EHG586 - Watching brief - Water Main at Stevenson Road, Hilton

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by CFA Archaeology Ltd (CFA) in 2001 during the realignment of an underground water main in the vicinity of cropmarks at Hilton, Inverness. The work was carried out during a construction phase of the Inverness Southern Distributor Road. The water main route ran for c.200m with a width of c.5m. The western part of the trench, including two road crossings, was excavated prior to the arrival of the Project Archaeologist (this area is shown in green on Fig. 1 of the report). This area had been previously disturbed by the construction of the Balloan roundabout and associated drainage works. The area of watching brief consisted of a grassed area that ran parallel to Stevenson Road along the top of a small scarp where the road had been cut into the natural slope of the land (this area is shown in blue on Fig. 1 in the report). An embankment had been built up against the cut, which comprised mixed redeposited subsoil and construction debris. No archaeological deposits were discovered and no artefacts were recovered. <1>