Sands of Forvie
Principal Investigators
Dr Graeme Warren
Funding
Historic
Scotland and Aberdeenshire
County Council
Abstract
The Sands of Forvie are an extensive dune system on the north bank of
the estuary of the River Ythan at the northern extreme of Aberdeen Bay,
northeast Scotland. Forvie has long been famous for surface collections
of artefacts, but the context of these assemblages has often been
doubted. A surface collection carried out by the Marischal Museum Young
Archaeologists in 1994 was analysed by GW in 1999 and a small season of
further fieldwork undertaken in August 1999. Fieldwork in September
2001 recovered a large sample of lithics from a deflation surface in an
active dune system. Excavation and specialist analysis has demonstrated
the survival of superimposed land-surfaces in a hollow on site. These
layers included hearths as well as characteristic mesolithic artefacts.
Post-excavation work included residue and functional analyses, as well
as a highly detailed attribute analysis of blades and flakes. A
complete report was submitted to Historic Scotland in 2005 and after a
full refereeing and editing process will be published as a Scottish
Archaeological Internet Report (http://www.sair.org.uk/). The last edits to the text in the light of referees comments are currently being finalised.
