EHG3763 - Watching brief - Old Leanach Cottage, Culloden Battlefield

A watching brief was carried out by GUARD Archaeology Ltd in 2012 during the construction of a drain next to the Old Leanach Cottage at the Culloden Battlefield. During the watching brief topsoil was stripped using a mechanical excavator, fitted with a flatbladed ditching bucket, under close archaeological supervision. The topsoil was removed in spits to the surface of the subsoil or the first significant archaeological horizon. A total area of less than 24 m² was stripped of topsoil to reveal light brown sandy silt (002). Over the majority of the area topsoil deposits were 0.18 m to 0.5 m thick, being deeper at the north side. In some areas a deposit of made ground of white sand with inclusions of rubble (003) and grey brown clayish silt subsoil (005) was encountered. At the north end, a layer made of large boulders was exposed underneath terram (010). No features of archaeological significance were encountered. <1>