Description

The monument comprises an Early Bronze Age pit alignment and two Iron Age settlements, one enclosed and the other unenclosed. The remains lie buried below the topsoil, but are visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. Excavations conducted immediately adjacent to the scheduled area show that the pit alignment was dug around 2400 BC to accommodate a line of substantial oak posts. The eastern part of the alignment extends at least 60m ESE of a road that crosses the scheduled area. The western part extends WNW of the road for at least 30m. One Iron Age settlement lies within a sub-circular enclosure bounded by up to three concentric ditches that define an area measuring about 40m in diameter. The outer ditch has been partly excavated on the W side, demonstrating that it was dug before about 390-200 BC and had an entrance on this side. Later on, the W ditch was filled in and structures were built over the top. Two ring ditches lie 120m W of the enclosure, indicating the presence of two roundhouses in an unenclosed settlement. The roundhouse to the E measures about 15m in diameter, while that to the W is about 11m in diameter. The monument lies on the East Lothian coastal plain on fairly level ground at around 20m OD, immediately N of the A1 trunk road. The site has open views in all directions except to the E, where the ground rises slightly. The monument was first scheduled in 1993, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The two scheduled areas are irregular on plan to include the remains described above and areas around them within which evidence relating to their construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling excludes the above-ground elements of the post-and-wire and wooden fences that cross the scheduled area. The W scheduled area extends up to, but excludes, a post-and-wire fence on its E boundary and a stone wall on its W boundary. The E scheduled area extends up to but excludes post-and-wire fences on its W and S boundaries and a stone wall on its N boundary.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its high potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of Early Bronze Age ritual activity and Iron Age rural settlement. The importance of the pit alignment and settlements is significantly enhanced by their location within a dense concentration of prehistoric monuments, some now excavated, that allow the use of the local landscape to be charted from the Neolithic through to the later Iron Age. The monument includes enclosure ditches that have been demonstrated to contain deep and rich archaeological remains; these can significantly expand understanding of the daily life and economy of later prehistoric settlements in SE Scotland. The archaeological remains here survive in good condition and retain their structural characteristics to a marked degree. The pit alignment was dug to accommodate a line of substantial oak posts that would have been a highly visible component of the Bronze Age landscape. The later enclosed settlement with its triple ditches and ramparts would also have made an important contribution to the prehistoric landscape. Our understanding of Bronze Age pit alignments and of the distribution and character of Iron Age settlements would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT67NE 123, 124 and 129.

The East Lothian Council Historic Environment Record references are MEL1487, MEL1488, MEL1493.

Reference

Lelong, O and MacGregor, G 2007, The Lands of Ancient Lothian: Interpreting the archaeology of the A1, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland monog ser, Edinburgh, 51-3, 60-5, 131-45.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland