EHG454 - Walkover survey - proposed Woodland, Morvich

An archaeological walkover survey was undertaken by Wordsworth Archaeology in 1997 of three areas on the Morvich Estate, Sutherland (Areas 1, 7 and 8) in advance of a proposed Woodland Grant Scheme. As it was a condition of the scheme that archaeological areas should be respected, an archaeological survey was requested. The purpose of the survey was to define the areas of archaeological interest. As has been recorded from previous survey work the area is rich in archaeological remains. These are particularly concentrated in the BronzeAge/Iron Age and in the Post-medieval period, though there are probably traces of continuous occupation since neolithic times. The density of the remains mde it difficult to decide which areas should be excluded from planting on the grounds of their archaeological importance. Ideally they should all be preserved but it was recognised that this may be impractical on economic grounds. The criterion taken for excluding areas from planting was that structures are archaeologically more important than field systems. So where structures do survive they should be preseved. This included small enclosures (such as Sites 1/11, 1/12, 1/17-19, & 7/18) as they may contain earlier features relating to the period between the Iron Age and the Post-medieval periods. <1>