Woodend looking over site
The Woodend Bronze Age cemetery was investigated to include it in an area as a visitor attraction.
The site had been explored in the 1930’s (Stevenson, 1939) but with little in the way of a record of what was done and what was found. In 2008, the surface of the site was de-turfed and cleaned down to the covering of stone, this revealed the two cists which were already known. These contained ony a quantity of modern rubbish which was removed.
Unfortunately, through an oversight, the writer had failed to realise that the site was listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Fortunately, Historic Scotland took a sympathetic view of the infringement, as no actual archaeological deposits had been disturbed, and the site was reinstated.
Rock art in situ
A complete plan was prepared and photographic record teken of the exposed surface was taken. This showed that a natural gravel mound had been enhanced by a covering of stone and a possible kerb. A stone lying near the summit of the cairn was found to be decorated with a series of pecked, concentric semicircular lines, a rare example of rock art in the Borders.
The Woodend cists remain on view and, depending on the result of excavations on nearby sites, they may be incorporated within a small heritage trail. Two suspected Early Christian cists will be investigated and an enigmatic enclosure explored in an attempt to determine its date and function.
Reports
- Woodend Report 2 | 2012 | 1.56MB | Tam Ward, BAG
- Woodend Report 1 – Excavation of a Bronze Age burial cairn at Woodend, Mossfennan Farm, Upper Tweeddale. T Ward. 2008.