Monument record MHG11644 - Shell middens, Earls Cross Road, Dornoch

NH89SW 13 8046 9026.

At NH 8046 9026 on a raised beach is an amorphous sandy knoll with mussel shells on its surface which is locally alleged to be an ancient shell midden. It was excavated about 20 years ago by a local man, now deceased, who found it contained large quantities of mussel shells, but no artifacts were revealed.
Visited by OS (A A) 23 May 1971.

A remedial watching brief in 2005 observed thin layers of wind borne shell mixed in with a fine, light sand. It was concluded that this was a natural deposit, identical in morphology to the wind blown deposits found on any sandy beach. <1>

Trial trenching in 2008 identified several shell middens in two of the trenches (Trenches 1 and 8 - see related investigation EHG3043). The deposits in Trench 1 contained shells of various species, bone and worked stones. In Trench 8 the midden was shallow and compact and made up of 90% mussels plus occasional bone and stone, with no visible sorting or later disturbance. It was concluded that these middens are potentially of archaeological significance, but further analysis of the deposits and finds is required. <2>

A watching brief during house construction in the eastern part of this site, in the vicinity of Trenches 1 and 8, did not identify any deposits asociated with these middens. Although some shells were noted to the south east corner of the house these lay on top of sand directly under the topsoil and they were interpreted as being of natural origin. <3>

It is unlikely that the works that were monitored during this watching brief extended to a sufficient depth to encounter the midden deposits. The watching brief only covered the stripping of topsoil to a depth of 30cm across the site. <4>