EHG5170 - Watching brief and monitoring - River Ness Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase II

Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services and subsequently AOC Archaeology’s Inverness office were commissioned by McLaughlin & Harvey and The Highland Council to conduct archaeological monitoring during the construction of the second phase of the River Ness Flood Alleviation Scheme (RNFAS) flood defences, centred on National Grid Reference NH 6625 4628. This work followed on from the first phase of RNFAS work, carried out by Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services (see EHG4584). The work took place in 2014-15 in the city centre of Inverness along the banks of River Ness from Friars’ Bridge northward up to the south side of Inverness Harbour. All of the areas excavated during development contained ground levels which had been partially, and sometimes fully, disturbed by earlier service trenches or other development work. Whilst some archaeological features were well-preserved below upper layers, many features had been truncated by service trenches and only had small sections surviving. None of the sites were fully uncovered by the development. Whenever possible, archaeological features were fully excavated and recorded using plan and section drawings. When this was not possible due to site conditions, digital photography was used to record the sites in plan and/or in section. Forty-two archaeological features were recorded, mostly infrastructural remains: embankment walls, slipways, quay walls, cobble surfaces and culverts. Whilst the work in the location of the old citadel (Cromwell’s Fort) was of significant interest, minimal conclusive archaeological results were made due to considerable previous disturbance to the ground levels. Minimal small finds were recovered during the work, comprising glass bottle and ceramic pot sherds. Specialist analysis of the artefacts (included in this report) was made to allow of a complete assessment of the RNFAS assemblage following on from the Phase 1 works. <1> A summary of the project and the findings was published in History Scotland in Sept/Oct 2018. <2>