EHG6048 - Evaluation - occupation site, Swartigill Burn, Thrumster

A small community based archaeological evaluation was carried out by Yarrows Heritage Trust in 2012 at Swartigill Burn near Thrumster with the objective of prospecting for the remains of the township of Swartigill. Two settlement sites had been known for some years, one to the north of the burn and one to the south. A third site comprising walling and rubble eroding out of the bank of the burn had been recorded by photography in 2004. This site was being and continues to be undercut by the burn and suffering erosion by sheltering sheep. Large stones in the burn-bed suggested that much has already been lost. The objective of the evaluation of this site was to clean-back and record the full eroding section. It was initially thought that the remains represented a dam and / or mill. A box section feature may have been Iron Age but it was high in the section and could be a 19th century French drain. The results of the cleaning-back were totally unexpected. Pottery recovered from the erosion surface comprised fabrics consistent with the early Iron Age. Finer quality pottery was also found that was consistent with a late Iron Age date; possibly Pictish. Current knowledge holds that these pottery types have been exclusively associated with broch sites. <1>