Gerhard Bersu in Scotland, and his excavations at Traprain Law in context

Abstract

Bersu’s excavations on the hillfort of Traprain Law in south-east Scotland are reviewed in the light of his British and Irish digs and other work on the hill itself. It differs from the rest of his British excavations, which mostly focussed on houses, but is
entirely in keeping with his earlier pedigree as a hillfort excavator. Archive material shows how he engaged with the site and was able to guide the pre-determined excavation strategy to his own interests. A review of work at Traprain since Bersu places his excavations in the context of this long-lived central place, which saw major peaks of settlement activity in the late Bronze Age and the Roman Iron Age, and a role as a ritual centre or gathering place in earlier prehistory and during the Iron Age. Many of the questions Bersu sought to tackle remain only partly answered today. An appendix presents the text of an unpublished lecture he gave in 1947 that reveals more of his thoughts on the value of settlement excavations and the interpretation of roundhouses.