EAB14056 - Excavation - NINE STANES STONE CIRCLE, GARROL WOOD

Archaeological assessment of potential damage from wind blown trees to the east of the circle was carried out by Clyde Archaeology in December 2019. A single trench was excavated covering the two tree bowls and an area to the southwest next to the outer edge of the circle, also providing an opportunity to re-examine an area thought to have been excavated by Coles in the early 1900s. The windblow had resulted in minimal disturbance to buried archaeological remains. A small truncated cairn was recorded to the east of the standing stones. The origins of a large cairn-like deposit of earth and stone remain unclear: the material could relate to the ephemeral remains of a larger cairn within the stone circle or be the result of backfill and reinstatement from the 1904 excavation. Across the central parts of the trench the surface was moderately compact comprising mixed dark grey silty sand with frequent angular pebble inclusions. Some areas of the surface were more compacted and comprised of more angular pebbles, especially around the small truncated cairn, but no significant artefacts, ecofacts or palaeoenvironmental remains were recovered from the two bulk samples taken from the surface.