Document record MAB56520 - DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES

Prehistoric cremation cemetery and ring features recorded during a programme of works in 2020-2021 ahead of proposed housing development.

Prehistoric cremation cemetery and ring features recorded during a programme of works in 2020-2021 ahead of proposed housing development. A trial trenching evaluation carried out by Cameron Archaeology in February to March 2020 recorded three archaeological features, two of these in the northwestern part of the development site, the other a little to their southeast. Trench 2 revealed an arch of post-hole bases filled with charcoal and burnt bone. Just to the southeast of this, in Trench 3, features recorded included three ditch arcs, a post-hole base and a pit base. Further to the southeast, Trench 13 uncovered an area of ploughed out charcoal. Apart from the burnt bone no other finds were recovered from any of the trenches, and the date and function of the features remains unclear. Monitoring of topsoil stripping in August to September 2021 was followed by excavation in September to October 2021. The majority of features were found in Trench 1 in the northern part of the development site including 16 ring features and 14 cremation burials. Four of the burials contained remains of associated pottery vessels or urns, and several putative pyre sites were located. The highest area of the site (towards the northeast of the trench) contained a series of ring features. This included a large ring ditch, 8.2 m in diameter, enclosing a smaller ring feature 2.5 m in diameter which in turn encircled a cremation, located toward the highest (northeast) point of the site. The other ring features ranged from 1.3 m to 4.3 m (one to the east, and the rest to the south of the largest ring ditch), and were generally poorly preserved. The evidence suggests that some were ditches, some beam slot construction and others held rings of posts. Three contained cremations. West of the largest ring feature was a line of three postholes (0.6 m to 0.8 m in diameter), the central one containing a portable cup-marked stone which had been placed face down in the centre of the feature. East of the main group of ring features were three postholes and two pits. Another line of three postholes was recorded southeast of the ring features, and one cremation pit was situated circa 6 m east of these. In the southwestern part of Trench 1 was the possible pyre complex including a cremation pit. North of this were four cremation burials, a small number of postholes and two other pits. Remains of a decorated cremation urn containing cremated bone were found within a circular cut: the vessel appears to have been placed on two stones located at the base of the pit. A decorated urn was also found in one of the burial pits, it had been truncated below the rim and contained cremated bone. A large pit to the southeast of this cremation yielded carved beads of a jet (or possibly lignite) necklace, the presence of which suggests that this might have been a grave. Within the northern part of the site, separate from the other burials was a group of features comprising seven cremation burial pits and at least one further cremation with associated postholes. A small pottery vessel containing cremated bone was recovered from a small pit. A larger pit to the west contained only four fragments of pottery, including a decorated rim sherd suggesting that the cremation had been contained within a vessel. A decorated vessel base was found in the smaller pit to the west. A series of posthole features formed an arc largely to the west of the cremation pits but it is unclear whether they formed a structure. The features and artefacts suggest a primarily Bronze Age date. To the southeast of Trench 1, only a single posthole was recorded in Trench 2, and potential features within Trench 3 were shown to be of animal or geological origin, although a cluster of three pieces of flint debitage were recovered. A monitored topsoil strip was carried out in May 2022 over ground beneath overhead cables between Trenches 2 and 3, prior to undergrounding of electricity cable but no further archaeological deposits were identified.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2015, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES, AB41 7NZ: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB6698.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2019, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES, AB41 7NZ: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI) V2, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8265.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2020, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES, AB41 7NZ: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI) FOR MONITORED SOIL STRIP AND EXCAVATION , WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8266.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2020, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, Evaluation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB8173.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2021, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES, AB41 7NZ: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI) FOR EXCAVATION (20.9.21-4.10.21) V2, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8267.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2021, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT: EXCAVATION 20 SEPTEMBER - 05 OCTOBER 2021 (REVISED 26.5.2022), Excavation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB8243.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2022, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 22 (2021), pp.21-22 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8314.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2022, SITE M1, DUTHIE ROAD, TARVES, AB14 7NZ: POST-EXCAVATION RESEARCH DESIGN (PERD) EXCAVATION 20 SEPTEMBER - 05 OCTOBER 2021, PERD Trench 1 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8264.

Record last edited

Nov 13 2025 2:45PM