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MHG60876 - Post-medieval pits - Fortrose and Rosemarkie Waste Water Works

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A desk-based assessment and archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services (RoCAS) in 2012 at the site of the Fortrose and Rosemarkie Waste Water Works. Thirty-nine pit features were recorded and excavated during the fieldwork. Scattered across the site were three large pits, F4, F15 and F21, and a smaller pit, F18, which did not have any apparent use.
F4 measured 1.2m in diameter and was 0.25m deep with vertical sides and a flat base. It contained a single fill, which produced only small traces of Scots Pine and heather type charcoal together with several pieces of modern pottery. A furnace base was recovered close to the top of the pit. It is a typical large plano-convex cake of slag, formed during smelting. No evidence of in situ iron working was found and, therefore, the base’s date is uncertain. Due to the limited botanical assemblage and lack of definitive dating from the furnace base, a post-medieval date has been assigned based on the presence of modern pottery throughout the fill.
F19, a small, shallow circular pit lying adjacent to F4 was also interpreted as being post-medieval.
The second pit, F15, was also large and circular, 1m in diameter and 0.18m deep, with steeply sloping sides, a flat base and a single fill. Although a single piece of flint was recovered it was most likely residual, the majority of the finds being post-medieval pottery.
F21 was oval in shape measuring 1.4m x 1.0m x 0.21m deep with vertical sides and a flat base. It also contained a single fill. The botanical remains included traces of Scots pine, ivy and heather type charcoal, together with amorphous cinder. This charcoal assemblage does not represent hearth waste and may represent the remains of vegetation clearance. Although the fill produced two sherds of medieval greenglazed pottery, the predominant pottery type was Victorian and it is most likely that this feature dates to the post-medieval period.
F18, located to the north of F20, was a subcircular pit 0.70m x 0.62m x 0.38m deep with vertical sides and a flat base. The upper fill produced only traces of charcoal, whilst the lower fill had a single tiny fragment. Nothing within the carbonised assemblage suggested a date or use for the pit. The only finds retrieved were sherds of post-medieval pottery. <1> <2>

The excavation assemblage from the site was allocated by Treasure Trove (TT 186/14) to Cromarty Courthouse Museum. <3>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 7310 5710 (33m by 24m) (5 map features)
Map sheet	NH75NW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	ROSEMARKIE

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