Watching Brief

Date 1993

Event ID 758518

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/758518

A watching brief was carried out by SUAT in late 1993, supervised by D Perry, on contractors' trenches associated with flood protection measures. Rubble deposits observed in the trenches were probably derived from the demolition of buildings on Castle Gable to make way for an extension to the museum in 1935. Mortar deposits at the base of one of the trenches, at a depth of 1.9m below the ground surface, represented the only evidence of earlier building activity.

A small assemblage of finds was recovered. Finds from stratified contexts include three roughly-shaped, circular discs made from micaceous stone. These may have been fashioned to serve only a temporary purpose, possibly as gaming counters. Other stratified finds included two clay pipe stem fragments. A further three stem fragments and a bowl fragment were unstratified. The bowl fragment has a milled rim and its base bears a circular stamp containing a five-pointed star.

Among the unstratified finds was a small glass bottle. This was made in a mould and has a sheared lip, the rough edges of which would have bitten into a loose-fitting cork to form a good seal. Also recovered were a very eroded fragment of a glazed floor tile, possibly of medieval date, and a blade from a pair of iron shears. Relatively small shears such as this would probably have been used for domestic functions such as cutting hair or thread.

Sponsor: Perth and Kinross District Council.

D Perry and A Cox 1994.