EHG686 - Excavation - Southern Distributor Road, Glendruidh and Hilton, Inverness

Archaeological assessment of the proposed line of the Inverness Southern Distributor Road led to the excavation of two cropmark sites. Neither of these sites, the Hilton 'pit alignments' and the Glendruidh 'timber halls or enclosures', was located by excavation. It is concluded that the pit alignment cropmark could be the product of recent agricultural activity, but the cause of the Glendruidh cropmark, and therefore the existence of the timber halls or enclosures, remains uncertain. The excavation was arranged by Historic Scotland and funded by Highland Regional Council Roads Division. Since the first two stages of the assessment failed to identify any areas of high archaeological potential on the roadline, a series of nine machine-dug trenches were opened at regular intervals along the roadline to sample the apparently empty areas and confirm the absence of archaeology. No features of archaeological interest were recorded except where the roadline passes close to the cropmark of an enclosure at Balloan Park (illus 1). This cropmark was the subject of a separate assessment excavation conducted simultaneously and, as the features revealed in the road assessment test trench are part of the same site, they are described in the Balloan Park assessment report. Draft publication text. <1> Published reports <2> <3> DES article <4>