EHG6103 - Excavation - Camore Wood, Dornoch

Archaeological recording and remedial works were carried out by AOC Archaeology Group in 2023 at Camore Wood, Dornoch. The archaeological work was required due to recent forestry operations over the winter months of 2022-23 which resulted in damage to five scheduled areas. Prior to any invasive work, walkover survey of the full scheduled settlement was undertaken, alongside measured survey and terrain modelling of three damaged hut circles (Sites 1-3), to assess the current condition and any damage to the scheduled monument (see EHG6102). After completion of the surveys, a programme of excavation was undertaken to assess and record the impact of damage to deposits/features in the interior, exterior, and on the banks of hut circle Sites 1-3. This comprised a total of six trenches (four trenches were excavated on Site 1 and one single trench each on Site 2 and Site 3) excavated through both damaged and undamaged areas, which uncovered in-situ occupation deposits, two hearths, and nine pit/posthole features. Artefacts recovered comprised prehistoric pottery, a flint barbed and tanged arrowhead, a possible unfinished spindle whorl or pendant, a possible saddle quern, possible worked lithics and coarse stone tools. A programme of post-excavation analysis was recommended, as well as remediation comprising reprofiling and reforming the earthworks. <1> A programme of post-excavation analysis was subsequently undertaken. The archaeological works established that significant archaeological remains survived within an upstanding roundhouse at Site 1, including evidence for several phases of activity during the Middle Bronze Age and Middle Iron Age. These were represented by interior floor deposits, cut pit and posthole features, and several overlapping hearth settings. Artefacts retrieved from this site included a Kilmarnock Type barbed and tanged arrowhead, a shale artefact roughout, and a quartzite piercer/borer, as well as other lithic and ceramic objects. A stone saddle quern was also retrieved from Site 3, another well-preserved roundhouse. The function of the hut circle at Site 2 was unclear. Analysis of the damage by the recent machine tracking, which had disturbed the upper deposits on the three sites and caused some compression damage to the banks, was found to have a relatively low impact on the lower features and deposits at Sites 1 and 3. Micromorphological analysis at Site 1 showed that post-depositional root and invertebrate activity has had a greater impact on the archaeological deposits. <2>