DOI article:
Clarke, D. V.: A plough pebble from Colstoun, Scotland
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48999#0053
PLOUGH PEBBLES
51
The plough pebble.
Scale 1:1.
Der »Pflug-Stein«.
Massstab 1:1.
provided even an approximate indication of
date; the context is far from satisfactory but
a terminus ante quem date of the fourteenth
century A. D. seems appropriate.3 Although,
again, the context is not wholly satisfactory,
the Colstoun find does give some indication of
date, and comes from an area in which finds
already suggest that pebble-studded wooden
ploughs were an important part of the agri-
cultural machinery of the past.
The aim of the excavation was to relocate
and plan a pottery kiln first discovered and
partially excavated some twenty years ago. An
area 9 m by 6 m was excavated, and this re-
vealed a complex series of phases, all apparent-
ly occurring in rapid succession, of which the
previously excavated kiln represented the final
phase. Early in this sequence a series of large,
shallow, interconnecting pits was dug across
the site into the natural clay subsoil. Their
purpose is unclear, but they were deliberately
refilled very soon after they had been dug. The
filling consisted of alternate layers of clay,
sand and finely comminuted charcoal containing
numerous potsherds. The plough pebble was
found in the upper fill of one of these pits.
While it could have derived from the topsoil,
the site had not been subjected to ploughing
since the discovery of the kiln, and in all
probability the topsoil encountered at the time
of excavation resulted from the weathering of
the upper fill of the pits laid bare by the
stripping of the original topsoil some twenty
years earlier. On balance then the evidence
suggests that the pebble was incorporated into
the pit fill at the time of filling and not at
some subsequent time. As noted above, the
filling of the pits was one of a rapidly succeed-
ing series of phases, and the pottery evidence
suggests that a total period of not more than
fifty years in the late thirteenth or early four-
teenth centuries A. D. was involved.4 The Col-
stoun pebble can thus be given a terminus ante
quem of the fourteenth century A. D. Further
precision is impossible, but such a date cor-
responds well with that for the Jarlshof pebble,
a fact of some importance in view of the later
radiocarbon dates for the Danish pebble-stud-
ded ploughs.5
Ein »Pflug-Stein« aus Colstoun, East Lothian,
Schottland. Im Winter 1971 nahm The Natio-
nal Museum of Antiquities of Scotland eine
neuerliche Ausgrabung an der Fundstatte eines
Tofper-Brennofens bei Colstoun in der Nahe
von Haddington, East Lothian, vor. Unter den
Funden war auch ein abgeschabter, kleiner
weisser Stein (»plough-pebble«), Fig. 1. Seine
abgeschabte Seite misst 16 mm und weist die
charakteristischen Streifen auf, die zeigen, das
die Abschabungen nur von der Sohle eines
Pfluges stammen kbnnen und nicht vom Vor-
derradgestell des Pfluges. Eine Anzahl solcher
abgeschabter Steine wurden an mehreren Orten
in Schottland gefunden, und u. a. auch auf
Jarlshof, Shetland.1-3
Die Fundverhaltnisse werden beschrieben,
und daraus kann ein terminus ante quem ftir
den kleinen Stein abgeleitet werden, u. zw. das
14. Jahrh. n. Chr., oder eher die zweite Halfte
des 13. Jahrhunderts.
1. A. Fenton in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., 96, 1962-63,
276-79. 2. Ibid. 276. 3. Ibid. 278.
4. I am grateful to Mrs. H. J. Le Patourel for dis-
cussing this matter with me.
5. G. Lerche in Tools and Tillage 1:3/1970, 131-49.
David V. Clarke
51
The plough pebble.
Scale 1:1.
Der »Pflug-Stein«.
Massstab 1:1.
provided even an approximate indication of
date; the context is far from satisfactory but
a terminus ante quem date of the fourteenth
century A. D. seems appropriate.3 Although,
again, the context is not wholly satisfactory,
the Colstoun find does give some indication of
date, and comes from an area in which finds
already suggest that pebble-studded wooden
ploughs were an important part of the agri-
cultural machinery of the past.
The aim of the excavation was to relocate
and plan a pottery kiln first discovered and
partially excavated some twenty years ago. An
area 9 m by 6 m was excavated, and this re-
vealed a complex series of phases, all apparent-
ly occurring in rapid succession, of which the
previously excavated kiln represented the final
phase. Early in this sequence a series of large,
shallow, interconnecting pits was dug across
the site into the natural clay subsoil. Their
purpose is unclear, but they were deliberately
refilled very soon after they had been dug. The
filling consisted of alternate layers of clay,
sand and finely comminuted charcoal containing
numerous potsherds. The plough pebble was
found in the upper fill of one of these pits.
While it could have derived from the topsoil,
the site had not been subjected to ploughing
since the discovery of the kiln, and in all
probability the topsoil encountered at the time
of excavation resulted from the weathering of
the upper fill of the pits laid bare by the
stripping of the original topsoil some twenty
years earlier. On balance then the evidence
suggests that the pebble was incorporated into
the pit fill at the time of filling and not at
some subsequent time. As noted above, the
filling of the pits was one of a rapidly succeed-
ing series of phases, and the pottery evidence
suggests that a total period of not more than
fifty years in the late thirteenth or early four-
teenth centuries A. D. was involved.4 The Col-
stoun pebble can thus be given a terminus ante
quem of the fourteenth century A. D. Further
precision is impossible, but such a date cor-
responds well with that for the Jarlshof pebble,
a fact of some importance in view of the later
radiocarbon dates for the Danish pebble-stud-
ded ploughs.5
Ein »Pflug-Stein« aus Colstoun, East Lothian,
Schottland. Im Winter 1971 nahm The Natio-
nal Museum of Antiquities of Scotland eine
neuerliche Ausgrabung an der Fundstatte eines
Tofper-Brennofens bei Colstoun in der Nahe
von Haddington, East Lothian, vor. Unter den
Funden war auch ein abgeschabter, kleiner
weisser Stein (»plough-pebble«), Fig. 1. Seine
abgeschabte Seite misst 16 mm und weist die
charakteristischen Streifen auf, die zeigen, das
die Abschabungen nur von der Sohle eines
Pfluges stammen kbnnen und nicht vom Vor-
derradgestell des Pfluges. Eine Anzahl solcher
abgeschabter Steine wurden an mehreren Orten
in Schottland gefunden, und u. a. auch auf
Jarlshof, Shetland.1-3
Die Fundverhaltnisse werden beschrieben,
und daraus kann ein terminus ante quem ftir
den kleinen Stein abgeleitet werden, u. zw. das
14. Jahrh. n. Chr., oder eher die zweite Halfte
des 13. Jahrhunderts.
1. A. Fenton in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., 96, 1962-63,
276-79. 2. Ibid. 276. 3. Ibid. 278.
4. I am grateful to Mrs. H. J. Le Patourel for dis-
cussing this matter with me.
5. G. Lerche in Tools and Tillage 1:3/1970, 131-49.
David V. Clarke