12 pits were found

Archaeologists excavating Warren Field, an area next to Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire from 2004-06 uncovered 12 pits which appear to mimic the phases of the moon and track lunar months.  Unusual crop marks had been spotted from the air by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) which led to the dig being started.

Dave Cowley, aerial survey projects manager at RCAHMS, said: “We have been taking photographs of the Scottish landscape for nearly 40 years, recording thousands of archaeological sites that would never have been detected from the ground…Warren Field stands out as something special, however. It is remarkable to think that our aerial survey may have helped to find the place where time itself was invented.”

Archaeologists believe now they have discovered the world’s oldest lunar “calendar” in the world.

A team led by the University of Birmingham suggests the ancient monument was created by hunter-gatherers about 10,000 years ago.

Vince Gaffney, Professor of Landscape Archaeology at Birmingham, led the analysis project.

He said: “The evidence suggests that hunter-gatherer societies in Scotland had both the need and sophistication to track time across the years, to correct for seasonal drift of the lunar year and that this occurred nearly 5,000 years before the first formal calendars known in the Near East …In doing so, this illustrates one important step towards the formal construction of time and therefore history itself.”

An artist’s impression of warren field about 10000 years ago showing burning material in one of the pits.

The experts who analysed the pits said they may have contained a wooden post.

The pits were placed to copy the positions of the moon – identifying the time of the year.

The Mesolithic “calendar” is thousands of years older than previous known formal time-measuring monuments created in Mesopotamia.

The pit alignment also aligns on the Midwinter sunrise to provided the hunter-gatherers with an annual “astronomic correction” in order to better follow the passage of time and changing seasons.

The universities of St Andrews, Leicester and Bradford were also involved.
Dr Richard Bates, of the University of St Andrews, said the discovery provided “exciting new evidence” of the early Mesolithic Scotland.
He added: “This is the earliest example of such a structure and there is no known comparable site in Britain or Europe for several thousands of years after the monument at Warren Field was constructed.”

Crathes Castle

Crathes Castle and its estate is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).
From 2004 to 2006, trust staff and Murray Archaeological Services excavated the site.
NTS archaeologist Dr Shannon Fraser said: “This is a remarkable monument, which is so far unique in Britain.
“Our excavations revealed a fascinating glimpse into the cultural lives of people some 10,000 years ago – and now this latest discovery further enriches our understanding of their relationship with time and the heavens.”

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Veronica Ross with a bottle seal showing the Burnett Coat Of Arms found at an archaeological dig at Crathes Castle.

Volunteer archaeologists have been helping to uncover the forgotten past of Crathes Castle, near Banchory. This has been part of a month-long dig, during which the team has uncovered traces of a 17th century courtyard and old buildings under the lawn.

Pottery and bits of glass have also been found, as well as a bottle seal stamped with the crest of the Burnett of Leys family, who built the castle and still own much of the estate.

Remains of 18th century glass bottles, including this impressive Burnett family seal which would probably have been on a bottle of claret.

Previous to this find archaeologists have discovered a timber hall on the site of the castle. The hall is likely to have been a community building for settlers who travelled from southern Europe in boats made out of skins or logs.

This site was discovered after looking at an ariel photograph of the land in 1976, seeing a colour difference of the ripening cereal crop the outline of an ancient building could be traced. This building is thought to be from the Dark Ages, 1500 years ago.

Crathes is an early neolithic building, near the banks of the River Dee, sadly like so many others it was destroyed by fire. It is one of only three of its kind in Scotland. The others are close by at Balbridie, and at Claish in Stirlingshire.

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Crathes Castle

Crathes Castle historic seat of Clan Burnett. Like most Scottish castles Crathes has it’s ghostly tales. The one it’s most known for is the withered spectre of the Green Lady stalks the corridors, putting the frighteners on those she meets. More than that, she is a portent of death.

Whether you are a believer or not in the supernatural, there is a multitude of hauntings in Scottish castles by a green lady; both Thainstone and Fyvie Castle have a resident Green Lady. Perhaps green is the colour of the undead, when their spirit coalesces under the cloak of darkness and its time to raise the pulses of those trying to get a good night’s sleep. That said, there are a number of White Ladies too.

Crathes’ haunting said to arise from a rather nasty poisoning incident that happened after the death of the Laird. His widow, Lady Agnes was an obsessive mother, whose relationship with her son Alexander was all consuming. Alexander’s blossoming romance with a young common girl called Bertha caused no end of emotional ructions.

While her son was away, Lady Agnes poisoned Bertha. Simple as that. A wee drop of deadly nightshade or similar into her evening’s claret and away went the problem. Except Alexander found out, and in death, Bertha had driven mother and son apart. Either of these tormented souls are said to be haunt the castle.

Curiously the Green Lady is thought to be neither Lady Agnes or Bertha, and such is the nature of anecdotal evidence, plus the fact that ghosts rarely participate in a census, the identity of the Green Lady is unknown. Some say she is a servant who disappeared in disgrace after becoming pregnant. But who really knows? We’d go an ask her personally, but given her reputation as a portent of death for a member of the Burnett family it is understandable that the family would like her to maintain a low profile.

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