Watching Brief

Date 24 January 2001 - 14 February 2001

Event ID 1031804

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1031804

NY 0883 8115 A watching brief was undertaken in January and February 2001 during clearance operations within one of a series of defensive ditches positioned S of the castle. This is one of two ditches which have been used by the adjacent farm as general purpose refuse dumps.

The task was to remove all recent infill dumping. The hope was that the sides of the ditch could be re-established and that the archaeological deposits believed to have accumulated in the lower parts of the ditch would be left undisturbed.

The potential problems with this operation lay both in the dumped farm material to be removed which could range from the mundane to the toxic, as well as the nebulous nature of the ditch itself, almost all of which was now invisible thanks to landscaping. Removal of the overburden from the archaeological layers within the ditch exposed them to drying and weathering. It was noted that the ditch is not naturally level and that drainage would take place in both an easterly and westerly direction.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland.

G Ewart and P Sharman 2001

Kirkdale Archaeology