Mount or motte? Recent excavations at Montfode, Ardrossan

Abstract

Montfode Mount near Ardrossan is a monument with an ambiguous interpretation which has been subject to much discussion over the years. The site is a low mound at the end of a broad plateau of flat ground on a raised beach terrace. Recent housing development offered another opportunity to examine the monument's ditches and surroundings. The results cast doubt on previous interpretations of the monument as a medieval motte. Several groups of truncated features were identified in the vicinity, with some forming a probable double-ring roundhouse, and all of the dateable features were Bronze Age. Beaker pottery was found in one pit. The plan of the ditches and possible palisades surrounding the mound were more fully revealed. The work disturbed one part of the inner ditch and the dating of material from the primary fill also suggested a prehistoric date. It is concluded that the site bears most resemblance to a defended settlement of the later prehistoric period.