The Castle of Leys (5)
A new survey of the castle site was undertaken in 2016, which produced some interesting results.  A Differential Global Positioning Systems survey, which enhances GPS data to provide extremely accurate height measurements, discovered that the island appears to have sunk by as much as 3m.  The outline of the medieval tower house could still be clearly traced across the eastern half of the islet (left), but was less clear or absent along what Burnett had described as the western wall.  Excavation found that the organic component of the crannog had substantially deteriorated since the 1850 draining of the loch, causing the sinking. 

Also of interest from the 2016 survey and excavation were two radiocarbon dates obtained from the site.  A small piece of carbon was dated to the 1st-2nd centuries AD, and a sample of the material forming the crannog's core was dated to the 9th–10th centuries AD.  There were people here a long time before the Burnetts!
dji031819stitch scotland 2022 castle burnettofleys lochofleys banchory aberdeenshire lochofbanchory crannog kincardineshire crathescastle