Castle Hill, Inverness

NH64SE 246 c. 697 440

NH 697 440 In spring 2000 an archaeological evaluation by trial trenching was undertaken, followed by full excavation of a small area at Castlehill, prior to a housing development. Features relating to prehistoric and modern (18th to 20th century) occupation were identified. These included post-holes, pits (possibly for storage) and areas of burning.

The first stage of evaluation involved the trial trenching of a 2% sample (c 550m2) of the development area. The only archaeological features located, other than field drains and modern disturbance, lay in the NW corner of the site. One was a post-hole, while the other was a small pit, which produced one sherd of possible Iron Age pottery. A wider area was opened up around these features, leading to the discovery of an irregular shallow scoop, which produced a sherd of probable Neolithic pottery and two fragments of possible pitchstone, and a small pit.

Full excavation was carried out in the area (c 50 x 20m) surrounding the above-noted features, which lay on the top of a distinct knoll in the SW corner of the development. In total, c 25 small post-holes and pits were identified.

A concentration of cut features, perhaps representing a discrete zone of activity, was located around the previously encountered pits. There may have been a temporary structure in this location, perhaps centred on a possible hearth pit and various storage pits. The location of various post-holes suggested one or two palisade boundaries. Radiocarbon dates from two features suggest a date range in the latter half of the 4th millennium BC (calibrated).

Features, including a pig burial and a drainage cut, demonstrated the use of this field in recent times (19th/20th century) for farming, and suggested the importance of drainage in the area.

Sponsor: Tulloch Homes Ltd.

M Roy 2000.