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HER:  East Lothian Council MEL16 (None)
NMR:  NT 36 NE 68 (53397)
SM:  13365
NGR:  NT 3957 6993
X:  339575  Y:  669938  (OSGB36)
The burial-ground on the gentle slope between Elphinstone Tower and South Elphinstone lies partly within an oval double-ditched enclosure revealed by cropmarks. The burial-ground extends across the perimeter on the W, thus obscuring the course of the ditches on this side, but elsewhere they are about 2m in breadth and are set between 7m and 10m apart, enclosing an area measuring about 100m from ESE to WNW by 80m transversely (0.63ha); making some allowance for the presence of an internal bank the interior extends to about 0.55ha. No features are visible within the interior and the position of the entrance is not known.
Citizen Science:  ✓
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed
X:  -330440  Y:  7542260  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -2.9683953362097784  Latitude:  55.91876001990565  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority:  East Lothian
Historic County:  East Lothian
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Tranent
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:  130.0m
N/A
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability:  D - None
| Pre 1200BC   | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC   | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC   | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50   | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400   | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800   | ✗ |
| Post AD800   | ✗ |
| Unknown   | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort:   | None |
| Post Hillfort:   | Overlain by medieval chapel and burial-ground and otherwise ploughed flat |
None
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1986):   | First photographed by the RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme |
| Other (1995):   | Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme |
| Other (2014):   | Scheduled |
Featureless apart from the later burial-ground
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   | ✗ |
None
| 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   | ✗ |
None
| 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   | ✗ |
Not known
| 0:   | None |
| 2:   | None known |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
Two relatively narrow ditches, presumably with upcast banks
| Area 1:   | 0.55ha. |
| Total:   | 0.55ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.
None
| ✗   | None |
| ✓   | None |
| NE Quadrant:   | 2 |
| SE Quadrant:   | 2 |
| SW Quadrant:   | 1 |
| NW Quadrant:   | 2 |
| Total:   | 2 |
| 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   | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
No related records
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