EHG5863 - Watching brief - proposed holiday lodges - Keiss

A watching brief and associated work were undertaken by Highland Archaeology Servivces in 2020-21 to monitor works as part of a development at Keiss Harbor, Caithness. This was in accordance with the requirements of planning consent during preliminary groundworks for the construction of a cabin, four holiday Pods and associated services on land to the east of the harbour. Further watching will be undertaken for the cabin area at a later date. Fieldwork was undertaken in three phases. The first covering the Pods area between the 30th of November and the 2nd of December 2020 the second on the 8th to the 9th of December 2020 covering the new passing place, further work in the pods area and the deep excavation for the retaining wall on the seashore. Finally, the new service run and areas a, b and c were watched on the 4th and 5th of May 2021. During the excavation of the pods area to the east of the site a large dump of midden material (including shell, animal bone and some artefacts) was encountered spread over the slope of the raised beach on the inland side of the site. These deposits were recorded and sampled and a portion left in situ. In addition, the footings of a dry stone wall and a stone built bank of the burn running between the road and pods area were noted and recorded. <1> Post-excavation work revealed that both the fish, shellfish, and artefacts were typical of other sites from the Viking into the Norse period in the North of Scotland and this was confirmed by the AMS dating 899-1223cal AD. The AMS dating also demonstrated that the oldest dates were within the lower deposits showing the midden was in-situ and not the spoil from excavations undertaken by Sir Tress Barry in the 19th century. Instead it was considered most likely that the midden related to the structures to the north west previously thought to be ‘modern’ (see MHG1656). <2>