MHG39888 - Pit Alignment, Beaufort Castle
Summary
Site of four pit alignments, visible as cropmarks overlaying a circular enclosure which also appears as a cropmark.
Type and Period (1)
- PIT ALIGNMENT (Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC? to 560 AD?)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
The crop-mark of a circular enclosure has been recorded 400 m SW of Beaufort Castle (Visible on RCAHMS air photograph IN 3211-3: flown 1977); it measures about 12 m in internal diameter. Other crop-marks visible immediately N of this enclosure are probably of recent date but there is another possible enclosure 150 m to the NE. RCAHMS 1979
Further air photograph in 1989 shows that the circular enclosure already recorded appears to have various indistinct internal features. It appears to overlie the edge of a series of pit alignments, consisting of four parallel lines of pits in a 'V' shape, immediately to the NNE.
They each lie approximately 3m apart. Immediately NNE there is a dark, almost square, area c10-12m long and wide.
Whether these are ancient or modern marks in the pasture is currently unknown.
Two long parallel lines of parchmarks running SW-NE across the Vshaped marks may prove to be horse jumps rather than pit alignments. (AP nos. 8904.20-26 and 8906.56-57, held in Inverness Museum, see also Archive.) (See NH54SW 44 and 45 for sites to N and NE.)
Information from J Harden 1989.
Sources/Archives (8)
- --- SHG2673 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1979. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of North-east Inverness, Inverness District, Highland Region. . 21, No. 153.
- --- SHG4955 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4956 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4957 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4958 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4959 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4960 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
- --- SHG4961 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph: B/W Negative. .
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 5045 4264 (30m by 30m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH54SW |
| Civil Parish | KILTARLITY AND CONVINTH |
| Geographical Area | INVERNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (3)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/12738 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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