EHG5666 - Watching brief - Amenity housing development at land SW of Glenurquhart Centre, Drumnadrochit

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by AOC Archaeology Group intermittently in 2018-19 on land southwest of the Glenurquhart Centre in Drumnadrochit in advance of the construction of a new amenity housing development. Previous archaeological evaluation, excavation and a watching brief in 2017 had identified significant prehistoric archaeological features and artefacts, including significant Neolithic features and a Bronze Age cist. Additionally, the site lies less than 300m northeast of a second Bronze Age cist containing an inhumation, and a burial pit containing the fragments of Beaker vessel and a stone wrist guard, both discovered in 2015. This watching brief was required in order to identify and record further significant archaeological sites prior to their destruction by the development. Fieldwork was carried out from 18th June to 28th June 2018, and intermittently in September and October 2018 and February and March 2019. The watching brief uncovered: a single isolated pit-dug hearth; three additional Early Bronze Age cist burials (Cists 3 – 5), the latter two of which were disturbed without archaeological monitoring but appeared to have been disturbed by post-medieval agricultural improvements; a post-medieval spade-dug pit; and also recorded a drystone boundary wall and post-medieval field clearance along the northwest edge of the development. The isolated pit is similar to Neolithic pits that have previously been excavated on the site. Cist 3 contained the fragmentary remains of a rare Beaker-Food Vessel hybrid, Cist 4 comprised a construction slab that bore re-used passage grave art that has likely derived from an older Neolithic monument, and Cist 5 contained a cremation burial with an associated flint plano-convex knife. The spade-dug pit is likely post-medieval in date and is similar to storage “tattie” pits excavated elsewhere. The stone boundary wall is post-medieval in date and the clearance material that has accumulated over it has been mostly gathered within living memory from the fields that comprise the development. The programme of post-excavation work comprised: phosphate analysis of samples from Cist 3 which confirmed the presence of human remains; processing and analysis of environmental samples from features; osteoarchaeological analysis of the cremated remains; radiocarbon dating of the cremated remains which confirmed an Early Bronze Age date for the burial, and a charcoal sample from Cist 3 that proved to be Iron Age and was deemed intrusive; specialist analysis of grave goods, other finds, and laser scanning, illustration and analysis on the rock art from Cist 4. <1>