EHG5889 - Watching brief and excavation - Dornoch North Housing (Phase 2)

An archaeological watching brief and associated excavation was carried out by AOC Archaeology Group at Dornoch North, Phase 2, Sutherland, ahead of a second phase of housing development. The watching brief was required as an evaluation carried out in May 2019 (see EHG5500) identified twelve archaeological features comprising several pits and linear features and a large pit or ditch. The site of two Bronze Age cists, which had previously been excavated in 1938, were also re-excavated and recorded during the evaluation. The watching brief uncovered a further 101 features consisting of a ditched enclosure, the remnants of a roundhouse, seven pit groups, three possible fire-pits, a stone filled ditch with upright stone and isolated pits and postholes. In one area, a large circular ditch enclosed multiple internal pit features and a secondary D-shaped enclosure contained an internal post structure with associated internal and external fire-pits. A probable roundhouse and a dense cluster of pits/post-holes was also located near the enclosure. The remaining features consisted of three groups of curvilinear features, a group of pits containing possible stone sockets within a stone filled ditch and a line of pits located between the roundhouse and enclosures. Isolated pit features across the site did not form meaningful arrangements. The results from the archaeological work have shown further extensive evidence for considerable prehistoric activity and later, probably medieval, landscape use. Post-excavation analyses will be required to interpret the chronology and the activities undertaken on the site. <1>