Excavation

Date 28 March 2011 - 7 April 2011

Event ID 959590

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/959590

NY 0244 6583 (centred on) A series of trenches was excavated 28 March–7 April 2011 in a field to the N of the visitor centre to assess the potential impact of a new car park. The trench locations were guided by an earlier geophysical survey. In addition to a modern service trench, a number of archaeological features were recorded. These consisted of a combination of linear slots and ditch-like features plus a series of discrete pits of various sizes. Archaeological features were located in all of the trenches. Only one of these features was fully excavated, the rest being revealed after the machine removal of topsoil. The features revealed towards the S edge of the site were generally more extensive and better preserved than those towards the N of the site, where the plough soil was shallower. The features are thought to mainly represent prehistoric activity across the whole site. A ditch and pit complex, noted in Trench 9, was partly excavated and prehistoric pottery was retrieved from the pit, with part of an edge of pottery also recorded in the ditch. The upper fill of the southern of two ditches in Trench 5 was partly excavated, exposing an underlying stone-rich fill.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology 2011

Information also reported in Oasis (kirkdale1-122353) 2 April 2013