Report of Archaeological Evaluation May 10th – 14th 2005 Cullicudden, , NH 6688 / 6516 (centred)

Client: Highland Council.

Planning Application No: 03/01063/OUTRC.

By Stuart Farrell B.A A.I.F.A F.S.A.Scot. June 2005

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Acknowledgements

3. Background

4. Objectives

5. Method

6. Trial Trenching Results

7. Conclusions

8. Recommendations

9. Archive

10. Discovery and Excavation

11. References

Appendix 1 – Photographic Register 2 – Context Register

Non-Technical Summary

Stuart Farrell was commissioned by Highland Council Property & Architectural Services in February 2004 to undertake an archaeological evaluation at Cullicudden, Black Isle (centred at NH 6688/6516) as part of a proposed development of a new school. Highland Council Archaeology Unit produced a specification for this work.

Work revealed a number of archaeological features, to include two pits and a corn-drying kiln.

No recommendations for further archaeological fieldwork have been proposed. Post-excavation work is to be conducted on the features revealed and excavated. 1. Introduction This report is for an archaeological evaluation conducted on behalf of Highland Council Property & Architectural Services by the author for a new proposed school at Cullicudden, on the Black Isle. This work is to form part of the conditions for planning application 03/01063/OUTRC.

The site is located to the south of the road between Cullicudden and Balblair.

The fieldwork was conducted between the 10th and 14th of May 2005.

2. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following for their help during the work: - Mr. J Kelman, Assistant PPP Project Officer, Highland Council Property & Architectural Services; - Mr. K Cooper, for onsite help; - Staff of H Kinnaird Ltd for onsite works; - Staff of Highland Council Archaeology Unit; - Staff of the RCAHMS; - Staff of the NMRS; - Staff of Highland Council Archives.

Stuart Farrell 39a Park Street Nairn Highland IV12 4PP Figure 1 - General Location 1:50,000 Copyright Ordnance Survey. Licence 100041016.

Figure 2 – Site Location and Area. Copyright Highland Council.

Figure 3 – 1st edition Ordnance Survey of 1874 enlarged from 1:2500. Copyright Ordnance Survey. Licence 100041016.

Figure 4 – 2nd edition Ordnance Survey of 1906 enlarged from 1:2500. Copyright Ordnance Survey. Licence 100041016.

Figure 5 – 3rd edition Ordnance Survey of 1977 enlarged from 1:2500. Copyright Ordnance Survey. Licence 100041016.

Figure 6 – Enlargement from Aerial Photograph of 1954.  Royal Air Force.

Figure 7 – Enlargement from Aerial Photograph of 1969.  Ordnance Survey.

Figure 8 - Aerial Photograph of Cropmarks facing West.  RCAHMS - C52887 taken 26th July 1995.

Figure 9 – Location of Trenches. A3

3. Archaeological Background Currently there are no archaeological sites recorded to the development location in either the Highland Sites and Monuments Record or the National Monuments Record of CANMORE database’s. No archaeological survey work has previously been recorded to this area; the field was not walked as part of the Black Isle Fieldwalking Project (Phillips, 2002). The following archaeological site is located in the same field but situated to the east:

Name - Resolis HSMR – NH66NE 151 NMRS – NH66NE 92 Grid Ref – NH 6713/6526 Type – Ring-ditch, cropmarks Noted in NMRS of ‘Oblique aerial photographs (RCAHMSAP 1995) have revealed the cropmarks of part of ring-ditch 200m SW of Resolis Mains farm steading. The visible NW side of the ring-ditch suggests that it has an internal diameter of about 18-20m. Indeterminate cropmarks are scattered across the surrounding field’. Noted in HSMR of ‘Aerial photographs C52885-7 RCAHMS 26.7.1995 show area at eastern end of the field that is ripening later & with cropmarks starting to appear. There is one definite ring-ditch, but there are also a series of other features that might be small square enclosures. In addition there is a distinct bank/ditch line south of the road that seems to be heading to Resolis Mains which lies S of the current road. All features are cut by series of thin crisp ditch lines that are presumably modern drainage’.

