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Fig 56 Entrace orientation of single enteacne enclosed sites in Lanrkshire.

As we have seen above, compared to the other case study areas, there are a larger number of sites Lanarkshire, and of these, 41 are defined by a single entrance (Fig 56). There are also 19 sites in the area that have double entraces while there are three sites that have three different entaces and two unusuals site, at Richie Ferry and BodsberryHill, that have four entraces. Of the single entrance sites we can see that there is a general north-east-south-west axis which dominates entrance orientation in the area. Eleven sites (27%) in the area are aligned towards the north-east while there are eight sites (20%) aligned to the east, there are also six sites (15%) aligned to the south-west and four sites (10%) which are aligned to the west. There are also smaller numbers of sites aligned in other directions, though these are represented in much smaller numbers. In particular it can be seen that there are only two sites orientated towards the south-east, which is unusually given that the majority of sites in other parts of the UK are aligned in this way. This evidence suggests that we are seeing a different way of defining space and enclosing sites, compared to other areas, and that that having sites aligned to the south-east was perhaps less important for the people that lived in the Lanrakhire

131 area, compared to those living in other parts of the country. At the same time it can be seen that the north-east, the direction of the rising sun at mid-summer, was much more important.

Given the large number of enclosed sites in this area compared to the other case study areas, we also see the largest number of sites which have multiple entrances.

Though it could also be suggested that there may also be cultural and social conditions at play in this area which may have meant that it was more appropriate or common for sites to have more than one entrance. There are nineteen sites in this area which have double entrances. Of these sites only four have directly opposing entrances, while the remaining seventeen sites have entrances that are not aligned. The significance of this is not clear but it does suggest that as those sites that have directly opposing entrances were not common, that they were perhaps associated with different activates or were associated with different groups of people compared to other sites. Those sites with entrances orientated in different, seemingly random ways, may have been relate to different practices or the occupants may have been concerned with being orientated towards particular special places in the landscape or different solstice events.

The graph below (Fig 57) illustrates the entrance orientation of those sites that have double entrances in the Lanarkshire area. It is of course difficult to determine which of the entrances should be classed as the first entrance compared to the second entrance, though in most cases the first entrance was larger or more elaborately defined. It should be noted however, as was discussed in chapter one, there may be chronological issues related with these different entrances, as can be seen at Breahead (Ellis 2007) in the Clyde area, and that without excavation it is difficult to determine which of the entrances would have been the primary entrance and which would have been the secondary entrance. Therefore the graph below should be taken with a degree of caution and not necessarily be relied upon

132 as a true representation of the nature of enclosed sites in the area, but as an interpretive aid only.

Fig 57 The entrance orientaon of double entrance enclosed sites in the Lanarkshire area.

Conclusion

This chapter has demonstrated that traditional Royal Commission classification scheme masks a great deal of diversity and complexity that can be seen in the enclosed sites of Lanarkshire, and that many of the forts of the area are in fact smaller than the settlements, earthworks and enclosures. The landscape of Lanarkshire is dominated by small curvilinear sites, which are enclosed in a variety of ways. In general, as can be expected, those sites that are located in upland locations are defined by ditch and ramparts, stone built ramparts, or stone built walls, while those sites that are located in the more fertile areas of the valley bottoms survive as ditch defined sites. The enclosed sites of this area display a continuum of sizes, from the small to the relatively large, which is in contrast to the other study areas, which as shall be discussed in Chapter Six, display a much more diverse size range. This, along with dense clustering of sites in this area, may suggest that society was organised in different ways compared to other parts of the

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Orientation of Double Entrance Enclosed Sites in Lanarkshire

N=19

1st Entrance 2nd Entrance

133 region. This may also be suggested in the orientation of the enclosed sites, which display a much greater propensity to be aligned to the north east compared to other areas, perhaps indicating that the people of Lanarkshire had different cosmological concerns to the people from the wider region. In the next chapter the enclosed sites of the Clyde area shall be examined, which as shall be seen, is an area that is much more similar to Ayrshire.

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Chapter Four: The Enclosed Sites in