By Qianyue Zhou

The Background and Objectives of the Project

The Crow Hill Archaeological Excavation Project at Holyrood Park aimed to discover that the area had been used as a settlement and to explore the relationship between this potential building and the surrounding agricultural terraces. The trench that we are working with is named Trench 11.

The excavation of last week revealed a massive number of stones that perhaps are remains of the ancient stone wall and initially established the outline. The main tasks for this week were to continue the dig within the extended area of Trench 11. Trying to confirm the building structure and to collect more evidence to support its presumed use as a habitation site.

Overview of Excavation Work

This week, the detailed excavation of the trench provided further information on the structural features of the building. In the extension area, numerous flat stones like paving were found, which presumably could be the floor part of the building (Figure 1). These discoveries have enhanced our understanding of the area as an ancient place rather than the common stone pile, suggesting there were activity and living vestiges.

Figure 1. Massive paving stone had been excavated in front of the stone wall, presumed to be part of the floor.

The excavation employed standard archaeology techniques, using typical mattocks and shovels for cleaning, in addition, to use trowels for important stratigraphic layers and detailed finds. In the recording, the team used the camera to get multi-angle photos, which overlapped approximately 15 degrees of angle per shot to ensure that could ultimately form a threedimensional model of Trench 11. GPS equipment was also employed to take precise measurements at key location points in the trench (Figure 2), these points having been randomly placed around the trench before photographing, which ensured the spatial coordinates could be accurately recorded. UAV photography techniques were also utilized to record the overview of the site from overhead, providing a holistic view of the image data.

Figure 2. The white-black points in the long stuff were the location that GPS equipment to measure, they were placed before the take photos and ensure they were never moved during the recording process.

Sampling Strategies and Findings

The team worked on soil sampling at Trench 11 this week. In addition to randomly collecting the massive soil samples, the team conducted focused sampling as small bags in specific areas, particularly in the centre portion of the stone wall. These samples will be used for subsequent analyses aimed at understanding the possibility of activity and life in the area. Each sample was recorded in detail and labelled via tags to ensure accuracy in experimental studies.

During this week’s work, I find some interesting small finds. First, I found nine pieces of black stuff which were seen as slags or cannel coals, two of them were relatively well large and preserved (Figure 3). Secondly, maybe a piece of quartz (Figure 4) suspected to have been worked caught my attention. Its cross-section showed the possible cut marks, which presumable made it be use as a raw material in some kind of fabrication process and have required grinding it into powder stuff. These findings provide evidence for the suggested existence of human activity on this site.

Figure 3. Nine pieces of possible metal slag and vitrified material, classified as glass or vitreous kind. Find in the context 1117, and sort the code was 11.23.

Figure 4. The worked quartz was classified as stone kind. Find in the context 1117 and sort the code was 11.24.

Personal Contribution and Skill Learned

The second week’s work not only helped me to further my archaeology excavation skills and taught me additional recording and measuring methods. I was responsible for taking multiangle photographs of part of the excavated area in Trench 11 to make 3D modelling, which improved my recording and photography skills. On the other hand, I learned to use GPS equipment for precise object location, ensuring that the position data for each find was accurately recorded in the system.

I was also involved in the organization and classification of four small finds, from finds code 11.22 to 11.25. With the mentoring of Katie, I attempted to independently complete the categorization and labelling record of the SF (Small Finds) and organized them into the electronic AOC database vise the device. During that time, I photographed these four finds and recorded the detailed information, ensuring complete digital data for each item (Figure

5).

Figure 5. The recording process of four small finds includes paper labels and digital data records.

I observed and learned the skills of drawing from the work of mapping the section of Trench 11. The soil colours were changed through different contexts, from dark brown to light brown and to brown-orange. There were quite clear to see the different layers of the strata, which connected the knowledge of stratigraphy that I learned before in the lecture. This provided important clues to show how the building was constructed and the time passed.

Conclusion

The excavation of this week has further confirmed the possibility of Trench 11 as a habitation site. The continued exploration of stone walls and building floors allowed us to establish a more complete outline of the built architecture (Figure 6). Although there were no significant quantities of pottery were found, this lack led to the speculating date of this area being earlier than the medieval periods. The assumption was also supported by finding some bone remains, suggesting that there may have been human or livestock living in the area. The following work will more focus on the mapping and data collection to further clarify the architectural layout of the area and keep the discussion of its connection with the terraces. 

Figure 6. The layout and outline of the stone wall and paving stones, it was taken on Friday afternoon.