Archaeological Evaluation

Date 5 October 2015 - 9 February 2016

Event ID 1024594

Category Recording

Type Archaeological Evaluation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1024594

NH 64380 43609 A trial trenching evaluation was carried out, 22 February – 15 March 2016, at the greenfield site of a proposed new golf course and adjacent house site at Torvean. Evaluation trenches were excavated in areas where groundworks could impact upon buried deposits. Sixty significant archaeological features were recorded across the area.

The majority of the features comprised truncated pits interpreted as probable prehistoric features. Three trenches in the southern part of the site revealed distinct clusters of pits. Although shapes and sizes varied, a number of the pits comprised bowl-shaped cuts containing fire-cracked stone with charcoal-rich fills, suggesting that they were fire-pits or hearths. Other pits appeared to be postholes, indicating the presence of structural remains on the site. Further pit features comprised shallow, elongated pits interpreted as possible storage sites and keyhole-shaped pits interpreted as possible small kilns. Several of the features contained

degraded sherds of prehistoric pottery.

A number of ditches were also recorded. The remains of a well built slab-lined ditch with a cobbled floor were interpreted as a probable house or byre drain, although there were no other structural remains found. Another

stone-filled slot within lower-lying ground may have been a post-medieval field drain, while definite, later field drains were also found in the vicinity. The remnants of two further ditches were found in areas close to the location of a possible burial cairn identified during a survey in 2013.

An extensive spread of fire-cracked stone and blackened soil was located in a trench on the NW side of the site. The section revealed that the spread of material was substantially deep with possible structural stonework within it. It was loosely interpreted as a burnt mound.

Excavation was recommended in ten areas around the location of the sites recorded during the evaluation.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Capita

Mary Peteranna and Lindsey Stirling – AOC Archaeology Group

(Source: DES, Volume 17)