Monument record MHG56081 - Post-medieval pits - Culduthel, Inverness

A group of circular post-medieval pits were exposed and recorded at Culduthel, Inverness, during an evaluation in 2005 and excavation in 2007 by Headland Archaeology. They were initially thought to be prehistoric in origin and lay in a 25m long linear arrangement oriented east-west. The sides of the pits were nearly vertical and the majority had flat bases. One pit had large stones towards the centre of its fill indicating deliberate backfilling. Two of the pits (815 and 816) were larger and stone-lined. They had a diameter of 2m and 2.4m and were 0.5m and 0.65m deep. A single drystone skin up to 0.2m thick had been constructed against the sides of the cut. In both pits the stones were separated from the cut on one side by a brown sandy deposit interpreted as decayed turf. Fragments of glazed cereamic, modern redware and cream ware (C18-C20) were found in the primary deposit at the base of the pits. The linear alignment suggested that they had been positioned along a field or propert boundary. They have been interpreted as storage pits for agricultural produce, though there was little evidence to suggest exactly what was stored in them. A sample from one of the pits contained an abundance of hulled barley, roundwood and twigs of charcoal but was dominated by carbonised pine needles. The artefacts found amongst the backfill indicated that they went out of use between the C18 and C20. <1> <2> <3>