Bellmuir

NJ83NE 56 876 368

Formerly NJ83NE 56 and NJ83NE 96

SMR Nos. GRC 67, 84 and 93

Information from Mrs M Greig (Grampian Regional Council), 5 June 1992.

NJ 87 36 (centre) A watching brief and archaeological evaluation were undertaken in advance of a proposed sand and gravel quarry. Five clearance cairns were machine-excavated during the watching brief, three of which were the result of two or more periods of clearance. An assemblage of struck flint flakes and post-medieval pottery was recovered from within one. The occurrence of this pottery in the same context as the flint hoard may result from an earlier cairn being reused as the focus for later field clearance.

Two additional excavations were undertaken where the proposed course of the access road was to intersect a field dyke and a section of an old road. Excavations showed that the old road had been driven through the dyke and that part of this dyke had already been removed. Excavations across the old road revealed no archaeological features.

During the second phase of this evaluation, seven apparent clearance cairns and an enclosure were investigated. A leaf-shaped arrowhead was found in one cairn and a flint core fragment was recovered from another. Of the seven cairns, three were typical of small clearance heaps. The remaining four features were of a linear nature and, unlike cairns, were composed of upcast subsoil with only occasional stones. In the light of desk-based map research showing the area to have been heavily wooded in the past, these features seem most likely to have resulted from the upcast root plates of fallen trees.

Four sections were cut through the bank of the enclosure revealing a simple earth and stone bank.

A detailed report has been lodged with the NMRS.

Sponsor: Chap Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd.

J Hamilton 1998