EHG6080 - Excavation - A897 road realignment, Suisgill Bridge, Strath of Kildonan

A rescue excavation was undertaken by the Central Excavation Unit of the Ancient Monuments Division under the direction of G Barclay in 1980-1 in advance of plans to replace a bridge carrying the A897 across the Suisguil Burn and to realign the road itself. The failure of the bridge in 1978 led the Highland Regional Council to propose the realignment of the road and the construction of a new bridge downstream. During preliminary ground investigations in August of the same year on the proposed road line, a stone slab was struck, 0.6 m below the modern topsoil surface. It was realized that this was probably the roof of a souterrain. The Scottish Development Department (Ancient Monuments Division) subsequently negotiated a road line which avoided the structure. Increased cost prevented the route of the road being displaced to the south; it was therefore moved to the north, between the newly discovered souterrain (Suisgill III) and the remains of another, previously known, immediately to the north of the old road (Suisgill II). The occurrence of contemporary settlement in the area between the two was considered sufficiently likely to justify excavation in advance of the roadworks. In the early summer of 1980, after an inconclusive resistivity survey, a six-week excavation was carried out; a further six weeks' work took place in the autumn of that year, followed by a two-week salvage excavation in the spring of 1981, as the road was being built. In the first season areas A, C, D and F were excavated, wholly or in part. During the excavation it became clear that large areas were covered with hillwash material under which ard-marking was preserved. Small areas of the primary settlement were revealed and as a result the second season of excavation was undertaken. The investigation of areas A and C was continued and work began on the eastern part of area B. The stone-faced earthen bank under the A/B baulk was found, and a narrow trench dug between the eastern part of B and the east edge of C revealed (under 1.9 m of gravel and topsoil) traces of timber structures. At the end of the second season it appeared that the features found under the gravel were too deep to be affected by the road-building and work therefore ceased. However, early in 1981 it became clear that the road would cut deeper than hitherto planned. Therefore a short salvage season was mounted to coincide with the removal of the gravel overburden (and the traces of Period VI settlement) in area B by the road builders. Only a slight record of the material within the gravel in this area could be made and only a short time was available for the investigation of the evidence underneath the gravel, which consisted of the remains of three buildings and a complex series of agricultural horizons. A narrow section across an area between two souterrains was excavated; part of one of the souterrains was also exposed. The excavation revealed deposits up to c 1.8 m deep in places, largely made up of material washed downhill on to the site. Early-mid first millennium bc: Period I — ard tillage; II — construction and reconstruction of a round timber house, and the erection of a stone-faced earth bank; III — tillage; IV — the construction, and destruction by fire, of a post-built structure; beginning of water scouring of the site and start of hillwash deposition. Settlement was re-established later in the millennium on the surface of the hillwash deposits (Period VI). This was subsequently covered by more hillwash. Recent settlement was represented by uncharacterized activity at the south edge of the excavated area and by two post-medieval buildings (associated with a settlement to the SE) the later of which was probably demolished during 19th-century road building. Quantities of pottery of 10 fabrics and three main styles (1, flat rims; 2, splayed rims; 3, everted rims) were found. Carbonized plant material was recovered, including many grains of six-row (mainly naked) barley, a little wheat, and oats, possibly domesticated. The pollen analysis of a peat column taken from a bog 2 km from the site showed a notable forest decline at c 4500 bp, followed by a pine-birch regeneration, followed, shortly before 1700 bp, by a further decline. <1>