Kinneddar : A Major Ecclesiastical Centre of the Picts

The work at Kinneddar was conducted with kind permission from Pitgaveny Estates, organized by Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith. The fieldwork was made possible by funding from the Leverhulme Trust as part of the Comparative Kingship project (RL-2016-069), and Northern Picts funding through the University of Aberdeen Development Trust. Many thanks to Bruce Mann of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service for advice and support.Peer reviewedPostprin

(Re)discovering the Gaulcross Hoard and other early medieval silver

Modern excavations can sometimes provide surprising new insights on antiquarian finds of metalwork. The Pictish silver hoard from Gaulcross in north-eastern Scotland provides an excellent example. Recent fieldwork, including metal-detecting, has clarified the size and composition of the hoard, and uncovered 100 new silver items, including coins, fragments of brooches and bracelets, ingots and parcels of cut, bent and broken silver known as Hacksilber. Comparisons with other hoards and with Pictish symbol stones illustrate the circumstances and date of deposition, the origin of the silver and the forms of society emerging in Scotland in the post-Roman period

(Re)discovering the Gaulcross Hoard and other early medieval silver

Modern excavations can sometimes provide surprising new insights on antiquarian finds of metalwork. The Pictish silver hoard from Gaulcross in north-eastern Scotland provides an excellent example. Recent fieldwork, including metal-detecting, has clarified the size and composition of the hoard, and uncovered 100 new silver items, including coins, fragments of brooches and bracelets, ingots and parcels of cut, bent and broken silver known as Hacksilber. Comparisons with other hoards and with Pictish symbol stones illustrate the circumstances and date of deposition, the origin of the silver and the forms of society emerging in Scotland in the post-Roman period

Use of phosphorous mapping and sea-level change data in assessing coastal activity zones and establishing site chronology : A case study from the Icelandic multi-period site of Vatnsfjörður

This paper forms part of Lukasz Mikolajczyk's PhD dissertation, which is supervised by Karen MilekPeer reviewedPostprin

Early Medieval Shellfish Exploitation in Northwest Europe: Investigations at the Sands of Forvie Shell Middens, Eastern Scotland, and the Role of Coastal Resources in the First Millennium AD

Coastal shell middens represent a well-known element of the archaeological record of island and coastal regions across the world and shellfish have been an important resource for subsistence since the mid Holocene. However, the factors that influence shellfishing remain poorly understood and in many regions investigations into the role of shellfish gathering often have remained focused on prehistoric examples to the detriment of shell middens of later dates. This article reports on the emerging evidence for large-scale exploitation of shellfish during a hitherto understudied period for shell midden archaeology in northwest Europe: the first millennium AD. The article includes a review of a series of previously unknown large mussel-dominated middens in eastern Scotland, an outline of their chronology and character, including Bayesian modeling of dates, and a synthesis of the emerging evidence for shellfish gathering in northwest Europe during the first millennium AD. The research represents the first investigation of large-scale early Medieval middens in Britain and the first review of their international parallels and the important new information they can provide for the early Medieval economy

Early Medieval Shellfish Gathering at the Sands of Forvie, Aberdeenshire : Feast or Famine?

Peer reviewedPostprin

Kinneddar: a major ecclesiastical centre of the Picts

The early Christian sculpture from Kinneddar has long been noted as a major assemblage. New survey work by the University of Aberdeen and AOC Archaeology has identified a large vallum enclosure around the site that was renewed on at least one occasion. The vallum enclosures surrounded an area of up to 8.6ha, and the groundplan presents striking resemblances to other major ecclesiastical sites, particularly Iona. Evaluative excavations instigated through research- and development-led projects have provided an outline chronology for the vallum enclosures, identified an additional annexe and has located settlement features inside the enclosures. Radiocarbon dating suggests activity as early as the late 6th century with the vallum likely to date to the 7th or 8th century. This article sets out the evidence from the site and discusses Kinneddar in relation to other likely major ecclesiastical sites in northern Pictland and its wider early medieval Insular context