EHG5971 - Watching brief - new housing plot, Torbreck

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2021 in advance of a new housing development at Torbreck, near Inverness. A desk based assessment was undertaken before work commenced. The main trench was split into three areas. Each area was stripped and photographed before moving on to the next area in order to record the site before wind and sun could even further degrade the visible surface. Within the main trench the topsoil was mostly shallow, around 0.2-3m deep, but found to be slightly deeper and much darker in the area that had been covered with verge. This was due to an increase in organic matter mixed with the soil in this area. The subsoil underlying this topsoil was found to also be somewhat darker due to increased root disturbance and bioturbation. To the east of the site a natural bank formed a shelf on the east edge of the site. The trench was approximately 42m by 25m and covered an area of 92m² in total. A small trench was excavated for the septic tank on the north east end of the site. The topsoil here was slightly deeper, up to 0.4m, and the subsoil was more brown but with a similar texture to the subsoil in the other parts of the site. This trench was 4m by 3.5m. No deposits, features or finds revealed during the course of the project were considered to be archaeologically significant and no further archaeological site work or reporting was recommended. <1>