| Gueswick Hills |
The weather was dreadful for our first face-to-face meeting of 2023, but it was lovely to meet again after spending the winter months on Zoom. We welcomed several new members who had braved the wind and the rain.
Tony Metcalfe talked to us about Altogether Archaeology’s dig at the Gueswick Hills, near Cotherstone. SWAAG has previously assisted with the geophysical surveying of this site and will be doing so again this year. The structures uncovered in the trenches last summer continue to confirm that this was a substantial Iron Age settlement, protected at one stage by a palisade. Occupation continued through into the Romano-British period, and we were able to see some of the finds dating from that time, which Tony brought along to the meeting. Tony has invited SWAAG members to become involved with this summer’s dig. See the SWAAG activities section for more information.
J. H. |
|
|
|
|
| Click an image to enlarge in a new tab |
| |
|
|
|
|
| News Record: 165 Updated: 30-04-2023 10:41:56 |
|
|
| Muker |
| Our talk in March was given by SWAAG member Will Swales, who discussed the origin of the place-name Muker. Menhaker or Meuhaker is first mentioned in 1274 and is generally accepted to derive from the Old Norse mjór-akr meaning ‘a narrow newly-cultivated field’. As places were often originally described with reference to a person’s name or a geographical feature, Will thought it strange that that Muker wasn’t described in relation to the most prominent feature in the area - Kisdon Hill. He then explored other possible interpretations of the name Muker, together with a consideration of the name Kisdon and the hill’s physical appearance. Will pointed out that Kisdon is the name given to several other geographical features on the opposite side of the valley at High Kisdon, Kisdon Scar, Low Kisdon and Kisdon Bottom. He suggested that as these are all located at some height above the river Swale the name might refer to a feature of, or in, the valley below. |
|
|
|
|
| Click an image to enlarge in a new tab |
| |
|
|
|
|
| News Record: 164 Updated: 13-04-2023 15:53:37 |
|
|
| Stone platforms, standing stones and stone circles |
Our first talk of 2023 was given by Jan Hicks, of Lunesdale Archaeology Society, who spoke about the group’s excavations at High Carlingill. This is a settlement site on the eastern slopes of the Lune valley, close to the Roman Fort at Low Borrowbridge. It was occupied from the late Iron Age into the Romano-British period. This was a particularly interesting talk as SWAAG members were able to compare the site with that at The Hagg.
February’s talk was given by SWAAG member Jane Harrison. She spoke about the archaeological landscape of Kilmartin Glen, in mid-Argyll. This little-known and remote area contains one of Scotland’s largest concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. There are cairns, cists, a henge, stone circles and standing stones, as well as rock art. The first animal carvings in Scotland were found there in 2021. The area continued to be important into the historic period. The hillfort of Dunadd was a power base for the Dál Raita, who established trade links across Western Europe.
J. H. |
 |
 |
| Linear cemetery Kilmartin Glen |
The inauguration stone at Dunadd |
| Click an image to enlarge in a new tab |
| |
|
|
|
|
| News Record: 163 Updated: 06-03-2023 15:59:15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
