Project Excavation 13th – 26th August 2005
Read the Harehaugh Excavation Reports from Durham University Archaeological Services: Full Report (PDF format, 1.86mb) Interim Report (PDF format, 271kb).
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In 2005, Coquetdale Community Archaeology excavated a site at Harehaugh, near Holystone, in the heart of Upper Coquetdale. The site is well known for the incredible ramparts of a large Iron Age hillfort, but volunteers from the local community focused their efforts on a ridge to the west of the hillfort, the site of a mound of stones and earth about 30m long.
No-one understands what this mound is; it may be the result of quarrying in the area, or it may be the remains of a Neolithic long cairn. The aim of the excavation was to investigate the age, structure, and function of the mound, to solve the mystery. If it is a Neolithic long cairn, this would make it the oldest monument in Upper Coquetdale!
In addition to the excavation of a trench at the mound, volunteers undertook detailed surveys of the hillfort ramparts, and of the Five Kings, a standing stone monument nearby. The excavation was directed by Peter Carne and colleagues from Archaeological Services at the University of Durham; Peter, Jane, Jamie, Louise and Ed also provided full training for the fifty or so volunteers who took part.
Excavation Updates
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Despite a wet start, ten intrepid volunteers turned up for the first day of work. After a brief introduction and a short walk up to site, a trench was laid out across the mound, covering both the stony ridge and the possible ditches along the north and south sides.
The hard work of removing the turf from the ground surface then began; this proved to be quite hard going as the vegetation was thick and the ground uneven, but towards the end of the day the task was complete. Turf was stacked carefully to be replaced at the end of the excavation, and work began on cleaning the trench. Out came the trowels, brushes and buckets, and we began to remove loose soil, revealing the large stones underneath…but all too soon it was time to pack up and head home.
Work in progress at Harehaugh
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Another good day on site, spent cleaning up the trench using trowels to remove loose soil and roots, and brushes to clean off stones. Towards the end of the day we had our first 'find', when Louise spotted a tiny piece of flint in the peaty soil between the stones. On close inspection, this seems to be a broken blade, with a serated edge along one side. There is a pattern of dark veins running across the surface, which shows that it may have been burnt in a fire.
Volunteers at Harehaugh
Monday, August 15, 2005
More cleaning of the trench today, removing a layer of dark, peaty soil from around the stones that make up the cairn. Cleaning the trench highlights the position of the stones and boulders, and flat, platform areas are beginning to be visible in the structure. Work also began today on recording the site. First of all a grid was created by Ed and Rich, covering the whole trench, allowing finds and site drawings to be accurately positioned. Once this was done, Jamie began to draw the stones onto a plan, measuring and recording their shape and position.
Picture of volunteers working at Harehaugh
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
After a well earned day off, work resumed on site this morning in the glorious sunshine. Whilst Ed and Jane took photographs of the site, the rest of the team began 'stomping', working in lines across the whole of the mound to stamp down the long grass which covers the site. Although we felt somewhat ridiculous, this was really effective and by the time all the grass was flattened we could see the profile and contours of the mound much more clearly, ready to make a detailed survey next week.
Volunteers working at Harehaugh
After break, some people began work on recording the heights of different stones, using an instrument called a level, which measures relative height. Others finished off the site plans and drawings. Then it was back into the trench for the whole team, to continue work on cleaning the loose peat from around the stones to reveal the structure of the mound underneath.
Volunteers working at Harehaugh
Thursday, August 18, 2005
We made lots of progress today with recording the trench, and began work on a contour survey of the whole mound. After a final clean up, removing all the grass which had blown in overnight, photos were taken of the whole trench, using digital, black and white, and colour cameras. Work then began on planning the whole trench, drawing every stone on an accurate plan. Although no-one claimed to be an 'artist', a steady hand and an attention to detail was all that was required and results so far are looking promising!
The rest of today's team started work with Ed on making a detailed contour survey of the site. Using 30m tapes and an instrument called a level, a height measurement is taken every 50cm across the whole mound, which gives a profile of the shape of the site without the need to excavate. This fairly slow process, but once the team were up and running progress was good and we should see some results soon!
Volunteers taking levels at Harehaugh
Friday, August 19, 2005
Work on the contour survey continued today, with two teams of three surveyors continuing to take measurements across the mound. Ed began the painstaking task of drawing the contour plan at a 1:50 scale, and fairly soon the results were looking promising. Initial results suggest that the mound may have been terraced, with flat platform areas built into the overall structure.
Work in the trench continued; once the plan of the trench was complete, the exposed cairn at the very top of the monument was removed. Attention then shifted to a slight depression to the south of the ridge along the top of the mound. In this area, it appeared that small and medium stones had tumbled and been disturbed, rather than being carefully placed as part of the structure.