A study of aerial photographs dated between 1946 and 1969 held by the Royal Commission in Edinburgh revealed no features in the area of development, though coverage is limited and quite high. Aerial photographs from 1946 and 1952 show only a ploughed field. The ring-ditch is visible on an aerial photograph of 1954 (see figure 6) as is a possible field boundary running E-W through the middle of the field, whilst an extensive pattern of field drains is visible throughout the field and the development area on an aerial photograph from 1969 (see figure 7). The possible field boundary is also visible on the aerial photograph by the Royal Commission view of the ring-ditch and field facing west (see figure 8).

A study of maps of the development area revealed no features of interest. Early maps of the area from Blaue’s map of 1654 to Thomson’s map of Ross-shire of 1830 do not show enough detail for the development area. The main feature noticeable on the earliest large-scale map is that the north and west edges of the field are depicted with fir and rough pasture (see figure 3) and that the field is of 2 fields divided possibly by a turf bank. By the 2nd edition of 1906 these areas are now depicted as a single open field (see figure 4) and are unchanged by the 3rd edition of 1977 (see figure 5). The development area is recorded by the Ordnance Survey (1873) as to comprise of 8.37 acres of arable.

Conclusions The area has seen use extensive use as farming land in the past 100 years, though to date no archaeological sites or finds have been made to the development location. The extensive drainage works that occurred between 1954 and 1969 may have an impact on any surviving archaeological remains.

4. Objectives To conduct an archaeological evaluation on the development to record those features revealed by excavation work. A copy of the specification provided by Highland Council Archaeology Unit is enclosed. This work is to include the following: - Desk based survey - Walkover survey - Evaluation - Report on results

5. Methodology A monitoring was made of the removal of topsoil and subsoil’s to an average depth of 280mm for the trenches to a total area of 3142m² or 20% of the site area. A back-acting machine with a straight edged bucket excavated the trenches under archaeological supervision with any possible archaeological features being cleaned by hand.

Trenches were surveyed using a total station EDM.

Weather on the days of work (May 10th – 14th 2005) was bright and clear.

6. Trial Trenching Results The evaluation was carried out in accordance with accepted professional archaeological standards as published by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA 1999). Over the construction period a suitably qualified archaeologist was on site to carry out observations and assessment of the area affected by the excavation works.

The walkover survey revealed no features on the site. Finds were made in of Victorian white and willow-pattern glazed pottery and 2 sherds of 19th century salt-glazed ware.

Site Location The site lies to the south of the road between Cullicudden and Balblair on a slight south-facing slope.

Results Trenches were placed at random as no potential archaeological features were revealed in either the desktop or the walkover survey for the development area. Excavation of the 25 trenches made, all 1.8m wide (see figure 9) revealed the following:

1 – Aligned E-W – 118m in length – 2 field drains revealed (rubble), heavy plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

2 – Aligned E-W - 124m in length - 3 field drains revealed (rubble). No other features or deposits revealed.

3 – Aligned E-W - 125m in length - 1 field drain revealed (rubble). No other features or deposits revealed.

4 – Aligned E-W - 124m in length - 2 field drains revealed (rubble). No other features or deposits revealed.

5 – Aligned E-W - 120m in length - 4 field drains revealed (2 rubble, 2 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

6 – Aligned E-W - 118m in length - 5 field drains revealed (3 rubble, 2 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

7 – Aligned NNW-SSE - 64m in length - 2 field drains revealed (rubble), heavy plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

8 – Aligned NNW-SSE – 65.5m in length - 3 field drains revealed (rubble), heavy plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

9 – Aligned NNW-SSE – 66.5m in length - heavy plough scaring. One possible feature was revealed of a possible truncated pit of burnt charcoal (part of deposit was visible in section in ploughed soil). The edge of the feature was not well defined and only 40mm in depth, oval in plan 0.9m x 0.7m. Heavy with charcoal but no finds made. Function unknown, though may be deposit only possibly related to the feature found in trench 11. Deposit was sampled for analysis. Below: View of feature – scale 1m.

