The abandonment of souterrains: evolution, catastrophe or dislocation?
Armit, Ian
Armit, Ian
Publication Date
1999
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Abstract
This paper considers the evidence for the abandonment of souterrains in that part of east central
Scotland characterized by Wainwright as 'southern Pictland'. The evidence suggests that most
souterrains here were deliberately destroyed, or at least infilled, and that none seems to have
outlasted the early third century AD. The process of destruction seems to have been associated with a
significant degree of ritual activity not previously noted. It is postulated that the evidence would
allow for a single episode of abandonment (a 'souterrain abandonment horizon'), in the late second
or early third century AD, which might be related to a major reorientation of social and political
structures, perhaps associated with changes in Roman frontier policy.
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Armit, I. (1999). The abandonment of souterrains: evolution, catastrophe or dislocation? Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. 129, pp. 577-596.
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