Watching Brief

Date June 2005 - July 2005

Event ID 997749

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/997749

NO 881 838 Excavations for a new safety fence along the clifftop were observed and recorded in June and July 2005. No significant archaeological features were found.

Archive to be deposited in NMRS.

Sponsor: Dunnottar Estate.

J Wood 2005a.

NO 8812 8384 A watching brief was carried out on the handexcavation of post-holes for a new safety fence along the eastern edge of Dunnottar Castle (NO88SE 11), as a condition of Scheduled Monument Consent.

Only one pit contained any structural evidence, in the form of a flat sandstone block which may have been a base for artillery behind the adjoining bank. This bank, running along the top of the cliff, seems to date from the mid-17th century.

In one post-hole, near to the chapel, fragments of human skull were discovered. Elsewhere there was evidence of domestic refuse in the form of animal bones, mainly cattle and sheep, with some signs of skinning and butchering.

Other material recovered includes mortar and coal fragments, burnt slate, a single clay pipe stem (post-1850s) and a folded copperalloy plate. Much of this material could have been redeposited during excavations and repair works in the 1920s.

Sponsor: Dunecht Estates.

J Wood 2005b.