LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Angus SMR per Aberdeenshire Council NO56NE0026 (None)
NMR: NO 56 NE 26 (34987)
SM: 6573
NGR: NO 5886 6920
X: 358860 Y: 769200 (OSGB36)
Cropmarks have revealed a small fortification situated on a low hillock immediately to the NW of Mains of Edzell steading. Only the NE half of the circuit is visible on the photographs, the rest lying within a deciduous plantation, but this exhibits three roughly concentric ditches. the projected arc of the innermost enclosing an area some 40m in diameter (0.12ha). Excavations in 1998, however, failed to locate this ditch on its projected line, though whether the result of plough truncation or by design is unclear. Nevertheless, the two outer ditches, which are set about 10m apart, enclose an oval area measuring some 70m from E to W by 50m transversely (0.27ha) and may well have formed a free-standing enclosure with at least two entrances, one on the NE and the other on the SE, though in both cases the gaps are slightly staggered to create an oblique axis, one to expose the visitor's left side and the other the right side. Radiocarbon dates from samples of what was thought to be in situ burning in both theses ditches fall in the period 800-200 BC. When allowance is made for the presence of an inner rampart, the interior extended to about 0.2ha and the scatter of features located in the excavation within the line of the innermost ditch included a palisade trench, both clay- and stone-lined pits, other pits, and post-holes.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -297829 Y: 7721900 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.675443078095692 Latitude: 56.812541017176 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Angus
Historic County: Angus
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Edzell
None
| Extant | ✗ |
| Cropmark | ✓ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✓ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✓ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 75.0m
N/A
The dates from in situ burnt deposits in both the middle and outer ditches have very wide ranges.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✓ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✓ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| C14: | Four radiocarbon dates |
RCAHMS holds a range of aerial photography and the excavation archive. Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1976, 1981, 1990 and 2001, and by Aberdeen Archaeological Services in 1998
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1976): | First identified by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme |
| Other (1989): | Visited by RCAHMS |
| Other (1996): | Scheduled |
| Excavation (1998): | By CFA Ltd (Hamilton 1998; Strachan et al) |
Excavation located a series of minor features
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Palisade trench
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Pits | ✓ |
| Postholes | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
Samples taken and analysed (Strachan et al)
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 2: | None |
| 2: | Staggered gaps |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Oblique (North east): | Staggered to create Slightly oblique approach exposing left side |
| 1. Simple Gap (North east): | None |
| 2. Oblique (South east): | Staggered to create Slightly oblique approach exposing right side |
| 2. Simple Gap (South east): | None |
Up to three ditches, presumably with upcast ramparts; while the extent of the innermost is unknown, the two outer form a complete enclosure and are treated here as a larger freestanding scheme.
| Area 1: | 0.12ha. |
| Area 2: | 0.2ha. |
| Total: | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.69ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✓ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Ditches
| None | ✓ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Hamilton, J. (1998) 'Mains of Edzell (Edzell parish), excavation'. Disc Exc Scot (1998), 13-14
Strachan, R J, Hamilton, J E and Dunwell, A J (2003) ' Excavations of cropmark enclosures in Angus at Mains of Edzell and Hawkhill, Lunan. Tayside Fife Archaeol J 9 (2003), 32-64
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1