The Braehead Enclosure is one of very few large prehistoric settlement sites in Scotland to be fully excavated. The site has yet to be dated scientifically, but comparisons with similar sites indicate that it is probably about 2000 years old, at which time the Clyde valley was occupied by an Iron Age tribe known as the Damnonii. Prior to excavation an aerial photograph of the site and our previous evaluation results suggested that the site comprised three large oval ditches, two roundhouses and up to four wooden or palisades

However, by the end of the 10 week dig the enclosure had been shown to consist at least five roundhouses. One further possible roundhouse platform had been revealed, as well as many postholes within the centre of the enclosure, presumably the remains of other structures. We also identified at least 8 different palisades and two mystery structures on the west side of the site, the function of these is currently unknown.

The excavation finished at the end of July 2001, and from the initial results we have been able to develop an initial interpretation of the site regarding how the architecture of the site has changed with time. But this is only the beginning of the archaeological process and there is still much work to be done. The sediment samples and artefacts are now subject to further study by specialists and this phase of work is known as Post-excavation. Post-excavation will ultimately result in the publication of the site, possibly on the web, with shorter papers in archaeological journals.

The Post-excavation and Interpretation pages will be regularly updated with results of the specialist work.