Site Event/Activity record EHG996 - Excavation - John O'Groats

A rescue excavation was carried out by Archaeology Projects Glasgow in May 1989 following the discovery of human remains on a Highlands and Islands Development Board factory development site at John O'Groats in the March of that year. The investigation concentrated on an area 6x5m on the western edge of the development site where the densest concentration of bones had been discovered. It was an area where damage by the contractors had been minimised and where a slight mound suggested buried structures. It was not possible, therefore, to determine the original extent of the archaeological features because the stripping of topsoil and levelling of the ground for building had removed all superficial deposits elsewhere on the development site. Remains of a prehistoric settlement were found which had been substantially disturbed by two separate episodes of burial. Radiocarbon dating suggested that the first began in the C11-C12 and the second took place in the C16-C17. Buriual during the earlier period was extremenly intensive: in addition to the burials, masses of disarticulated human bones were recovered. <1>