The settlement of New Kinord is a privately owned, and protected site situated in the Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire. Although it has not yet been radiocarbon dated it is thought to date from the Iron Age. Aerial photography shows the presence of features that are thought to be hut circles, enclosures and a souterrain. During the Iron Age people lived in roundhouses in which there was a central hearth where the fire was used to cook food and provide heat and light. The fire could have been used to smoke meat for preservation and to dry herbs.
The people of the Iron Age were farmers and kept livestock such as sheep, cows and pigs to provide meat and dairy products. They also grew crops such as oats, wheat and barley which could be used to make porridge, ground to make bread and fermented to make beer. Their diet probably also included seasonably available nuts, roots, fungi, fruit and berries. They may also have eaten fish, birds and wild animals. I would like to find out if any of the circles contain the central hearth of a roundhouse. How did they cook, and what cooking utensils were used?
Did the people of New Kinord keep livestock, and if they did, what animals did they rear? Which crops did they grow? Did they supplement their diet by foraging and hunting? Looking for the hearth and other surface artefacts I would start my investigation of this site by doing a surface survey to look for surface artefacts. Fieldwalking is a good method for covering a large area of land.
In his book, Techniques of Archaeological Investigation, Philip Barker describes fieldwalking as an “essential supplement to all other methods of site discovery and assessment. (Barker, 1977). However, at this particular site, it may be difficult to find artefacts as the terrain is so rough. Using a geophysical method, such as metal detector, which is an electromagnetic sensing device, would be useful to find metal artefacts lying on or just below the surface. Baked clays are strongly magnetic and so a good geophysical survey method for finding hearths would be to use a magnetic instrument which reads the magnetic properties of the soil (Carver, 2009).
Magnetic survey methods using instruments that measure the Earth’s magnetic field are also useful for finding iron objects, pits and ditches (Renfrew and Bahn, 2016). The results could produce a plan of the site that reveals features on the site that would not otherwise be seen. The position of any hearths within the hut circles can also be revealed using geochemical analysis. This would involve collecting soil samples from the surface of the site and analysing the inorganic elements that they contain. Phosphate analysis of the soil can indicate whether the land was used for farming.
According to Kevin Edwards in his report, Phosphate Analysis of Soils associated with the Old Kinord field and settlement system, Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire, phosphate found in the soil associated with settlements have three main sources: animal waste, refuse from animal and plant remains, and animal manure fertilizer (Shepherd, 1984). Phosphate has a low solubility and accumulates rapidly, resulting in it staying in the soil for thousands of years. Edwards’ results from Old Kinord… Excavation I would use sample excavation to then uncover any artefacts deeper under the ground.
This method would be effective in New Kinord because it means there would only be a few test pits which are less destructive and intrusive than other excavation methods. I would dig one pit in the place where my previous methods show is most likely to be a hearth. I would expect this to be in the middle of one of the huts. A hearth can be distinguished as a small structure of stones potentially surrounding a pit filled with ash, soil and other matter. I would also dig a test pit in the enclosure Q to see if there are remains of animals that may have once been reared there. Analysis of finds
After the site has been excavated, the finds from the trenches need to be analysed. If a hearth was discovered, possible finds might be small animal bones, ash or possibly the remains of old shells. Macrofaunal remains such as animal bones can reveal a lot about what meat was eaten and how it came about. If there is an abundance of cow, sheep and pig bones, it is likely that these animals were domesticated. Organic matter found within the hearth can be used for radiocarbon dating. This technique would give a time window of when this site was built/lived in. Some inorganic artefacts that may also be recovered from a hearth area are pot sherds.
These could be the remains of pots used for cooking and could have residues to be examined under a microscope. Chemical analysis of the residues can reveal evidence of phosphate or animal fat which implies the cooking of meat. Iron objects may be recovered from a hearth trench as iron may also have been made into pots for cooking although pottery made using a pottery wheel was more common. Iron Cauldrons used over the hearth had many uses in meal preparation such as boiling meat or heating drinks (Online. aberdeenshire. gov. uk, 2016). If the remains of an iron cauldron were found it may also contain residues that can be chemically analysed.
Iron would also have been the material used to create many of the tools used in the process leading up to a meal. Iron spear heads or knives would have been used to slaughter the animal Looking closer at the types of bones will give even more detail about the type of farming. If more bones are found of male cows than females, this is an indication that the livestock were reared for meat. If more female bones are found than male, it is more likely the herd was raised for dairy produce. The sex and age of an animal can be discovered by examining tooth eruption, size, cementum layers and wear (Gilbert and Mielke, 1985).
To summarise, by using various archaeological methodologies I would be able to answer the questions that I have about the New Kinord settlement and field system. I could find out about the presence and position of a hearth by using magnetic surveys and geochemical analysis. By digging a trench where the hearth may be I can find and analyse artefacts through chemical analysis. By digging a trench in a presumed animal enclosure, I could establish whether domesticated animals were kept. Phosphate analysis of the soil and bone examination can help determine the presence of livestock.