September 2018 Excavation Videos

Added by James McComas on 23 September 2018

Our September 2018 Dig at Gilchrist Promontory Fort and Balvattie has now finished, many thanks to all of you who helped or visited. As well as guiding tours of children and adults, Lachlan McKeggie of HAS has been making daily videos which give a great flavour of our progress on site. Here they all...

EXCITING DISCOVERIES IN THE BLACK ISLE

Added by Eric Grant on 22 August 2018

This is a repost with permission of an article that originally appeared in the July/ August 2018 edition of History Scotland magazine. Recent archaeological discoveries on the Black Isle are rewriting the early prehistory of northern Scotland. Members of the North of Scotland Archaeological Society ...

TARRADALE THROUGH TIME TEAM UNCOVERS AN ABANDONED SETTLEMENT

Added by Eric Grant and Anne Coombs on 12 August 2018

Although one of the main aims of the TARRADALE THROUGH TIME archaeological project is trying to find the traces of people who lived in the Tarradale area thousands of years ago, it is also interested in our more recent ancestors. There are a number of ruined and abandoned cottages on the edges of fi...

Getting down with the kids

Added by James McComas on 12 May 2018

Well done to Lachlan and Anne who recently spent the day working with Mulbuie Primary 5 - 7 class on behalf of Tarradale Through Time. It sounds like it was both fun and educational with a range of exciting activities! I quote Mulbuie Primary's blog as follows: What a fantastic day we had at Ferinto...

Abandoned Settlement Planning: Work Begins

Added by Anne Coombs on 08 April 2018

We have completed 4 days of clearance of the Tarradale abandoned settlement over the last month removing dead bracken and whins from the buildings. On the 7th April we began the planning. When we started the 1788 map was the only real evidence that the settlement existed. The initial walkover revea...

Tarradale Abandoned Township

Added by Anne Coombs on 17 February 2018

At last the snow has gone and the sun is shining. Tarradale Through Time is beginning to wake from the winter ready for another busy season. This year we are going to plan an old settlement which is shown on the 1788 estate map and in September we will excavate two more prehistoric sites. In prepara...

Dig site update and sea levels in the Mesolithic

Added by John Wombell on 25 November 2017

No sheep on the stubble turnips as yet. 2 weeks ago we put a temporary netting fence up around the 2B trench in order to protect the remarkable archaeological remains still to be fully excavated when the time comes. We also sowed grass seed on 2B after backfilling that will provide a decent turf to ...

After the Digging

Added by John Wombell on 28 October 2017

Since the end of the dig 2 weeks ago some of our followers may wonder why NOSAS volunteers are still busy washing and sorting what added up to about two and a quarter tonnes of shell midden material. This is in addition to more bulk samples of each context saved in tubs and set aside for laboratory ...

Tarradale Archaeology Conference Talk

Added on 15 October 2017

Talk by Eric Grant on Tarradale Through Time at the Highland Archaeological Conference 2017.

Tarradale Dig - Day 15

Added by Jonie Guest on 09 October 2017

The Highs and Lows of a ‘Runner’ Dry/wet sieved soil, emptied buckets, picked up leaves in the trenches, logged finds found, equipment transporter, 4x4 support driver, photographer, video person, pot washer, toilet cleaner, sweeper and floor washer, tidier of gate house, shopper and meta...

Tarradale Dig - Day 12

Added by Anji Hancock on 05 October 2017

I haven't been on many archaeology digs but I suppose it's to be expected when you tell someone what you're doing they invariably ask - What did you find? or Did you find anything? Rarely, have I unearthed anything of great importance but often I've been given a tray to put in assorted finds which m...

Tarradale Dig - Day 8

Added by James McComas on 01 October 2017

Day 8 was not only the Dig Open Day with over 100 visitors - see pics here - but it was also a great day for progress in Trench 2B. Here a smaller test trench had been put in 2 years ago and we uncovered shell midden and a stone setting. Charcoal and a piece of antler tine was later dated to the Mes...

An Illustrator's Perspective

Added by Pat Haynes on 29 September 2017

My role on this dig is to try and interpret visually what we find in the ground or more frequently so far on this site what we don’t find. My background is as a landscape architect land manager and environmental planner, in my career I was used to trying illustrate what places might look like ...

Tarradale Dig – Day 5

Added by Karen Clarke on 29 September 2017

We are halfway through the first week of the excavation with an excellent turnout of 20 of us on site overseen by Cathy and Lynn of AOC. We are now focusing on two trenches, 70215 1C and 2B. Cathy conducted a detailed tour of these trenches keeping us abreast of developments in all areas. We are loo...

Tarradale Dig - Day 2

Added by Freda on 25 September 2017

Today was my 2nd day at the excavation at the Tarradale having previous never picked up a trowel before. I have always been interested in Archaeology and because this excavation was close to where I live it was too good an opportunity to miss. The one thing that came to mind that when I was watching...

Launch Day!

Added by Anne Coombs on 13 September 2017

What a lovely Launch Day we all had at Muir Hub on Saturday. Lynne, from AOC Archaeology, Lachlan, our Outreach Coordinator from HAS, Eric and myself set up first thing in the morning and in no time at all we had people arriving to see our display. From 10 o’clock onwards we had a steady strea...

The Start of an Archaeological Adventure

Added by Anne Coombs on 04 September 2017

The Tarradale Through Time team has had a hectic few weeks but at last we are ready to begin our archaeological adventure. But first a bit of background. Our leader Dr Eric Grant has spent a number of years walking the fields around Tarradale and as an archaeologist he quickly realised that there wa...