Field Visit

Date April 2015

Event ID 1026924

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1026924

NJ 6498 2448 The status of this hilltop settlement has been questioned over recent years. In 1957 the OS reported over 50 hut circles on the hill and the site was accordingly scheduled. More recent visits from RCAHMS and Historic Scotland have suggested that no more than eight are visible but also note that the interior is ‘choked with rank gorse, broom and heather’. The survey in April 2015 entailed the clearance of a limited area of undergrowth from an area shown on the 1957 survey to have contained various archaeological features. This was followed by a plane table survey recording all visible features in that area. The results, after taking account of the large drift of magnetic N since 1957, suggests that, within this limited area, the OS’s recorded features are still largely visible. Moreover, rather than simply the hut circles recorded by the OS, it might be suggested that further linear features also survive. However, the surviving, above ground evidence for most of these features is very slight and further work would be required to confirm these findings.

Archive: Moray and Aberdeenshire Council SMR

Colin Shepherd – Bennachie Landscapes Fieldwork Group

(Source: DES, Volume 16)