Removal of these stones revealed perhaps the most exciting thing so far, three sides of a stone-lined box, or cist, around half a metre long. These features are usually found in Neolithic or Bronze Age sites, and were used as graves for cremations or skeletons! If the stone-lined box is Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, it will mean that the long mound was built around 4500 years ago!
The Cist
Saturday, August 20, 2005
It was with a great deal of excitement that we returned to the site this morning, after the discovery yesterday of the stone-lined box or cist. Again, work started with a clean up of the trench so that the top of the cist could be photographed and drawn on our site plans. On close inspection, the cist appeared to be full of loose, tumbled stone, and any original covering slab has been lost. Initial ideas are that the cist may have been 'robbed', or dug into during the 1800s, when early archaeologists searched cairn monuments such as our long mound to hunt for treasures such as pots, polished axes, and flint knives.
The cist at Harehaugh
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Today saw two major developments on the site, in another day of hard work in the sunshine. Jimmy and Don began work on a topographic survey of both the long mound feature and the surrounding landscape, using an instrument called a theodolite, which measures angles, distances and heights to produce a computerised plan of the site within its wider setting. This will help us to understand the position of the monument within the landscape, and to identify other possible structures nearby.
We also decided to extend the trench today, removing more turf from the north and south arms of the trench. This should help us to work out whether there is a platform around the outsides of the monument, which would perhaps be used for ceremonies, or whether the monument was originally surrounded by a bank or ditch. This is important as it will tell us how people used the monument in the past.
Volunteers excavating the cist
Monday, August 22, 2005
A slightly grey and wet start to the day, but not enough to hold up work on site! Today we returned to working on the cist, removing all the loose stones, tumbled rocks and loose soil from in and around the stone-lined box. All this material has probably fallen into the cist after it was robbed hundreds of years ago, but at the very bottom of the box is a dark, sticky layer of soil which may be much older.
Cleaning and trowelling in the rest of the trench has revealed an interesting burnt area at the highest point of the monument, and also a bank and stone platform to the south of the mound. Unfortunately, further investigation of these features will have to wait though, as we finished the day with some detailed photography of the site.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
A very wet start today, but the weather soon cleared up and the rain helped us by dampening the soil, bringing out the different colours of sand and peat. Work continued around the stone cist, with more photographs taken and a detailed plan of the area drawn up. We also trowelled and cleaned the southernmost area of the trench, taking photographs to record a possible platform running around the mound.
John and Barry tested their strength after lunch, removing some of the huge boulders which lie along the ridge, or spine, of the mound. Soil from underneath these boulders was sampled, and will be taken back to laboratories at Durham to test for charcoal, bones, seeds and pollen, which will help us to build up a more detailed picture of the environment around the site thousands of years ago. If we are really lucky, we may be able to use remains within the sample for radio-carbon dating, which would allow a definite date to be established for when the mound was built.
Survey work also continued today, with Dave, Joanna and Roger finishing work on the detailed contour survey, whilst Jimmy and Don used the theodolite to record further possible cairn structures in the landscape around the monument.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
A busy day on site as we near the end of the dig, but with plenty of people on site today work continued at a good pace. Work in the main trench focussed on investigating the bank which runs parallel with the south side of the monument. Further trowelling of the area failed to solve the puzzle of whether the bank was built at the same time as the monument, so we started to dig down through the bank, which was very, very hard work! So far, the issue hasn't been resolved, so more digging awaits tomorrow.
We also opened up a new trench today, to the east of the main trench. This new trench is positioned over a slight depression in the ground surface, similar to the depression which lay above the robbed cist in the main trench. After removing all the turf, cleaning revealed several large, flat slabs.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Our last day on site proved to be extremely busy, as we had to record everything we found on the site, and fill in the trenches to leave the site as we found it!
In the morning, the final trowelling in the second small trench revealed an area of likely antiquarian robbing; from the positions of the large slabs, it looks as though early archaeologists have dug into the mound in the 19th century, looking for flint blades and pottery, and haphazardly discarding rocks and stones they came across. After drawing and photographing the trench, we were able to begin backfilling and replacing the turf.
In the main trench, rapid work on the bank at the south side of the monument proved inconclusive – we still don't understand when the bank was built or how it relates to the rest of the monument. We did, however, manage to take samples of soil from under the main cist burial, which will be sampled for pollen, charcoal and seeds. After further photographs, the section (side edge) of the trench was drawn and backfilling began. Thanks to some very dedicated volunteers staying on well after the end of the day, work was completed, turf was replaced, and the site left much as we found it.
Peter Carne (Archaeological Services, University of Durham) will be writing a report on the excavation, so watch this space for more detailed news of the Upper Coquetdale Neolithic long cairn!