Bulletin
5, 1999
Field Programme for 2000 and Beyond
The overall objective is to determine the ecology, economy and ideology of the Tarbat settlement and its role in the politics of Pictland. This should be largely achievable by completing the excavation of the designed sample (Sectors 1 to 4) and a comparative survey of contemporary sites and landscapes in the Moray Firth area.
The original design did not predict that the stratification in Sector 2 would be so deep, complex and wet. This area has absorbed most of our energy and is still some way from completion as we enter our final funded year. In 2000, we intend to take the field operation to a point from which future fieldwork can be precisely planned and costed.
Revised Project Design
The general target now becomes: A Pictish Monastery and its farm.
We need:
- The contrast between the official centre (Northumbrian/Roman, Sector 2) and its farm (indigenous, Sector 1). Dates from primary contexts are needed to show that the two different settlements are in fact contemporary. There may be very little artifact sharing, because the monastic part is innovative and intrusive and the indigenous part is traditional.
- Structural details of the buildings (residences and barns). We are looking for much stronger evidence for turf or clay construction.
- Which period does the ard-cultivation belong to? Can we date it independently of the ditch?
- The water-management system. Is there a mill? If so, did it remain in use over the period of social transition?
- Is there any sign of settlement before the 8th century? What was the topography and vegetation at that time? Was it a "desert place" in the monastic tradition? If there is nothing under Int 14, where were the prehistoric settlements to be found?
- When, how and why did the settlement in the Glebe Field end, and what followed it?
Management Targets.
On Sector2, the presence of stone buildings, perhaps well preserved, suggests the possibility of presenting a monument adjacent to the churchyard. There is also potential for reconstruction (stone footings and stone tiles). These buildings will not survive further ploughing or the making of a car-park. This land (ie north end of Sector 2) really needs to become a monument in care.
On Sector1 there is no call for presentation and the surviving remains are not vulnerable. This land could be returned to farming when excavation is complete.
The aim of the 2000 season is therefore to:
- Complete the definition of the early buildings at the north end of Sector 2 ("A")
- Complete the mapping of Sector 1 ("B").
- Identify the structures in the waterlogged area in the centre of Sector 2 ("C").
- Map the surface of the remaining part of Sector 2 ("D")
A major excavation season is scheduled to run from 12 June to 1 September (12 weeks) which will be concentrated on the excavation of the north and central parts of Sector 2. In addition, a Field School will take place from 31 July to 18 August (3 weeks) which aims to complete the mapping of surface features in Sector 1 and at the south end of Sector 2.
This work should enable us to assess how many structures in each sector await detailed study in 2001 and after. Any future excavation programme would then be promoted and managed in the following way:
- Structures in Sector 1 (belonging to the farm) would be excavated by means of a series of Field Schools (low budget).
- Structures at the north end of Sector 2 (belonging to the monastery) would be assessed for their potential conservation and resentation. If the remains proved to be suitable, plans would be drawn up for their conservation and display as part of the visitor experience. additional funding would be sought for this project, which would include the investigation of the strata which lies beneath the ruins to be preserved.
- Structures in the central, wet, part of Sector 2, should they prove likely to belong to a mill, will become the subject of separate funding through the Science Councils. (The acknowledged value of a mill site for social and ecological history should enable us to raise the very large budget required to excavate it). If we cannot show that a mill is likely to be buried there, this part of the site will be sampled for environmental evidence and left unexcavated.
The regional survey is still in its reconnaissance phase. So far a number of projects has been initiated (for example the Tarbat Ness documentary survey and the search for the geological origins of the sculpture, see below) and a dozen sites have been identified as requiring detailed evaluation. This part of the project is at present unfunded and mostly relies on volunteer and student input. It will move into a more intensive phase only after the main excavation at Portmahomack is complete.
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Last updated 10 October, 2003.
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