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A watching brief was carried out by Murray Archaeological Services in 2005 during topsoil stripping of an area 25m x 51m for a new overflow carpark at Crathes Castle, as the site is within 200m of the Warren Field pit alignment (NO79NW0012) and circa 400m from the Warren Field Neolithic Hall (NO79NW0013). A small number of highly truncated negative features, possibly post-holes, were revealed near the top of a southeast facing slope. Six of these features contained flint or early Neolithic pottery in a charcoal rich, silty fill. The features ranged in size between circa 0.83m in diameter and 0.28m surviving depth, and circa 0.40m in diameter and 0.13m surviving depth. A small number of other features that lacked the charcoal rich fill may or may not have ben associated. The very truncated nature of the features makes interpretation difficult, with insufficient evidence to suggest if the possible post-holes had formed part of a structure. The pottery, which included part of a modified carinated bowl, suggests that these traces of settlement may be marginally later than the Warren Field timber hall, however, the indication of early Neolithic activity in such close proximity to the Warren Field sites is extremely important. The site helps to highlight the fact that the apparent isolation of early Neolithic timber halls may be a product of the restricted geographical focus of previous excavations, particularly as such slight, truncated features are not normally revealed as cropmarks, even in favourable conditions.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)