10 – Aligned NNW-SSE - 67m in length - No features or deposits revealed.

11 – Aligned NE-SW - 93m in length - 5 field drains revealed (1 modern, 4 rubble). One feature revealed of a corn-drying kiln. The kiln was almost ‘banana’ shaped being rounded at N end with a flat base but narrowing to the south, forming a shallow gully. Around the steep sloped cut was a series of 9 stakeholes, and 3 within. Stones to the N end formed part of the general structure. Deposits were sampled for analysis.

Below: Plan of kiln (reduced from 1:20).

Top: Detail of section of kiln – scale 0.5m. Middle: View of kiln upon part excavation facing E – scale 2m. Below left: View of kiln upon part excavation facing S – scale 2m. Below right: View of kiln upon full excavation facing S – scale 2m.

12 – Aligned NE-SW – 83.5m in length - 5 field drains revealed (3 rubble, 2 clay), heavy plough scaring to NE end of trench. No other features or deposits revealed.

13 – Aligned NE-SW – 84.5m in length - 6 field drains revealed (2 rubble, 4 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

14 – Aligned NE-SW - 72m in length - 3 field drains revealed (1 rubble, 2 clay), heavy plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

15 – Aligned NE-SW - 54m in length - 3 field drains revealed (1 rubble, 2 clay). One feature was revealed of a pit of irregular sides and base 0.6m in diameter and 150mm deep. Fill was of fine washed silt but no finds were made. Fill was sampled for analysis.

Below: View of feature – scale 0.5m.

16 – Aligned NE-SW - 41m in length - 3 field drains revealed (2 rubble, 1 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

17 – Aligned NE-SW – 26.5m in length - 2 field drains revealed (1 rubble, 1 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

18 – Aligned NE-SW - 13m in length - 1 field drain revealed (rubble). No other features or deposits revealed.

19 – Aligned NE-SW - 71m in length - 1 field drain revealed (rubble), some plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

20 – Aligned NE-SW - 62m in length - 2 field drains revealed (rubble). No other features or deposits revealed.

21 – Aligned NE-SW - 50m in length - 2 field drains revealed (1 rubble, 1 clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

22 – Aligned NE-SW - 39m in length - 1 field drain revealed (clay), some plough scaring. No other features or deposits revealed.

23 – Aligned NE-SW - 31m in length - 1 field drain revealed (clay). No other features or deposits revealed.

24 – Aligned NE-SW - 22m in length - some plough scaring. No features or deposits revealed.

25 – Aligned NE-SW - 11m in length - No features or deposits revealed. 7. Conclusions Overall parts of the development area had seen extensive damage by ploughing and drainage works, the features revealed were limited. The two possible pits were limited due to being both irregular and no finds being made. The corn drying kiln stands alone with no indication of it being associated with the two pits, though it is possible that it forms part of a wider complex as other ‘banana’ shaped cropmarks are visible on an aerial photograph of 1995 (see figure 8) almost to the same location of being situated in the middle of the field down slope as to provide more shelter.

8. Recommendations No recommendations with regard any further fieldwork for this project is to be proposed due to the limited number of features that were revealed, and it is likely that no other features would be revealed with further work.

It is recommended that post-excavation work in the form of flotation and analysis be made of the sample contents of each feature revealed and AMS/C14 dating be conducted on the corn-drying kiln.

9. Archive The following is to be deposited in the National Monuments Record in Edinburgh: - Notebook of results - Black and white photographs & negatives - Plan and section drawings - Context sheets - Photographic record sheets - Colour chart - Copy of this report

A set of black & white photographs of the features excavated and colour slides showing the progress of the work has been deposited with Highland Council Sites and Monuments Record. Digital images used in this report have been deposited with HSMR on disc as well as a copy of this report as a PDF file.

10. Discovery & Excavation in Scotland A short summary of the results of this project will be submitted to the Council for Scottish Archaeology’s publication Discovery & Excavation in Scotland.

11. References

IFA (1999) By-laws, Standards and Policy Statements of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. Reading.

