EHG3764 - Trial trenching - Culduthel Phase 5, Inverness

Headland Archaeology Ltd was commissioned by Tulloch Homes Ltd to undertake an archaeological evaluation on the site of a proposed housing development at Culduthel Mains Farm, Inverness. This constituted Phase 5 of a planned series of housing developments in the area. The evaluation consisted of trial trenching a minimum 5% sample of the total area using a mechanical excavator fitted with a 2.5 m ditching bucket. This equated to 968m of linear trenches. Prior to trenching the approximate location of a known palisaded enclosure on the site was determined. This area was the focus for several of the trenches. In total, 80% of the linear trenching was employed to define the limits of the archaeology; 20% of the trenching was kept in reserve to investigate features where necessary. Any remaining trenching was deployed randomly across the site. A total of 21 trenches were excavated and positioned in a way that compensated for the undulating topography while maximising the archaeological potential. Archaeological remains were present across the entire area. While the palisaded enclosure seemed the main focus, the other features present suggested that prehistoric activity was not confined to this area. The concentration of pits and postholes in other parts of the site suggested that more features were likely to be present but were not present in the sample represented by the evaluation trenches. <1>