EHG6386 - Watching brief - new SPS rising main, Windhill

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by West Coast Archaeological Services in 2025 for Scottish Water at Windhill, near Muir of Ord, Highland, in advance of the construction of a new sewer main. The work was undertaken to assess the nature and extent of any archaeological features or deposits likely to be affected within the footprint of the wayleave for the sewer main trench and any associated developments and to inform recommendations for their protection and management where necessary. The condition for the watching brief was requested by Highland Council’s Historic Environment Team, as archaeological features were shown to be present within the development areas, based on the results of previously recorded sites shown on the Historic Environment Record and a desk-based assessment report produced by West Coast Archaeological Services in advance of the proposed developments (WCAS Report No. 172/Windhill/23). In particular, standing stones MHG9079, covered by Scheduled Monument No. 3127, were located in close proximity to the proposed alignment of the new sewer main at Windhill. The archaeological watching brief monitoring the topsoil stripping for the new sewer main trench was carried out between the 8th of January and 12th of February 2025. Most sectors of the of new sewer main trench revealed no archaeological features or deposits, but within a section of the trench around 90m long focused on the area around the standing stone at Windhill (MHG9079), a concentration of features and their associated deposits were revealed. These included prehistoric settlement remains in the form of two roundhouses and smaller post-ring structures, two well-preserved ironworking metalworking furnaces, a possible smithing hearth, three Late Iron Age or Early Medieval round barrows (one with a central grave), and a second probable grave cut within what may have been the remains of a small square barrow. Within a field to the northeast and on the alignment of the sewer main trench, the concrete foundations of an agricultural building shown on the OS 2nd Edition map was also recorded along with scatters of demolition debris relating to the superstructure of the building, and Modern era midden deposits including ceramics and glass, and the bones of cattle and sheep relating to recent farming activities. The discovery of the prehistoric settlement and likely early medieval barrows at Windhill add to a growing core of significant archaeological discoveries in this area including prehistoric settlement and a large Early Medieval barrow cemetery at Tarradale, uncovered by the Tarradale Through Time Project (see EHG6096), and a group of important prehistoric features relating to a primarily ritual landscape to the northwest, evaluated in advance of new housing by AOC Archaeology Group (see EHG5014). A post-excavation research design (PERD) is being prepared for this project to analyse the recovered samples and the assemblage of artefacts recovered during the watching brief and subsequent excavations. These include a group of stone tools comprising fragments of upper rotary quern stones, a quern rubber and pebble grinder; a possible iron pin; copper alloy fragments; a significant collection of clay daub fragments, some decorated, but most displaying impressions of withies most likely from the roundhouse structures; samples relating to the three metalworking furnaces including metalworking residues; and small fragments of human cranium along with the associated samples. Results relating to these analyses and interpretations of the archaeological features and their associated deposits will be included in a later publication, setting the discoveries in their wider contextual and landscape setting. <1>