EHG712 - Geophysical survey - Auldearn

A geophysical survey was undertaken by GSB Prospection in 2001 in advance of proposals for a housing develoment on the southeast side of Auldearn. Cropmarks in the fields to be surveyed suggested the presence of a possible souterrain and linear features that could represent relict field systems. The site lay within a landscape that is rich in archaeological features. In the western field, an anomaly corresponding in shape and position with the suspected souterrain was recorded. Other responses detected nearby may have represented remains of former occupation located on a prominent ridge, though no clear pattern was apparent in the data. Linear anomalies were recorded at the site of the cropmarks suggestive of a field system but their course had a different alignment. They were considered to have been produced by recent cultivation. A possible boundary and numerous trends of likely agricultural origin were also identified. In the eastern field, scanning noted a concentration of anomalies of interest and detailed survey was positioned to investigate this and two prominent cropmarks evident in the AP data. The data contained a poorly-defined linear response, several pit-type anomalies and an area of increased magnetic response. Whilst an archaeological origin was left open, former agricultural practice or pedological variation were equally plausible. A plethora of trends could be discerned in the data. Most of these coincided with the direction of ploughing evident at the time of survey. Trends on differing orientations may be archaeological but any interpretation would be conjecture. <1>