The next day, goody goody only slight rain, but the ground was a quagmire and needing a change of operating technique. This time to avoid moving the JCB too much we would work on a small area of the extension and work down to the base layer then move on to the next section. The decision to extend provided the right one as nine more Denarii were found, fortunately none near the end of the trench so it was deemed the end of the scatter.
When the base of the main trench was cleaned up there was no evidence of why the hoards had been buried on this particular spot, but the plotted finds spots did reveal from the concentrations that the two hoards were probably placed about ten metres apart. There was evidence of a possible field drain from the 19th century cutting right through the hoard area which might have disturbed both hoards and later identified as a the base of an enclosure wall.
Four more trenches were opened on slightly higher ground adjacent to the main focus of the dig, looking for some evidence of habitation to try and give a reason for the coins being buried in that location. Three of the trenches were formed into an H shape and it was at the junction of two of these that a cobbled surface turned up, albeit very damaged.
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| H shaped trenches |
This area gave up a number of pieces of Iron Age pottery and piece of iron slag giving evidence of metal work
Insert Pic 13 Insert Pic 14
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| Iron Slag |
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| Iron Age Pottery |
The presence of this settlement gives weight to the theory that the Romans gave to local chieftains as a bribe to help prevent many of the tribes uniting against them.
This brought the overall totals to 32 Denarii and 18 Medieval coins. The last three days of the week long dig were mainly about archaeological work in the trenches and as I was only need to check trenches when they were left I busied myself detecting on an adjacent field where the grass was shorter apart from patches which were too long and lush to allow any sort of swing.l Among the usual modern items associated with the festival I found a few Georgian items and then on the last day I had a signal which showed as six inches in depth and the numbers indicated that it was copper alloy. Pinpointing was exact and I soon had the item in my hand and realised that it considerable age. It was about an inch long and a quick brush showed that part of it was enamelled, given the location I immediately thought Roman so after taking a GPS reading I decided on a cup of coffee and presented the item to Fraser hoping he would confirm its Roman origins, but no, even better he said early medieval and when pressed on the "early" he said 8th or 9th century and Pictish. Pictish items are even rarer than Roman coins in the area and it raised so much interest that passed through the Treasure Trove assessment.
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| Pictish Find The geometric pattern shows yellow enamel in the outer parts and red in the centre. Its use is unknown at present but may have some sacred use. |
It would be easy to imagine that this brings the saga of the hoards to a close but I had plans up my sleeve. The trenches were to be filled in by a contractor working on the estate and I managed to meet up with him and explain that it was myself that had found the original coins which had precipitated the dig and that I had a feeling that there might be more coins outside the main trench and that as time had run out on the dig there had been no more time to extend the trench further. The work being done was very complicated and he was unable to give me a time or day when the trenches would be filled but he was interested and offered to help. Unfortunately on the day the work was done I was out early and did get the message he left on my phone. I went to the estate at about 3pm to see him and try to find when the work would be done only to find him almost finished. He still helped though by extending the trench about two metres lowering the level down by another 6 inches. I stepped into the trench and immediately found a Denarius and soon after another two. It is a pity that I could not be there all day as there could still be more to come but soil has to be removed as they are too deep for the detector.
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| 3 Denarius |
Is this the end of the saga now? Who knows? I will check the area again in case any coins have somehow got into the spoil heap and been re-deposited in a position where the detector can find them. This is unlikely but the possibility is there. Whatever the final outcome the three years spent working on the site have been a great experience and the results have been beyond all expectations for a site in the north of Scotland. In view of the Pictish find mentioned earlier there could still be more interesting finds to come, I still have some unexplored areas on the estate.
My work on the site has also put me in contact with other farms in the area which I look forward to trying.
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| Some of the coins from the dig before cleaning still showing soil in the indentations. The Roman coins are largely unidentified at present |
All accounts and information correct as of November 2012, (c) Eric Soane 2014
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