ABSTRACT
In the generation following the Second World War, research into later prehistoric archaeology concentrated notably on south-eastern Scotland and the Atlantic north and west. Eastern and north-eastern Scotland did not benefit as did the south-east from being the focus of field survey and research by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. For this reason in his scheme of provinces and regions (1966) Piggott’s North-Eastern Province was perhaps the least well documented of the four. The only field monuments that rated serious consideration were hillforts, notably those with timber-framed or vitrified ramparts. The regions of Strathearn, Strathtay, Strathspey and Cromarty/Moray were largely ignored, and the crannogs of the central Highland lochs, whose distribution (Henderson, Jon, 2000) effectively corresponds to a fifth, central Highland province, were not included. In terms of material culture the only significant distributions to be discussed were the late massive armlets and Donside terrets, being major highlights in the archaeological data-base. In the present generation, eastern Scotland north of the Forth has seen a great resurgence of fieldwork, which is transforming our understanding of settlement in the later prehistoric and early historic periods and greatly diversifying the data-base of known field monument types.
