Twiglees

Also known as Sow Rig, Twiglees is the site of a cairn and several mesolithic ring enclosures. These where recorded in the mid 1950s, when Mr John Forsyth discovered several hut circles on the site, situated in two groups below the summit of Sow Rig, clearly visible from the roadside. Thes ite was discovered during the process of afforestation, and has subsequently become covered by a fir plantation, its exact location is now not known. A subsequent excavation in 1957 revealed more than 200 flint and chert microliths, cores and core scrapers which were found at two chipping floors on the Eskdalemuir hillsides. Sometimes forestry work provides archaeologists with opportunities they do not have when land is under rough pasture. These worked stones were recovered from forestry drains. The find also included two fragments of pitchstone, which has very good flaking properties and was much sought after for the manufacture of stone tools. There are two possible sources of this pitchstone, Corriegill near Annan or the island of Arran. If it was the latter hunter gatherer peoples were either highly mobile or trading over considerable distances. RCAHMS (1997a) Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape, Edinburgh Page(s): 295, no. 489 Held at RCAHMS A.1.7.DUM Truckell, A E (1956a) 'Archaeological finds, 1955', Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3rd, vol.33 Page(s): 201 http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/67380/details/twiglees