Arrie, North Kessock
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Highland Archaeology Services Ltd Bringing the Past and Future Together Arrie, North Kessock Archaeological Watching Brief 7 Duke Street Cromarty Ross-shire IV11 8YH Tel / Fax: 01381 600491 Mobile: 07834 693378 Email: [email protected] Web: www.hi-arch.co.uk Registered in Scotland no. 262144 Registered Office: 10 Knockbreck Street, Tain, Ross-shire IV19 1BJ VAT No. GB 838 7358 80 Arrie North Kessock Archaeological Watching Brief December 2015 Arrie, North Kessock Archaeological Watching Brief Report No. HAS160201 Site Code HAS_ANK15 Client Graeme Stewart Planning Ref 14/02009/FUL OS Grid Ref NH 6797 5133 Date/ revision 01/02/2015 Author Lynne McKeggie Summary An archaeological watching brief was undertaken following a walkover survey and trial trenching in order to identify and record archaeological features within the development area of a new house. 19 features were found, of which 13 are considered to be archaeological. These include a field drain, 5 pits, 6 post-holes and a shallow ditch. One saddle quern was recovered but no other artefacts. All features were excavated by hand and recorded. No further work is recommended for this site. Acknowledgements and Copyright The fieldwork was undertaken by Pete Higgins. The report was written by Lynne McKeggie, including material from Pete Higgins and Lachlan McKeggie, and edited and formatted by John Wood. Background mapping has been reproduced by permission of the Ordnance Survey under Licence 100043217. Historic maps are courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The report’s author(s) and Highland Archaeology Services Ltd jointly retain copyright in all reports produced but will allow the client and other recipients to make the report available for reference and research (but not commercial) purposes, either on paper, or electronically, without additional charge, provided this copyright is acknowledged. 2 Arrie North Kessock Archaeological Watching Brief December 2015 Contents Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Location ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Aims and Objectives ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Legislation and Policy ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Background ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Method: Controlled Watching Brief ................................................................................................................................ 9 Results ............................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Discussion & Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................. 21 Drawings ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Tables .............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Selected Photos ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Illustrations Figure 1 Project location (general) ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2: Proposed Site Location (as initially supplied by client) ......................................................................................... 5 Figure 3 Features in trial trenches - northern part of the site. Extent of fill of burn is hatched. .......................................... 8 Figure 4 Features in trial trenches - southern part of the site. ............................................................................................... 8 Figure 5: Feature 1 section, Drg 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 6 Location of Features ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Figure 7: Plans of Features 1-3, Drg 1 ................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 9: Section of Feature 3a, Drg 4 ................................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 10: Feature 3b section, Drg 5 ................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 11: Feature 5 section, Drg 8 ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 13: Section Feature 7, Drg 11 ................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 12: Section Feature 6, Drg 9 ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 14: Plan Features in SE of trench, Drg 20&22 ......................................................................................................... 15 Figure 15: Plans of Features 8-13, 15 & 16, Drgs 19 and 21 .............................................................................................. 16 Figure 15: Section Feature 9, Drg 12 ................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 17: Section Feature 11, Drg 13 ................................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 18: Section Features 15 and 16, Drg 16 ................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 19: Feature 18 section, Drg 17 ................................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 20: Feature 19 modern pipeline. ............................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 21: Plan Feature 4, Drg 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 22: Feature 4 section, Drg 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 23: Feature 12 section, Drg 14 ................................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 24: Feature 13 section, Drg 15 ................................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 25: Feature 18 section b, Drg 18 .............................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 26: Camera points plan ............................................................................................................................................. 25 Plate 1: Feature 3a post-ex [ANK15_072] ........................................................................................................................... 12 Plate 2: Feature 4 post-ex [ANK15_067] ............................................................................................................................ 13 Plate 3: Post-ex Feature 6 [ANK15_100] ............................................................................................................................ 15 Plate 4: Pre-ex Feature 9 with quern [ANK15_117] ........................................................................................................... 17 Plate 5: Post-ex Feature 12 [ANK15_130] .......................................................................................................................... 17 Plate 6: Post-ex view of Feature 13 [ANK15_135] ............................................................................................................. 18 Plate 7: Feature 17 pre-excavation [ANK15_120] .............................................................................................................. 19 Plate 8: Feature 18 pre-excavation [ANK15_121] .............................................................................................................. 19 Plate 9: Showing Features F1, 2 and 3 pre excavation (ANK15_41) .................................................................................. 26 Plate 10: Feature