Rhynie, Aberdeenshire

Rhynie, Aberdeenshire
The Craw Stane with Tap o'Noth hillfort in the background (Photo courtesy of Cathy MacIver).

Friday 20 June 2014

Rhynie Cist Burial - Date is in!

Our first update based on the radiocarbon dates concerns our fantastic cist burial from 2013.  Since it was in a classic square barrow type monument, we expected the date to be Pictish (early medieval).


We were not disappointed! Thankfully the preservation of the skeletal material was good enough to obtain a date of AD 420-566.  This date works well with our main site up by the Craw Stane, which also has most of its dates in the 5th - 6th century AD.  So, it looks like our community at the Craw Stane was burying some of its dead (in this case a lady) down by the village. 


There's evidence for some other early medieval evidence going on around the cemetery as well including a pit full of burnt material and some possible use or activity in the larger of the two square enclosures.  This evidence is a little harder to puzzle out, so we need to do some head scratching.



A REAP Project update

Well, it is that time of year when normally we would be packing up our kit and heading north or west(depending on which one of us was driving...).
This year we have had a change in our normal work pattern.


We are taking a temporary break from a 'big trench' season this 2014 although Gordon is planning on a series of community test pits and work later on this year (probably September!).  We'll keep you updated on that. I might be able to come up and see some action, but by then I will have a little (probably crying) project of my own to deal with!


We miss Rhynie already, of course, and I can't imagine a summer without a macaroni pie or one of Daisy's amazing baked goods.


In the meantime we are trying to ensure we have a good plan in place and the necessary funding for upcoming seasons and working through or post-excavation analysis and writing up.  As we get news we will post updates and the interim report of our 2013 excavation is just in final editing stage.


Speaking of post-ex...


Our radiocarbon dates for our 2013 mega trench in the Beverly/Medical Centre Field came through.  We have a real range of dates represented and we still need to make sense of some of them, but a post soon to follow!