Interpreting the archaeology of the A1

The upgrading of part of the A1 road in south-east Scotland prompted the excavation of eleven archaeological sites. These spanned a period of 5,000 years from the early fourth millenium BC to the early fifth century AD. This volume draws together the results of the excavations and presents the story of human endeavour in the changing landscapes of ancient Lothian. In spite of the chronological range and diversity of the archaeology, evidence has emerged from the excavations for common threads across the millennia: long-held concerns with sustaining life through farming, the symbolic potency of certain objects, and the enduring perceived significance of certain places in the landscape.

Two mortuary enclosures attested to ceremonial activity and the treatment of the dead in the early fourth millennium BC. One of these sites developed into a long cairn and then became a focus for burial during the second millennium BC. At four other places along the route, people put special deposits into pits and in some cases created alignments of pits and posts during the late fourth and third millennia BC. The work also found evidence for settlement in later prehistory at six places along the route, ranging from midden-filled scoops and simple homesteads to a complex farmstead and a large enclosed settlement. People also returned during this period to the much earlier mortuary enclosures to leave human remains at the ancient monuments.