EHG5865 - Watching brief - proposed Limekilns Wind Farm

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2021 in advance of and during the first phase of development of a wind farm at Limekiln Estate, Reay, Caithness. Surveys carried out ahead of construction work on the site had identified 33 features (see EHG5864). The sites identified and thought to be at risk were marked off before work on site started and these markers remain in place. Construction phase I of the project included clear felling of some forest areas and the subsequent creation and upgrading of access tracks and the creation of lay down areas. Archaeological mitigation included marking out of features where necessary as well as a program of watching briefs and feature recording. Although the work was to cover three areas only one, the north access track, was undertaken. Within this area 10 previously recorded features were damaged by the work. These were mainly walls and a section through each was recorded. During the watching brief 28 previously unrecorded features were noted along the route. The majority of these were drains in a variety of types including built culverts. Six of these features were not drains and included a modern post hole and small scoops filled with burned material. Most significant of these negative features was a large spread of burned material noted at the very north end of the route, that had been covered by clean sand and possible peat formation. Some post-excavation work connected to this large feature was included in a PERD section of the report. Recommendations for further watching briefs would be made in a separate project design for construction Phase II. <1> Material taken from the large feature F52 noted at the very north end of the watching brief route underwent post excavation work including flotation, botanical analysis and AMS dating. A range of burned wood types were identified including alder, hazel, willow and birch all of which would likely have been available locally. The four AMS dates gave a tight range of 252 years around 2382 cal BC, in other words, Chalcolithic or early Bronze Age. It seemed from the specialist analysis that despite the size of the deposit (5m by 5m exposed) that the material was likely to be from a domestic rather than an industrial process. In this case it was likely to have been laid down over a period of time, rather than in one event due to the amount of material represented. It also gave a picture of the resources available at the dates obtained. Although little more could be stated about the nature of the deposit, this alone implied occupation and landscape exploitation somewhere in the close vicinity, as individuals are unlikely to move domestic waste long distances for disposal. Although not well defined, the lack of other scientifically dated Bronze Age sites in the area maDE this an important indication of activity in area. Notably in this case where no surface remains were evident. The dating Was secure and well backed up with four dates. Future work in this area could include geophysical survey which may reveal other buried features connected to this spread. <2>