Fieldwork
Angus
A metal-detector survey and trial trench
evaluation were undertaken on the proposed development site in advance of a
housing development.
The survey and evaluation were required due to the development lying adjacent to the traditional site of the Battle of Nechtansmere, 685 AD. A grid of 44 10m x 10m squares was laid out across the site and an intensive metal-detector survey was carried out on each square. Any archaeological artefacts discovered were recorded and their find spot recorded on the EDM. The survey did not discover any metal items that may be associated with the Battle of Nechtansmere. Most dated to the early 20th century or the late 19th century, with the notable exception of a silver George III coin. The trial trenching evaluation was then undertaken across 5% of the site.
A desk-based assessment and evaluation was
commissioned by Angus Council on the site of the proposed school building
extension. The work was requested as the
remains of four early historic cist burials had been discovered on the school
site in the late 19th century. Included
in one of the cists was a complete 3rd-century Roman drinking vessel. As the
new school buildings are being constructed within the existing school grounds
it was possible that further archaeological remains might have been encountered
on the site.
However, the
desk-based assessment did not find any details regarding these burials and the
evaluation did not uncover any remains.
Argyll and
A return visit
to
Site
of Seafield House,
SUAT Ltd was commissioned to undertake an archaeological watching
brief on the site of the demolished Seafield House, for the proposed Public
Private Partnership (PPP) redevelopment of the school site at
Prior to the start of development, the client wished to expose and identify the nature of any buried remains, to ascertain how they might affect the design proposals for the new build. The aim of the watching brief was to investigate and record any remains of the Seafield House foundations. An almost complete ground plan of the house was obtained and architectural features of interest were noted. The main house, which was basemented, was on the W side of the site, and a lesser building was attached to the house on the E side. Finds included low, ornate, cast-iron railings which would have surrounded the window lights of the basement. After the recording, the remains were left in-situ and the site was backfilled.
City of
Cowgate,
Edinburgh
A watching brief on the uplifting of the existing
stone slab flooring and the laying of a new slab floor was conducted on the
premises of 253-255 Cowgate,
Documentary research was then carried out in order to identify the date and function of a substantial ‘well’ which was located during the lifting of the original floor. The ‘well’ may have been part of the drainage system that was constructed along with the bridge.
The proposed new site of
The survey of the site did not discover
any trace of remains for the 1890s buildings, and only two of the existing buildings
were found to date from the 1900s. The
remainder of the buildings dated from the 1960s to the 1980s.
An archaeological evaluation and watching
brief was commissioned on the site of the new school building for
The site’s potential archaeological
significance is due to its location within the north-west corner of the
designed landscape surrounding the nationally important mid-18th century
Duddingston House. Additionally there is
potential for unrecorded prehistoric remains due to the site’s close proximity
to Duddingston Loch and Arthur’s Seat.
No prehistoric remains were encountered during the first phase of the
evaluation. However, a large
19th-century rubbish pit, containing a collection of glass and ceramic bottles
was uncovered.
Complete mineral water
bottle, Westerwald Stoneware, 19th/20th century,
from rubbish pit
Slackbuie,
An excavation took place on this green field
site located on the south-east side of
In the southern part of Area A a complex
series of pits and postholes was exposed, representing the possible remains of
several structures. The clearest visible structure is a round-house defined by
postholes set around a central roof support and hearth. Several probable storage pits were also
excavated. Finds from the site included
two worked flint blades, recovered from a pit and posthole within the possible
round-house complex. Sherds of coarse
pottery were also recovered from one of the pits. On the basis of these finds, and the results
of radiocarbon (14C) dating, the remains are dated to the mid to
late Bronze Age. A further 14C
result obtained from a possible hearth was dated to the Iron Age.
In Area B a rectangle measuring 8,000m2
was stripped of topsoil, exposing a small number of pit or posthole
features. Although suggestive of some
form of structure, these were too sparse to be strongly indicative of
such. Amongst these features was a large
pit containing large quantities of stones and slight indications of
heating/burning. It is speculated that
this feature might have been associated with waste disposal from some form of
small-scale industrial process. Small
quantities of iron slag were recovered during the evaluation phase.
