From the 18th to the 29th of September 2023, Archaeology Scotland, in collaboration with the newly reopened Kilmartin Museum and with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, carried out a community archaeology project at Carnasserie Farm in the Upper Kilmartin Glen.
The project focused on the excavation and recording of 6 trenches spread across 3 sites, which have distinct prehistoric rock art panels present.
We worked with 40 individual volunteers, who, despite some awful weather, put in a massive effort to progress the excavation, and their passion and dedication were a vital part of the project.
Several local school groups visited, along with the local Girl Guide group, student placements and a Young Archaeologists Club group.
The Open Day on the 23rd of September was attended by 46 people, and luckily, they brought some sunshine with them!
On the days that we were rained off, the museum very kindly let us all in for a tour, and the group were lucky enough to listen to prehistoric experts Dr Aaron Watson from the museum and Archaeology Scotland’s Gavin MacGregor talk all things rock art and Neolithic/Bronze Age. These visits really reinforced the importance of Kilmartin as a unique place where cultural traditions in rock art came together and the only place where cup and ring marks, spirals, axe head and halberd motifs and animal carvings are found.
In each trench, we were able to unpick the narrative of prehistoric and post-medieval human activity, rock art motifs and the geological activity that has taken place in this landscape since the time of the last Ice Age.
At Site 1, we uncovered one new cup mark, but the most interesting development was the evidence of intentional quarrying of the rock art panel with exposed areas becoming weathered. According to a local geologist, this could well indicate prehistoric quarrying of the panel, possibly for cist slabs or standing stones.
At Site 2, the two trenches revealed more evidence of prehistoric activity around the rock art panel, including a piece of worked flint, possibly from a flint source in Aberdeenshire, and once we have further analysed the quartz assemblage, we hope to glean more understanding of the processes of making the rock art.
At Site 3 we uncovered a roughly laid level stone surface, associated with some post-medieval quarry waste material, which sealed deposits which contained worked lithics.
Article by Kieran Manchip | Archaeology Scotland
October 2023
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