Deers Den

Deer’s Den is an archaeological site near Kintore in Aberdeenshire. It lies west of the River Don, close to the A96 road. The land holds traces from many ages: Bronze Age roundhouses, Iron Age artefacts and a Roman marching camp. A scheduled monument protects the roundhouses, though they appear only as cropmarks from the air. The site stretches across 49 hectares, partly built over by Kintore itself. Two roundhouses were lost when the A96 was built. The place matters because it shows how people lived from 1600 to 700 BCE and later under Rome. Excavations found at least seven roundhouses and signs of a Roman camp large enough for 10 000 soldiers. Among the discoveries were 44 bread ovens, the largest group of its kind in the UK. These ovens once baked flat breads topped with vegetables, like early pizzas. The finds came to light after a 2003 housing plan threatened the site. Visitors walk over ground that once held roundhouses and a busy Roman camp. The scheduled monuments are not on view but show clearly in aerial photographs. Nearby fields may still hide burial grounds from the past. The area’s history is read from cropmarks rather than standing walls. A short drive away, the River Don adds a quiet backdrop to the remains.