EHG5946 - Watching brief - new housing development, Kinellan Drive, Strathpeffer

An archaeological watching brief and recording project was undertaken by Avon Archaeology (Highland) in 2022 iduring preliminary groundworks for three new houses and access road at a site located to the southwest of Kinellan Drive, Strathpeffer. The strip and record project was designed to identify, record and characterise all significant archaeological deposits, features and finds revealed during the course of preliminary ground works for new services and the development build, in particular any buried features, deposits or finds associated with the historic 14th to 15th century battlefield, Blàr nan Ceann, ‘Battlefield of the heads’, a conflict between two rival clans, the Mackenzies of Seaforth and the Macdonells of Glengarry, the site of which is suggested to have extended across several locations to the east of the development area. The watching brief fieldwork recorded a uniform and simple sequence of deposits across the various development areas, comprising topsoil overlying the undisturbed natural substrate. However, the site was archaeologically sterile - no significant archaeological deposits, features or finds were revealed and no further archaeological mitigation was recommended. <1>