Ancient burial ground revealed during sewer construction

A 6th Century burial ground and two Iron Age roundhouses have been discovered during a Scottish Water sewer upgrade project in the Highlands.

Remnants of the roundhouses, metalworking furnaces and bone fragments from a burial monument were found during the construction of a new sewer at Windhill near Muir of Ord.

Stone tools and decorated clay daub from the wall of the roundhouses were also uncovered, according to Scottish Water.

The bone fragments are now being carbon-dated to determine the age of the body inside the burial monument.

Scottish Water said the two roundhouses are believed to be up to 3,000 years old.

A number of stone tools were uncovered from the roundhouses, including fragments of rotary querns to grind grain, a quern rubber and a hammerstone.

Clay daub from the wall of the roundhouses was also found.

Some of the clay daub had decoration in the form of applied chevron designs, which is understood to be a rare discovery.

But Scottish Water said no pottery was recovered, which fits with a wider view that during the Iron Age in this area the people did not use clay pots, but instead wooden vessels.

Remnants of the roundhouses included two well-preserved smelting furnaces, which were found to have been built against a large flat-topped boulder.

Scottish Water said experts believe these would have been in structures outside of the roundhouses as the furnaces would have likely produced significant heat and fumes.

But these structures would have been temporary and built much shallower than the settings for the roundhouses.

Three round burial mounds - known as barrows - were also revealed within the 90-metre trench, measuring around 10 metres in diameter.

Radiocarbon dating, isotope and DNA analysis of the bone fragments could reveal details about the people who lived in the area, said Scottish Water.

Archaeologist Steven Birch, from West Coast Archaeological Services, described the finds as a "complex suite of archaeological features".

"Full analysis of the samples, finds and other materials will provide additional information relating to a snapshot into the early history of the area, adding to a growing core of evidence to suggest that the area around the Beauly Firth provided a suitable locale for settlement, industrial and funerary practices," he said.

Project manage Scott Henry said there had been an inclination beforehand that there could be something in the area but it was still "such an amazing discovery".

He said: "We always follow the correct procedures and ensure archaeologists are present when they need to be to ensure discoveries are protected and recorded from our sewer upgrade works."