EHG6422 - Watching brief - new water main, Chapelton, Balloch

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by S Farrell in 2024 on land at Chapelton, Balloch, Inverness as part of a project for a new water main for a newly completed project of 31 houses and associated access. Weather during the work was mixed with some fieldwork being halted/postponed due to bad weather. The route of the water main was excavated using a 30-ton back-acting machine with a 1.4m wide straight-edged bucket under direct archaeological supervision with spoil being set to the side of the trench. Turf and topsoil were removed to a maximum depth of 0.7m. The work revealed a number of field-drains, and a small pit and a post-hole of an unknown date. It was recommended that post-excavation work be undertaken for the samples made from the pit and the post-hole, and if possible a C14 date be obtained. <1> Post-excavation work was subsequently undertaken, with a sample of hazelnut shell from the post-hole giving a C14 a Late Neolithic date range of 2955 BC to 2915 BC. <2>