Wessex Archaeology Wemyss Caves, Fife, Scotland Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results Ref: 55754.01 March 2005 WEMYSS CAVES, FIFE, SCOTLAND Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results Prepared on behalf of Videotext Communications Ltd 49 Goldhawk Road LONDON SW1 8QP by Wessex Archaeology Portway House Old Sarum Park SALISBURY Wiltshire SP4 6EB Report reference: 55754.01 March 2005 © Wessex Archaeology Limited 2005 all rights reserved Wessex Archaeology Limited is a Registered Charity No. 287786 Contents Summary .............................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements.............................................................................................vi 1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................7 1.1 Site Background.........................................................................................7 1.2 Geology and Topography ..........................................................................7 1.3 Historical background ...............................................................................8 1.4 Previous Archaeological Investigations ...................................................9 Jonathan’s Cave...........................................................................................9 The Well Cave (Well Cave 1).....................................................................10 The Sliding Cave ........................................................................................10 2 METHODS.........................................................................................................11 2.1 Introduction..............................................................................................11 2.2 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................11 2.3 Research Questions..................................................................................11 Jonathan’s Cave.........................................................................................11 Well Cave ...................................................................................................12 Sliding Cave ...............................................................................................12 Outside the Caves.......................................................................................12 2.4 Survey Aims..............................................................................................12 2.5 Fieldwork Methods..................................................................................12 3 RESULTS...........................................................................................................14 3.1 Introduction..............................................................................................14 3.2 Geophysical Survey..................................................................................14 3.3 Archaeological Evaluation......................................................................15 3.4 Jonathan’s Cave.......................................................................................15 Trench 1 .....................................................................................................15 Trench 2 .....................................................................................................16 Trench 3 .....................................................................................................16 3.5 Well Cave..................................................................................................17 Trench 4 .....................................................................................................17 Trench 5 .....................................................................................................17 3.6 Outside the entrance to Well Cave .........................................................18 Trench 6. (Figure 2)...................................................................................18 Trench 7. ....................................................................................................18 3.7 The Sliding Cave ......................................................................................19 Trench 8 .....................................................................................................19 3.8 Coastal Section.........................................................................................20 Trench 9 .....................................................................................................20 4 FINDS .................................................................................................................20 4.1 Introduction..............................................................................................20 4.2 Pottery.......................................................................................................20 4.3 Clay Pipe...................................................................................................21 4.4 Glass ..........................................................................................................21 4.5 Metalwork.................................................................................................21 4.6 Other Finds...............................................................................................22 4.7 Shell ...........................................................................................................22 i 4.8 Potential and Recommendations for Further Work.............................22 5 ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES.....................................................................24 5.1 Introduction..............................................................................................24 5.2 Assessment Results; methods and data..................................................24 Charred Plant Remains..............................................................................24 Charcoal.....................................................................................................25 Land and Marine snails .............................................................................25 Small mammal and fish bones....................................................................25 5.3 Potential ....................................................................................................26 Radiocarbon Dating...................................................................................26 Charred plant remains...............................................................................27 Charcoal.....................................................................................................27 Land and marine snails..............................................................................27 5.4 Proposals...................................................................................................27 Charred plant remains...............................................................................27 Charcoal.....................................................................................................28 5.5 Animal bone..............................................................................................29 Methodology...............................................................................................29 Results ........................................................................................................29 Potential and recommendations.................................................................30 6 DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................33 6.1 Introduction..............................................................................................33 6.2 Geophysics Results...................................................................................33 6.3 Jonathan’s Cave.......................................................................................33 6.4 Well Cave..................................................................................................34 6.5 Trenches outside the Well Cave..............................................................35 6.6 The Sliding Cave ......................................................................................36 6.7 Coastal Section.........................................................................................37 7 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK. .....37 8 THE ARCHIVE.................................................................................................38 REFERENCES............................................................................................................39 APPENDIX 1. SITE CONTEXT SUMMARY.........................................................41 APPENDIX 2: GRAPHICS SUMMARY .................................................................43 APPENDIX 3: PHOTOGRAPHIC SUMMARY.....................................................44 APPENDIX 4. SMALL FINDS BY CONTEXT ......................................................46 APPENDIX 5. ALL FINDS BY CONTEXT. ...........................................................47 ii Tables Table 1: Finds Totals by material type Table 2: Radiocarbon determination for sample 5, context 804 Table 3: Assessment of the charred plant remains and charcoal Table 4: Hand-recovered animal bone. Table 5: Sample-recovered