Souterrains are underground structures argued to be used for the storage of agricultural produce. As outlined in the Iron Age ScARF agenda there are differences in construction and dating across Scotland, but similarities in conception, situation and material assemblages imply links in terms of their function and behaviour. Most of Scotland’s souterrains are thought to date from the last centuries BC and early centuries AD, although exceptionally their use is also known into the second half of the 1st millennium AD (Watkins and Barclay 1981; Armit 2000; Halliday 2006).
Until recently, souterrains were not known to occur commonly south of the Forth, and most of those that were known were stone-built constructions of relatively grand scale. But two features were excavated at Dryburn Bridge which bear resemblance to the more modest forms of souterrain found in other areas. Aerial photography is also beginning to recognise roundhouses associated with souterrains in East Lothian (Dunwell 2007). One of the souterrains at Dryburn Bridge contained a sherd of Roman bottle glass.
