Thirlestane Barrows – An early medieval barrow cemetery?
During the dry ground conditions of summer 2018, cropmarks were spotted from a nearby hillside by a local resident. These cropmarks are apparent across two fields south of Broughton. An aerial photographic survey by Historic Environment Scotland in July that year further revealed that these cropmarks included at least four potential barrow graves. Three of these barrow cropmarks comprise circular ditches enclosing a small area with a central feature. The fourth barrow cropmark comprises a square shaped ditch enclosing a small area containing a central feature.
Where sites such as this have been excavated, the central feature is a grave, which was originally buried beneath a small mound of earth cast from the enclosing ditch. However, ploughing over the subsequent centuries has usually removed the mound, leaving only the buried archaeological remains, which are often visible only from the air.
Such barrow graves can be Iron Age or early medieval in date. It is likely that these barrow graves represent the graves of some of the inhabitants of the numerous hillforts that are distributed around this location. In particular, we seek to establish if these burials relate to the occupation of Tinnis Castle Fort, which lies approximately 1 mile to the east. And can this reveal something about the Dark Age landscape of Upper Tweeddale?
Geophysics surveys will be undertaken in October 2022 to confirm if these cropmarks are indeed barrow graves and if more archaeological features survive here than the aerial photography has revealed. Once the geophysical results identify the precise location of the barrows and if other barrows survive, a team of volunteers, supervised by GUARD Archaeology, will excavate small trenches across the square barrow and one of the round barrows to verify what these archaeological remains are. The aim is to gather archaeological evidence to establish if these are barrows, what period do they date to, if they were contemporary with the occupation of Tinnis Castle Fort and what we can reveal about the people buried here.
Main image: The four barrow cropmarks discovered in 2018. © Historic Environment Scotland
