PICTURE SPECIAL: ‘Unexplored area of Caithnessian archaeology’ throws up a mine of intriguing artefacts
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Intriguing artefacts have emerged from an archaeological dig in Caithness including a fragment of school slate that can be traced to its original owner.
A mix of seasoned archaeologists and volunteers have completed a new phase of work at a site originally thought to be the location of a 15th-century stronghold called Thurster Tower.
Mary Shand is a graduate from UHI Thurso in archaeology and talked about some of the latest discoveries at an open day event last weekend: “Over the last couple of weeks we’ve deturfed and removed a lot of rubble to reveal some very substantial outer walling.”
Mary showed how clay had been put down across a large floor surface area and there was evidence of burning around either end of the structure where fireplaces were situated. The team described the building as a ‘vernacular structure’ which could originally date back to the 1700s and was altered over the years.
In 2022 Yarrows Heritage used funds from a local windfarm trust to search for the remains of the “lost” towerhouse which appeared in 16th-century documents as Thurster Tower. This tower has numerous historical references, but it was probably destroyed in the early 17th century. Its exact whereabouts are unknown, although local tradition locates it in a field known as Long Greens close to Thrumster.
Evidence for the tower’s existence at this site has yet to appear and what the team were working on is described as “typical byre-dwelling from the post-medieval period”.
The byre-dwelling, or farmhouse, appears similar to many other ruins across Caithness in that it has a double gable and a hearth on either side. These features are generally found in crofting buildings created after the Highland Clearances of the 19th century.
Katie O’Connell, AOC public archaeologist, said the the team has “unravelled a lot of the phasing of the building” to show how it was altered over the years.
“We can see that there have been extensions to the building with the western end added on and in the eastern end there’s a hearth that’s been added too with edge-set stones.”
Regarding signs of the tower, Katie said that no evidence has been discovered to date the structure earlier than the 18th century. Some of the stones may have been repurposed from Thurster Tower, however, and its location could be within a plantation of trees close by.
“Very few of these structures have been excavated, particularly in the modern period. While people think they know what’s going on with these buildings in the 18th and 19th centuries, we really don’t know because we haven’t excavated them.
“We don’t have as much evidence as we have here as to how they were constructed, how they were altered and how they were used.”
Katie talked about a drain feature at one side of the building that appears unique to the structure. “We don’t have any comparisons for the size and complexity of the drain.”
Underneath a stone-paved floor of the building, the team had just discovered a thimble and spoon. Stuart Munro, from AOC Archaeology, said: “It’s not so much what they are but where they are. It’s looking like we have successive areas of occupation where they’re reusing the structure and relaying floors.”
Chris McNeill was volunteering at the site and had also worked on the Swartigill Iron Age settlement dig which is also led by Yarrows Heritage. He showed a plan that he had drawn of the site: “It’s a cross-section of the drain at the bottom of the building to show an outline of it.” Mary Shand added that the building was “very well drained”.
Rhona MacPherson was in the site tent showing visitors at the open day event some of the many artefacts discovered.
A large dairy bowl was pieced together from sherds of material found in the drainage area. A stone post had a narrow area around it showing that it had probably been used to tether animals.
There was also a very corroded clothing iron, a torpedo bottle, a round bottle-stopper that may have been reused as a marble, and pieces of broken tobacco pipes with one showing the name of a presumed tobacconist, ‘Sinclair Brothers. Wick’.
One of the most intriguing discoveries is, what appears to be, a school slate with initials inscribed in the bottom left corner. Islay MacLeod from Yarrows Heritage said: “It bears the initials ‘AM’ and I am supposing that this is Angus More, who is on my map as the tenant.
“I spoke to Rob More, his grand-nephew, and he told me that, at primary school, they used slate all the time, and he only had paper jotters when he went up to high school in 1948.
“He also mentioned that George Groat, another local crofter, just a few fields away, used to prepare slates for the children, cutting them to size and then making a wooden frame, as the edges were rather sharp.”
Katie O’Connell said that the dig provided the chance to delve into an “unexplored area of Caithnessian archaeology” and rarely excavated even though the county is filled with such ruins. “They’re understudied and underappreciated and give an important insight into Highland history.”
