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Recently published research by GUARD Archaeology reports on the discovery of a pair of Bronze Age burnt mounds at Hallmeadow in Annan, 24km south-east of Dumfries. They were first identified in 2020, during archaeological works ahead of the construction of housing, on behalf of Robert Potter & Partners LLP and Ashleigh Building.
‘The Hallmeadow burnt mounds comprised two large accumulations of burnt stones and charcoal surrounding large firepits (right),’ said GUARD Archaeologist Kenneth Green, who led the excavation. ‘These were dated to around 2,000 BC, during the early Bronze Age.’
Burnt stones such as those found at Hallmeadow are thought to be the waste product of a method of boiling water in which stones were heated and then dropped into a trough filled with water. More than 1,900 burnt mounds are known in Scotland, with a distinct concentration in Dumfries and Galloway, and it is not uncommon to find several burnt mounds in relatively close proximity to each other, suggesting that groups of people returned to the same sites.
The mounds may have been used for cooking fish and meat: experiments have demonstrated that a joint of meat wrapped in leaves can be cooked for several hours, with heated stones being continually fed into the tank of water to keep it boiling. The GUARD team, however, found no evidence for a permanent settlement at Hallmeadow, suggesting that the site could have had a rather different purpose.
‘Hallmeadow’s proximity to the Solway Firth gives the site easy coastal access to south-west Scotland, western England, Ireland, and the Isle of Man,’ Kenneth said. ‘Hallmeadow may have been used as a temporary stopping-point or seasonal camping area as people made longer journeys around the Irish Sea.’
The excavations uncovered evidence of earlier activity on the site, too, including a number of Neolithic flint tools, and a hazelnut shell that was found in the lowest layer and radiocarbon dated to 4452-4264 BC, during the Mesolithic period.
‘Burnt Mounds at Annan’ by Kenneth Green was recently published in issue 96 of the Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society.
Text: Ronan Toolis / Image: GUARD Archaeology
