Remains of Iron Age structure found during road works in Scotland

During road works being undertaken on the A9 recently the remains of a structure which could date back some 2000 years has been uncovered. Pieces of ancient pottery and a stone tool were also found at the site, which is close to the town of Kingussie (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich) in the Scottish Highlands. The newly discovered building is not far from Raitt's Cave, an underground Iron Age subterranean chamber known as a souterrain discovered in the 1800's. The proximity to Raitt's Cave, along with results from a geophysical survey indicated that something significant could be beneath the surface.

The work on the A9 road from Perth to Inverness is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Scotland and scheduled to be undertaken over the next 8 years. As is the case in large projects such as this, Transport Scotland have worked with archaeologists to investigate hidden ancient historical buildings and items which may be revealed as the road works continue. Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (Orca), which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, is working with Transport Scotland in this regard.