Highland Council Sites and Monuments Record database.

National Monuments Record of Scotland CANMORE database.

Ordnance Survey (1873) Book of Reference to the Plan of the Parish of Resolis in the County of Ross-shire. G E Eyre & W Spottiswoode. London.

Phillips, T (2002) Landscapes of the Living, Landscapes of the Dead : The location of chambered cairns of Northern Scotland. BAR British Series 328. Archaeopress. Oxford.

Maps Consulted

Ordnance Survey 1st edition 1:2500 sheet 65.16 Cromarty-shire of 1874 surveyed 1872.

Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 1:2500 sheet 65.16 Ross & Cromarty of 1906 revised 1904.

Ordnance Survey 3rd edition 1:2500 sheets NH 6665-6765 of 1977 revised 1976.

Blaue’s map of Moravia dated 1654.

Dourret’s map ‘A general map of Scotland and Islands’ dated 1750.

Ainslie’s map of Scotland dated 1789.

Thomson’s map ‘ Shires’ dated 1826.

Thomson’s map ‘-shire’ dated 1830.

Aerial Photographs Consulted

RAF CPE/Scot/UK 184 2301-2299, 5295/5293 9-10-1946 1:10,000

RAF 540/RAF/725 3008-3007 16-5-1952 1:10,000

RAF 58/RAF/1424 F22 202-200 23-4-1954 1:10,000

OS OS/69/141 4-6, 119-117 21-5-1969 1:7,500

Appendix 1 – Photographic Register

Film 1 – Colour Slide 1 – View of north part of the site prior to excavation facing E. 2 – View of centre part of the site prior to excavation facing SE. 3 – View of west part of the site prior to excavation facing S. 4 – View of machining in progress facing W. 5 – View of trench 1 upon excavation facing E – scales 1m. 6 – View of trenches upon excavation facing S. 7 – View of trenches upon excavation facing SE. 8 – View of trenches upon excavation facing E. 9 – View of trenches upon excavation facing NW. 10 – View of trenches upon excavation facing W. 11 – View of trenches upon excavation facing SW. 12 – View of trenches upon excavation facing SW. 13 – View of trenches upon excavation facing S. 14 – View of corn-drying kiln upon part excavation facing SW. 15 – View of corn-drying kiln upon part excavation facing SW. 16 – View of trenches upon excavation facing SW. 17 – View of trenches upon excavation facing SE. 18 – View of trenches upon excavation facing E. 19 – View of trenches upon excavation facing E. 20 – View of trenches upon excavation facing NE. 21 – View of trenches upon excavation facing N. 22 – View of trenches upon excavation facing N. 23 – View of trenches upon excavation facing E. 24 – View of trenches upon excavation facing N. 25 – View of trenches upon excavation facing NW. 26 – View of corn-drying kiln upon part excavation facing N - scale 1m. 27 – View of corn-drying kiln upon part excavation facing N - scale 1m.

Film 2 – Colour Slide & Black & White 1 – View of clay field drain – scale 1m. 2 – Detail of clay field drain – scale 0.5m. 3 – View of pit in trench 15 facing S – scale 0.5m. 4 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing W – scale 2m. 5 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing S – scale 2m. 6 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing E – scale 2m. 7 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing W – scale 2m. 8 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing S – scale 2m. 9 – View of kiln upon part excavation facing E – scale 2m. 10 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 11 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 12 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 13 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 14 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 15 – Detail of section in kiln – scale 0.5m. 16 – View of kiln upon full excavation facing E – scale 2m. 17 – View of kiln upon full excavation facing S – scale 2m.

Appendix 2 – Context Register

1 – Topsoil – light brown.

2 – Deposits of dark silt/charcoal – trench 9.

3 – Cut of context 2.

4 – Deposit of dark fill of pit.

5 – Cut of pit.

6 – Deposit of dark soil – trench 15.

7 – Redeposited natural – orange-brown in colour.

8 – Deposit of charcoal

9 – Stones within feature.

10 – Possible deposit to base of feature.

11 – Cut of feature – corn drying kiln.