Series: Cameron Archaeology unpublished report series

Three test pits were hand-excavated on 4 September 2020. Natural sand was recorded at the base of TP1 and 2 under garden soil. Natural was not recorded under the garden soil in TP3. No archaeological features or finds were recovered. The extension requires minimal foundations and it is therefore recommended that no further archaeological work is required during the excavation work for the extension.

A photographic survey was carried out prior to demolition of former cart shed at the rear of property in Bon Accord Crescent.

A Level 1 standing building survey was carried out on 28 February 2017. Two buildings were recorded photographically and architects plans and elevations checked and annotated. Building 1 probably dates to the early 19th century and was probably built as workshops with domestic accommodation on the first floor. Building 2 was constructed prior to 1900 and attached to the existing buildings on Bogie Street and New Road.

A photographic survey was carried out of a former workshop

A photographic survey and watching brief was carried out on 16 April 2019. A trench 0.75m wide, 0.3m deep and 6m long was excavated by hand. At the E end of the trench a mortar bonded stone wall was investigated. It ran parallel to the existing E basement wall and during its removal grey slates were found within the structure indicating that it was a post-medieval wall probably associated with a basement structure no longer visible. The soil was clayey with 19th-century finds including ceramic roof tiles and earthenwares.

A watching brief and a standing building survey were carried out during the conversion of this late 18th-century building to University of Aberdeen accommodation.

An air-raid shelter was recorded prior to demolition for a house extension.

Workmen digging for a small toilet extension uncovered human bones and reported them to the police. After discussion the bones were recorded as archaeological and were released to the current author. An excavation was carried out on 23 November 2018 and the trench was fully excavated and the soil previously removed from the trench was sifted. A small number of other human bones were recovered as well as pottery, mammal bone and building materials. The bones appear to have been brought into the site in soil used to level up the site, possibly when the house was built in the early to mid 19th century.

On February 18th, 2019, an archaeological watching brief was held on ground between the SE side of Green Banks Caravan Park and the Spotty Bag Shop in Banff during electrical upgrades to the shop's expanding kitchen and restaurant operations. This involved the excavation of a rectangular junction pit to tap into existing buried electrical cables with a branch trench dug to the shop's existing electrical inlet at the rear of the building. No archaeological features were observed, but several fragments of probable 19th century glass and ceramic were recovered, along with a rather unusual narrow blue glass bottle. However, the ground through which the cable was dug consisted of imported fills, presumably imported from the surrounding area. No further archaeological mitigation or work is deemed necessary.

In mid- to late-January 2015, a walkover survey of the forested areas at Crathes Castle Estate, Banchory, Aberdeenshire was undertaken by Dr Robert Lenfert on behalf of Cameron Archaeology. A possible unrecorded prehistoric cairn or feature, first observed by Shannon Fraser from NTS, was further investigated, while several enhancements to the existing historical landscape survey (McGowan/AOC 2009) were also made, most notably by extending the known sections of remnant stone walling on the estate. In addition, several other small cairns which likely represent clearance activity were noted. The effects of the devastating January 31st/February 1st storm of 1953 are still visible on the property. The storm flattened virtually the entire estate's stock of standing timber, sparing only small sections around the castle, which in turn prompted a major clearing and replanting scheme by the Scottish Forestry Commission over the ensuing three year period. This is seen to have a detrimental effect on the condition and survival of upstanding archaeological remains, yet the overall extent of much of the stone walling was largely visible at the time of the survey. Six small unrecorded clearance cairns or features were added, in addition to the extended walling mentioned above.