Monument record MHG30112 - Cnoc an t Sidhean

Mounds mostly composed of sand, but at least one - the smallest, which is closest to the flightpath of the adjacent Inverness airport - definitely has stone incorporated in the mound. The mounds were used for bannock rolling at Easter (referenced in 'Bain's Lordship of Petty'). Information from an interested party over phone, 28/08/01. <1>

The mounds were noted in a DBA and walkover survey by SUAT in 2002 for a proposed access road to Inverness Airport. It was considered that they were a group of glacial mounds with no obvious signs of artifical modification, but that the Gaelic name may have signified a non-vanished monument. One of the mounds lay very close to the road line, meaning that it was likely to be disturbed or destroyed during road construction. It was recommended that it should be evaluated if this was likely to be the case. One of the mounds was seen as a circular cropmark and it was considered to be of potential archaeological significance. <2>

Ten trenches were excavated by SUAT in 2004 across the two mounds which would be directly impacted by the construction of the proposed access road. The mounds were found to be natural features. A preserved log was found below a peat layer in Trench 1 but this was thought to be in a natural hollow. A possible hearth was found in Trench 5 (see MHG48657). It was suggested that a sample of charcoal should be sent for radio-carbon analysis. <3>

A watching brief was carried out by SUAT in 2005 during stripping and groundworks for the new access road. Areas 4 and 5 lay over the site of the evaluation carried out the previous year on the site of the mounds. The topsoil was found to be only 0.20m deep over natural deposits of sands, wet silts and occasional patches of gravel. No features or deposits of archaeological interest were exposed. <4>