EHG5792 - Watching brief - Tomatin and Boat of Garten OHL reconductoring project

A programme of archaeological works including mitigation, evaluation and watching brief was carried out by AOC Archaeology Group in 2019 along the route of overhead line reconductoring between Tomatin and Boat of Garten, Highland. A previous walkover survey carried out by AOC Archaeology in October 2018 (see EHG5284) identified heritage assets that had the potential to be impacted upon by the reconductoring works. Demarcation of the assets was carried out in advance of development works, and an archaeological watching brief was put in place for all ground-breaking works. Impacts to three known sites identified during the walkover survey – two boundary dykes and a prehistoric clearance cairn – were unavoidable but minimal in nature. An archaeological evaluation was carried out on the cairn in advance of the works. Five previously unknown archaeological features were identified during the watching brief, comprising prehistoric clearance cairns within existing prehistoric field systems. Post-excavation analysis including radiocarbon dating returned a Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age date for a cairn near Tomatin, and a mid-Iron Age date for a smaller clearance cairn at Ardachy, Strathdearn, inferring a range of prehistoric settlement and land use is present in the region. <1>