EHG6114 - Excavation - Tarradale Mains abandoned settlement

A small-scale excavation was carried out by members of NoSAS in 2018 at an abandoned post-medieval mailers’ settlement near Tarradale Mains Farm. The settlement was the most recent historic site investigated by the wider Tarradale Through Time project examining landscape history of Tarradale from the earliest occupation 6000 years ago to the early 1800s. The excavation followed vegetation clearance and walkover and topographic surevys (see EHG6113). Four trenches were excavated. Trench 1 was excavated across House 2 and then extended in order to include the area in front of the building to ascertain if there were features associated with the building and enclosure lying to the south. It was later continued up the north bank of the enclosure. However, the results were inconclusive and this part of the trench was closed after de-turfing. Trench 2 was put beside the west gable of House 2 to try to locate the fireplace or signs of a cruck slot for supporting the roof. Trench 3 was laid out across an area of stones, feature 23, to the east of the dry ditch (21) where a house should have been found according to a 1788 estate map. A narrow trench (2m N-S by 0.25m) west of Trench 3 was put across the possible continuation of a building wall, but this was not located. One small sondage (1m x 0.25m) was dug c. 10m west of Trench 4 to investigate the area between Trench three and the dry ditch (21) to understand the depth of the soil in the area. The topsoil in this sondage was only 0.15m deep. <1>