EHG3683 - Auger survey - Blàr Mòr Moss, Fort William, Kilmallie

A manual auger transect of the peats and core retrieval of the deepest peat sequence was undertaken at Blàr Mòr Moss, Fort William, by Headland Archaeology in 2011 to investigate the depth, nature and archaeological & palaeoenvironmental potential of the existing peatland. In particular the potential for buried archaeological remains below and within the peat was investigated together with the palaeoenvironmental potential of the peat deposits for this area of Fort William. This work was conducted prior to the proposed Phase I development of a retail park on the Moss. A total of twenty-four auger points were undertaken across the peatland using a manual gouge auger. The sedimentary sequence was recorded at each location, together with any possible features encountered. All of the auger points were leveled through survey in the field, with an EDM to record their position and the OD heights of the current peat surface. At the deepest peat location, Auger Point (AP)3 a core sample was collected using a Russian Corer so that peat from the basal and upper parts of the sequences could be sampled for radiocarbon dating. The cores have been stored at Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd in case any further study is warranted. Radiocarbon dating of the deepest area of peat on the Moss showed that peat creation began in the Middle Bronze Age at 1530-1310 cal BC and continued up to the present day, with a date of cal AD 1640-1960 for the uppermost peat layer. The date for peat development ties in with other areas of peatland in the wider area where peat initiation has been recorded as beginning in the mid-Holocene. Despite peat cutting taking place in other areas of the site, the core collected from AP3 contains a complete peat sequence from the Middle Bronze Age to the present day. The basal peat dates indicated that there is potential for early Prehistoric (Mesolithic-Early Bronze Age) archaeology below the peats. No archaeological finds from this period have been recorded on the site itself but a small number of isolated spot finds have been found in the wider, Fort William area. The presence of a number of deliberately deposited Late Bronze Age artefacts in the wider area most notably bronze axe heads suggests that there is low-to-negligible potential for the discovery of such objects in the lower peat levels of the Moss. The peats themselves have good potential for the preservation of waterlogged microfossils (e.g. pollen and fungal spores) that can provide palaeoenvironmental information from the Middle Bronze Age onwards. <1>