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Swartigill Iron Age site Open Day this Saturday – All welcome





Scottish Archaeology Month is underway and the excavation at the Burn of Swartigill Iron Age site near Thrumster is now taking place with volunteers welcome to join the team.

The project – a collaboration between the UHI Archaeology Institute and the Yarrows Heritage Trust – runs until Friday, September 8, 2023. Since 2015, the excavation has uncovered the remains of a settlement area spanning over 1000 years – from c350BC until AD945.

The site is composed of a series of buildings that were often repurposed across the centuries before being eventually abandoned. Picture: DGS
The site is composed of a series of buildings that were often repurposed across the centuries before being eventually abandoned. Picture: DGS

Previous seasons of excavation at the site have uncovered a complex of Iron Age structures, which are providing an important window into Iron Age society away from the monumental architecture of the brochs. During the 2021 excavation, a substantial spread of prehistoric pottery was revealed by the bank of the burn, some of which have impressed finger decoration around the rim. A Guido Class 13 'Northern Spiral' Iron Age colourful glass bead was also found at the site last year.

All are welcome to attend the special Open Day event this Saturday which is run over two sessions from 10am to noon and then from 2pm until 4pm. There will also be a talk that same evening at Thrumster village hall from 6pm conducted by archaeological experts Martin Carruthers and Rick Barton who will talk about the latest finds and what they believe the various structures at Swartigill may have once been used as.

Volunteers of all levels of experience are welcome to help at the dig and should contact enquiries.orca@uhi.ac.uk or heritage@yarrowsheritagetrust.co.uk to find out how to get involved.

To find the excavation, take the Haster-Tannach road from Thrumster and look out for our signs just before the bridge crossing at the Burn of Swartigill. The dig is a short hike across boggy moorland.


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