Monument record MHG56265 - Prehistoric pit - Torbreck Farm, Inverness

A large pit, possibly late neolithic to early Bronze Age in date was excavated at Torbreck Farm in 1998-9 during a watching brief by Cannich Archaeological Services on a new house plot. It was found to be over 2m in diameter and nearly 2m deep. It was thougth by the excavator to have been back-filled with 'basketfuls' of dark soil, brown earth and dirty gravel. All of these, but especially the dark soil, contained small fragments of charcoal and pieces of calcined bone, usually very small. The only immediately identifiable piece was from a small long bone, possibly human. The only other find was a single small chunk of honey-coloured flint about half-way up the fill. It may, however, have been a chance inclusion. It was clear that the pit had been backfilled soon after excavation. It was thought by the excavator that the pit dated to the later neolithic-early Bronze Age period, perhaps representing ritual deposition of material gathered from the peripheral area of a cremation pyre. <1>

<1> Kenworthy, J., 1999, Report on an archaeological watching-brief during soil removal at a new house site at Torbreck farm, Inverness: Dec 1998 - Feb 1999 (Text/Report/Fieldwork Report). SHG20875.