EHG3165 - Excavation - Chapel Hill, Ballachly, Dunbeath

Continuing excavations were carried out by the University of Nottingham at the possible early Christian monastic site at Ballachly near Dunbeath in 2009. Several of the trenches from the previous season (Trenches VI and VII and see EHG2992) were re-opened and extended. Trench V was dug to see if what appeared as a cropmark in 1968 was an archaeological feature. Trench X was excavated on the platform at the base of Chapel Hill, but natural sand and gravel was recorded below the topsoil. Trench XI was dug to the north of Chapel Hill and north of Wall B. Again natural sand and gravel was found below the topsoil but at the southern end there was evidence of an occupation level above the natural. Trench XII was excavated on top of the hill, involving clearance of tumble from an area coinciding with the putative chapel and a smaller area coinciding with a circular feature noted in previous surveys. These two areas were subsequently joined by a strip. Trench XIII was a small sondage dug at the base of Wall A, where it had been robbed to ground level. <1>