Archaeological Evaluation

Date 18 December 2019 - 21 December 2019

Event ID 1123984

Category Recording

Type Archaeological Evaluation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1123984

NO 72330 91223 An assessment was undertaken within the Scheduled Monument called The Nine Stanes, Mulloch Wood, Stone Circle (SM979, Canmore ID: 36748) on behalf of Forestry and Land Scotland in relation to two recently windblown trees located immediately to the E of the stone circle within the Scheduled Area. The purpose of the work was to assess whether the uprooting of the two trees had caused any damage to buried archaeological remains, and the assessment was carried out between 16 December and 21 December 2019. The work comprised excavation of a single trench incorporating the two tree root bowls and an area to the SW next to the outer edge of the stone circle. Although excavation was limited, this extension allowed comparison of deposits encountered at the windblow site with those on the fringes of the stone circle, while also providing an opportunity to re-examine an area thought to have been excavated in the early 1900s by F Coles.

Overall there had been minimal disturbance to buried archaeological remains as a result of the two windblown trees, although a very small portion of a possible trampled surface that was present around the outside edge of the stone circle may have been partially disturbed. In addition to the trampled surface a small, truncated cairn was recorded to the E of the standing stones while the origins of a large cairn-like deposit of earth and stone, defined on its eastern side by a possible narrow gully running between the fallen flanker and an upright stone to the NE, remains unclear. This material could relate to the ephemeral remains of a larger cairn within the stone circle or be the result of backfill and reinstatement from the 1904 excavation.

Archive: NRHE

Funder: Forestry and Land Scotland

Steven Black – Clyde Archaeology

(Source: DES Vol 21)

OASIS ID: clydearc1-389583