The site of
proposed new industrial units at
Evidence for the
friary church and its ranges as well as articulated human burials were apparent
during the evaluation. Finds included a
small fragment of medieval window glass and medieval pottery. In 1982, at least 21 articulated burials were
recorded, some of them within wooden coffins rather than shrouds.
Kinross
Following our evaluation last year on the site of a proposed new high
school near Lethangie, Kinross, an excavation was undertaken in March and April
2007. The site was known to be of archaeological
significance, containing an enclosed settlement of prehistoric date, with
enclosure ditches and pits (
The evaluation had revealed a
large ditch-like feature in the S field, and a hearth, post holes and a linear
feature in the N field. Excavation in
the S field showed that the supposed ditch feature was in fact a medieval pit,
most likely a kiln deeply cut into natural sands and gravels. The kiln may have been used to dry
grain. A large area in the N field was
excavated and a sub-circular enclosure ditch, part of a rectilinear building,
kilns, postholes and narrow linear cuts were found. Some of these features could be dated to the
medieval period from pottery found in the fill.
Evidence of cultivation in the form of medieval rig and furrow was found
in the N field.
It was concluded that the archaeological remains in the S field represented a kiln perhaps for drying grain and that the features in the north field were associated with land use during the medieval period, although many of the features could not be dated and may have been earlier.
Crieff
A full scale excavation
had been requested on the site of the new
Under excavation
in July and August 2007, a structure defined by pits or postholes was
uncovered. This may have been a
roundhouse, or more likely, a structure associated with the cursus. The western ditch of the Broich cursus was
also exposed.
Site work at Broich Road,
Crieff
Kaimes Cottage, Braco
A watching brief was conducted on the
digging of foundation pits for a small wind turbine, on a glacial mound just
south of the Roman fortlet of
Mains of Inchture,
A watching brief
was commissioned in advance of new housing at Mains of Inchture,
This series of
evaluations and excavation has exposed archaeology of considerable
significance, summarised as the stone foundations of a medieval building within
a low mound, containing a small quantity of 13th-15th century pottery; three
large enclosure ditches aligned with cropmarks within the scheduled ancient
monument and possibly representing the medieval settlement boundary; and pits,
postholes and a curvilinear feature, of potentially prehistoric or early
medieval origin.
Shawater 2007
A further series of seven walkovers in Highland Perthshire and Stirling District in advance of small-scale hydro electric schemes took place during the summer months. This work located settlement remains in the form of trackways, structures and a possible corn dryer. Mitigation measures have been recommended.
Sheepfold in Glen Falloch, Shawater Survey
New
The last remaining part of the site of the Stenhousemuir Redware pottery production centre is now scheduled to have 43 houses built on it. An evaluation by SUAT located a clay bonded stone structure sealed below a large dump of pottery, clay and fragments of burnt daub. Full excavation then took place and located a well-preserved Musty type 2 pottery kiln, an enormous amount of Redware pottery and several features which appeared to be related to an area of workshops. Rather curiously the kiln showed very little sign of burning and almost appeared that it had never been fired. One of its two opposed flues had also been blocked. When processed the pottery filled 37 boxes, not including the six boxes of structural material and waste from the kiln. Post-excavation reporting is ongoing
Museum Hall,
Documentary research and a standing building record on this interesting and very dilapidated 19th-century building was carried out in advance of partial demolition and conversion to flats. The historical search recorded the varied fortunes of the building, as a museum, concert and dance hall, including a performance by The Beatles in 1963, and of its collection of natural history specimens, including a stuffed tiger and elephant.
A photographic
survey of the building recorded its complexity, sophistication and eccentricity,
its adaptation to changing tastes and uses, and its ultimate decay. The internal frieze was copied directly from
the Elgin Marbles, and we know that the stuffed tiger was used for bayonet
practice during WW1, but the fate of the stuffed elephant is still uncertain. The Young Farmers’ dances of the 1960s,
however, live on in local legend.
West Elevation, Museum Hall,