EHG6215 - Watching brief - proposed extension, HistoryLinks Museum, Dornoch

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2023 to satisfy a planning condition during the development of an extension to Historylinks Museum, Dornoch. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3rd November and 22nd November 2023. The main trench measured approximately 168m² and was excavated down to the natural subsoil. An additional trench was watched for the installation of a new waterpipe to the northern and western sides of the existing museum building. This trench measured approximately 20m in length and was excavated down to a depth of 0.7m although much of the trench had been disturbed by storm drains and electricity cables. During the watching brief 11 possible archaeological features were recorded. These comprised four curved and two linear features as well as four possible pits and two other features. These seemed to be similar in nature to those found during archaeological work undertaken nearby. In particular the previous archaeological works which took place to the immediate east of the development area indicated that the majority of activity took place within the 9th – 11th century although there was been some activity prior to the 9th century and then later that the 11th century. Evidence of metal working was also found in this site, and this would appear to continue into the development area. In addition the features from this period looked similar in nature to the features uncovered during the current development, albeit very truncated due to modern disturbance. It was therefore considered likely that at least some of the features recorded in the development may date to this period or earlier. The curved features may have been the remains of structures or enclosure, the pits may have been evidence of occupation and the linear features likely related to agricultural activity on the site. The site also had a lot of modern disturbance thought to be from the original construction of the museum. It was recommended that a programme of botanical analysis and radiocarbon dating is undertaken on 15 samples recovered during the fieldwork, as well as analysis on the metalworking debris from the site. <1>