Watching Brief

Date 10 June 2009

Event ID 607351

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/607351

ND 3727 6392 A watching brief was carried out, 10 June 2009, on a house site next to a group of prehistoric ritual and funerary monuments which occupy a slight rise on the cliff edge. The site is on a thin almost pure peat soil, with evidence for drainage and attempts to bring it into cultivation in the late 19th century. The high peat content of the soil and the topography suggest that, until the introduction of improved draining methods, this area of ground was at best poorly drained and was probably marsh or even standing water. It would have been of little use for habitation or cultivation. There is the possibility that as marsh or water, it formed a natural barrier protecting and defining the ground containing the group of monuments.

Report: HCAU

Funder: Mr and Mrs Southgate

Catherine Dagg