EHG5753 - DBA and site visit - proposed housing, Kiltaraglen, Portree

An archaeological desk-based assessment and site visit were undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2020 in order to gather and review baseline information relating to the historic environment for a site of proposed residential housing at Kiltaraglen, Portree, Isle of Skye. The project included a site visit in order to take a preliminary view of the impact future development might have on the setting of the nearby scheduled monument, Dun Gerashader prehistoric fort. On the basis of the documentary, cartographic and aerial photographic evidence consulted for the project, combined with the site visit, it is concluded that the study area has significant archaeological potential. Firstly, because it retains an extensive palimpsest of extant landscape features, which include agricultural and settlement related features of probable post-medieval date, and secondly, for the preservation of buried archaeological deposits associated with prehistoric settlement and funerary activity, which has been recorded previously at the adjacent Home Farm site. The impact future development is likely to have on the setting of the nearby scheduled monument, Dun Gerashader fort (SM2350), is calculated to be Moderate Adverse, due to the high sensitivity of the monument to cumulative change. However, in practical terms impacts upon key views both towards and from the monument are judged to be Negligible. In view of the results of the study it is recommended that the site undergoes further evaluation in advance of development in order to accurately define its archaeological potential. Firstly, to establish the presence or absence of significant buried archaeology of prehistoric date and, secondly, to properly understand a range of complex extant features that reflect a relict post medieval agricultural landscape. Further evaluation is justified and will inform the planning process and ensure the appropriate future treatment of heritage assets. <1>