Excavation

Date 1 May 2013 - 5 May 2013

Event ID 1024586

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1024586

NH 68780 45080 (Canmore ID: 13414. SMR ID: 24979) The Raigmore Ring Cairn is a partially reconstructed prehistoric monument that was excavated in the early 1970s and moved to its present location, within Ashton Road Park, ahead of its destruction by the expansion of the A9 trunk road. The monument was the focus of a desk-based research project

by a local adult learners group. Through their research, the group identified contemporary photographs from the time of the site’s reconstruction, which indicated internal structural features used and reconstructed from the original monument. These features included a timber post-built

structure, a cairn platform, pits and a cist. The features were, over time, covered by vegetation or were removed and are no longer visible. The main aims and objectives of the project were to ascertain the level of survival of the internal features and assess the condition of the upstanding remains. In turn it was the aim of the project to transform the monument from an un-utilised feature within a public park to an educational resource to be used by local schools and appreciated by the whole community. Five trenches

were excavated within the interior of the monument, 1–5 May 2013, in order to investigate the presence and condition any archaeological remains. Features identified during the excavation included: a number of concrete foundations used to support wooden posts, which were in the approximate location of those found in the original monument; fragments

of the relocated original cairn material; and, the concrete foundations and the stones of the reconstructed cist.

Archive and report: HES (intended)

Funder: HLF and HES

Cara Jones – Archaeology Scotland

(Source: DES, Volume 17)