Commissionere I th . o t d o t d an s members of the staff for support and assistance. All the recording and drawing wer Feachem. eW undertake. R s , Mr whos y nb e wor kacknowledgI e with particular gratitude. Permissio excavato nt havo t d e edailan y readils accessite th ewa o t sy given by the proprietor, Mr A. Boyd, and a grant towards the expenses involved, and tools with which to work, were generously provided by the Society of Anti- quaries of Scotland. e excavationTh s wil e describeb l e followinth n i d g e variousectionth d san , features wil discussee b l interpreted dan Section di n III. 1 These earthworks average th , e internal dimension 16followsy s a b 0 . e ft.ft - ar ,0 In :whicf s20 o e har ventory of Roxburghshire, number , 15953 , , 1606s52 , 165, 323, 647, 865(4), 865(6), 865(7), 874, 943, 948, 950, 1000; Inventory of Selkirkshire, 140, 143, 147; in Peeblesshire, Quarter Wood Side, Harehope, Lyne Burn and Nether Stewarton whicr fo ,Inventorye hse forthcoming Berwickshire,n i ; Over Hartside. THE PALISADED SETTLEMENTS AT HAREHOPE, PEEBLESSHIRE 175 LOCATION OF HAREHOPE HAREHOPE .OTHEOTHER IRON AGE 0 SETTLEMENTS & FORTS —-.' IOOO FT. CONTOU R FIG. i. The National Grid Reference of the site is NT 203448 EXCAVATIOE TH . II N The appearance of the settlements can be seen from the plan (fig. 3). It is clear thasuccessivo tw t e structural phase representede sar , each forme ditca y db h with a bank on either side but one considerably smaller than the other. While their entrances almost coincide defencee th , s diverg eithen eo r sid thif eo s point until they become completely separated alss i ot I .clea r tha smallee th t r structur latere th s ei , as its outer bank overrides the inner one of the larger. When the two structures are separated, they appear as in fig. 4. 176 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , THE i" CHEVIOT "' A •iS:': 2676 . i /:.---. • '> V'Vx .-••/': X , : ,0 •-:.:.:---:/..--- RWF IO 2O CONTOUR. MILES 1200 FEET 366 METRES 15 2O 25 3O 35 4O KILOMETRES FIG. 2. Earthworks of Harehope Type in Greater Tweed-dale A section taken on the surface from E. to W. from, the entrance right across the t oveinterio defencee ou opposite th r d th an rn o s e side showe . oveft 5 r 2 drisa f eo the whole site. This line was used as a base from which two systems of lo-ft. squares with 2-ft. baulks were laid out. One of these enveloped the S. side of the entrance othee places th wa rd dan well withi interioe hopne th th en ri tha t trace internaf so l structures, none of which were visible on the ground, might be discovered. This latter system, called describe s i Sit , eA d first. (i) Site A (fig. 5) When the turf was removed the roots of the grass were found to extend to the natural crushed rock surface some 6 in. below. Three contiguous sherds of medieval pottery (fig. 8, i) came from the grass-roots. When the turf had been removed, various settings of stones could be seen as well as areas of concentrations of stones and boulders laid flat which could be described as coarse paving. It soon became clear tha settinge th t stonef so s were chock-stone palisada n si e trench thad e an ,tth coarse paving represente attempn da mako t t enaturae parth f o t l rocky 'floor' less uneven. In the event, three separate successive structures, all in contact with each THE PALISADED SETTLEMENTS AT HAREHOPE, PEEBLESSHIRE 177 HAREHOPE ^..-.•..,,,.,11,,i, ^^^MMi.M.,.,rf,,^/|i}{v •* :*'''^'x'i% PLAN KMF RWF 3OO FEET 9O METRES FIG. 3 other, were disentangled fro palisadee mth post-holespavinge 2 2 th , t d i an ,d an , wil conveniene b l describo t t e ordee theth discovery f mn o ri . House 3 (fig. 6). A circular timber-framed house 36 ft. in diameter, the founda- tion whicf so h were formepost-holex si y db s (number continuoua s 1d 15o 0t an ) s palisade thre e latese trenchth th f es o t structureswa , five eTh . post-holes numbered 10 to 14 were all much the same size, varying between 6 and 8 in. in depth below the uneven natural surface and about 9 in. in diameter outside the chock-stones. Wher lattee eth r were stil placn i l e their disposition suggested tha poste th t s they originally held may have been about 6 in. in diameter. The only fragments of charcoal found on the site came from post-hole 13. The sixth post-hole, number 15, outee th rn i trency la f Housho , describee2 d dimensions belowit d an , s wert eno accurately estimated. THE PALISADED SETTLEMENTS AT HAREHOPE, PEEBLESSHIRE 179 a~5 "? HAREHOPE nlV*s.. ., *,''P" 4tkh ?< SITA E 4fc.'Al-a 3 * i|r""" * ^ ^"V* i\~'J^^'*A?~+*\ mW,' • " <K« ^.n _. S«L3> »^_ -'<I(|, j||i «J^va? i. «gi. ^n^J-I-.-T^C; - •.•.':•-•'. :: :TT'>^ •'••• '•' '\'<j'' • ''" ^.;-'.w •'•:''.' ; , ii-.g2*'\ • FEET _5_____6 KMF METRES RWF FIG. 5 The enclosing palisade trench measured about i ft. in width and about 8 in. in depth. A good many chock-stones were still in place, and, particularly in the NW. arc, it was noted that flat stones had been rammed down nrmly along the inner thef i hel d t trencspacee s yha a sidreguladth no a tha d t resf e e eo hdan ou th tar t r row of posts. This indicated that the wooden outer wall of the house had been composed of a screen of contiguous split timbers, rather than of a series of posts connecte wels wa l , denned wattlesy d arc b whol e . entrancee W Th .Th f .e o th n i , . arc, howeverS sarc d fadin. an founmissings e E . b e wa N ,o g dt th e graduallth , y l8o PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1959-60 away onto an eroded slope. It is difficult to suppose that this was due to natural erosion, and the explanation may lie in the reported trench 'dug across the site' by . ACuriO . e abou year5 2 t s ago.1 The only other features attributable to this house are the little trench T which form traversa s . withift entrance9 e post-hole nth th d an ,e numbereds i 16t I . possible that another post-hole, shown on fig. 6 as a dotted ring, may have existed t thi f 16o Bu s .. positioN . confuses ft e fillin 3 nwa th pavind y an gb d g blocking post-hole ii (see House i below)existenc s t proveit no d s an ,d e wa beyon d doubt. HAREHOPE HOUSE ONE HOUSE. TWO FEEO 2 T DIAMETE 4 FEE2 T DIAMETER R HOUSE THREE FEE6 3 O 3 T DIAMETE4OFEE O 2 R T O I O 10 METRES FIG. 6 Nevertheles probabls i t si e that trenc , post-holhT postulatee th ed 16an d post-hole supported and formed parts of a structural feature designed as an interior entrance hall - there was no external porch. The rough paving already described was con- centrate mose th r aislte dparfo th e n betweei t pose woodee nth tth rind gnan outer wall.