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.



1 comment:

  1. Amazing to think that 'Rhynie woman' might have known the significance of the Rhynie man and other symbols....

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