Summary of Week One

The first week of our survey has flown by and we can't believe that we are already on week two! As October begins the trees surrounding the moor are certainly looking more and more orange, and we've been blessed with some wonderful autumnal weather. If you're joining us later this week, however, make sure to bring your waterproofs as we're expecting rain from Wednesday onwards.

The indications of post medieval farming practices continue to dominate our findings with many enclosure walls, quarries and trackways being recorded. One type of wall feature has been recorded more than the others, the 'smoot', a northern word for a hole in a wall that allows easy passage for animals or water. These could be to allow streams to pass through without causing damage to the wall, often referred to as water 'smoots'. Similary, rabbit 'smoots' are smaller and would have had a snare on one size to catch rabbits as they passed through, providing an easy dinner for whoever was working the land. 'Hogg holes' are often seen in walls that surround sheep enclosures, with 'hoggs' referring to young sheep rather than pigs. 

Excitement ensued when a cairn was found, although it's likely to be a clearance cairn as it's located

within an enclosure that is still used for agriculture today. The small pile of stones is situated near the centre of the enclosure and abuts a natural outcrop of the underlying bedrock. This proximity to the outcrop may explain the central location of the cairn since clearance cairns, as the name suggests, are often located to the edge of pasture or arable land.

We can't wait to see what else we find as our survey progresses and we move further onto the moorland. There are still places available to join us on the survey, if you'd like to come along please ensure you book using our eventbrite page at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rusland-horizons-bethecar-moor-archaeological-survey-registration-48867752764