Kingsdale Head Excavation 
The Kingsdale Head Excavation began with a geophysical survey of some lumps and bumps in ground which was infested with reeds.
Longhouse anomaly
"Kiln" anomaly
"Burned mound" anomaly
The results showed a number of anomalies which were worth investigating
and it was decided for the first season to concentrate on the
"longhouse" structure within the reeds together with an area by the
beck which appeared to show a "burned mound". Clearing off the reeds
revealed an interesting prospect for the excavation.
The rectangular structure of the longhouse can be seen clearly in this view
In 2005 we experienced some quite severe weather at times, with the
resulting loss of one of our marquees but our excavation on the
Kingsdale site proved most interesting. The removal of the turf
over the living end of the longhouse was a difficult task because of
the mass of rush roots that had penetrated the stone remains. The
members did really well to clear the 100 sq metres of the trench in
just one day. Trowelling down the layers of the site was also a
slow, painstaking process, not helped by having to trim the many rush
roots with scissors. However all this work paid off when Robert
White, Senior Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National
Park Authority visited just as we had completed preparing the site for
a photographic shoot. He was most impressed by the standard of
our work.
The walls of the longhouse show clearly
One of the most surprising outcomes of the excavation was the amount of
pottery that was recovered.
At least 5 or 6 different types were
found, including several rim-sherds. Post excavation work revealed the
sherds to be entirely medieval.
These reconstructed drawings are thanks to the kindness of Mr S. Moorhouse.
There was some speculation that the
pottery may have been manufactured on the site with the possibility of
a kiln close by.
An investigation in the following season
revealed that the geophysical anomaly shown above was not a kiln but
something altogether more interesting.
Within the longhouse we still had the original floor level to uncover
as well as the possible hearth towards the northern end of the
structure. We hoped for carbon dateable material from this
feature.
The longhouse appears to be surrounded by a layer of
cobbles indicating that the structure may have been built onto a
‘raft’ of stone, or that a previous building may have
existed on the site.
In our original project design a large sum of money had been allocated
for conservation in case the site was waterlogged. This
conservation work proved to be unnecessary and so we were able to
finance a further 3 weeks excavation in 2006. In 2006 we
completed the investigation of the living end of the longhouse, and the
area of burnt material (with other features) at the southern end of the
site. From C14 dating carried out by the Scottish Universities
Environmental Research Centre it was established that the longhouse was
occupied at 765 plus/minus 35 years BP (ref: SR 1132).
The puzzles of Trench 2 (The Burned Mound?)
This last area has proved most puzzling with the large area of burnt
material overlying a circular area of burning (showing as pink in the
photograph above,) which in turn adjoins a lower area of thick
paving slabs with two large vertical orthostats in between.
It
appears that some industrial process has been carried out here but we
have not yet established either the process or the product. The dating
of carbon found underneath the paved area gave a date of 3150
plus/minus 65 years BP (ref: SUERC 1618) .
In 2005 we thought that the answer could lie in the excavations of the
suggested kiln, a feature that showed up so well on the geophysical
survey. The answer turned out to be completely unexpected. The feature
was in fact a Mesolithic fire-pit with a dating of 7900 plus/minus 35
years BP which was calibrated to 6670 BC plus/minus 70 years (ref SR
1671). This suggests the need for further investigations extending the
Trench 6 as the geophysical survey seems to indicate a mysterious
crescent of possible postholes. The crescent may in fact the remains of
a circle which has been truncated by a trackway which is adjacent to
the Trench 6 site.
In June 2007 a further week's work was carried out to establish
that there was a cross wall within the "longhouse". Once again a
quantity of pottery sherds was found within the area with by far the
most complete pieces found in the whole project. There also appeared to
be a cobbled floor with a possible drain which had been set in the
floor at a later period suggesting that the area was used for animals
as expected. There was evidence of post settings suggesting that the
roof loading was spread through a timber frame and not transmitted via
the poorly built remains of the walls which looked like infilling
rather than load-bearing walls.
There have been many benefits from the project at Kingsdale Head.
Members have all learnt much, improved their excavation, recording and
surveying skills and gained experience in organising a large
excavation. We hosted several classes of children from Ingleton
Primary and Middle Schools who were given guided tours of the site in
both 2005 and 2006. In 2005 the pupils were supervised by IAG members
in excavating, drawing and surveying. An Open Day, organised
during the last week of each excavation season, was also a great
success with over 200 people visiting the site on each occasion.
The profile of the group has been raised by these events and the other
related publicity.
However the main lesson that has been learnt is that Kingsdale Head is
a complex site which has been occupied for thousands of years. There is
undoubtedly still much to be revealed on the site and the group will be
working here for some time to come.
Ingleborough Archaeology Group