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Bettyhill
Clearance Cairn(S) (Period Unassigned), Roundhouse (Bronze Age) - (Iron Age)
Site Name Bettyhill
Classification Clearance Cairn(S) (Period Unassigned), Roundhouse (Bronze Age) - (Iron Age)
Canmore ID 348617
Site Number NC36SE 32
NGR NC 3735 6078
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/348617
- Council Highland
- Parish Durness
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
Field Visit (31 October 2012 - 7 November 2012)
NC 3735 6078 A walkover survey and evaluation was undertaken, 31 October – 7 November 2012, in advance of and during the construction of a wind farm. Bronze Age/Iron Age roundhouses with associated field clearance cairns and other contemporaneous features have been recorded in the area; but field survey found the whole of the area to have been extensively cut for peat, which is likely to have destroyed archaeological evidence.
When construction started it was thought that six known features could not be safeguarded as planned, so an evaluation was undertaken to establish their nature and prepare for full excavation. A small trench across a circular earthwork feature showed that it was almost certainly a roundhouse of Late Bronze Age or Iron Age date. The other features were all substantial cairns. No structural features, burials or datable artefacts were found in the cairns, and they were interpreted as clearance cairns associated with the roundhouse. A decision was taken to change the turbine location and the features were unaffected.
Archive: HAS. Report: Highland HER
Report: Invenergy LLC
Lynne McKeggie and Pete Higgins, Highland Archaeology Services, 2013
(Source: DES)
