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Cropmarks of a settlement. The cropmarks suggest circular huts, ring ditch houses and two other smaller ring ditches concentrated in the south and southwest of the site with an isolated circular double ditched feature lying to the east (at NJ 0221 5840). There is also a broad penannular trace, and other curvilinear and linear features, some possibly souterrains. There is also one large square barrow with at least six other smaller square barrows, some only partial remains, concentrated in the north part of the site (at NJ 0213 5841), relating to a Pictish barrow cemetery site. Three three sides of a further square feature are visible some distance to the east (at NJ 0221 5845). A programme of investigation was carried out by AOC archaeology in 2010 in association with the proposed Flood Alleviation Scheme. The scheme is focused on the River Findhorn flood plain west of Forres, covering approximately 4 kilometres along the River Findhorn. The work includes Flood embankments at locations on both sides of the River Findhorn and infrastructure changes to the A96 trunk road to allow the river to utilise more of its natural floodplain. Phase 1 evaluation was undertaken in April 2012. No archaeological material or features lay within the road corridor excavated within the scheduled ground that would be impacted by development. To the east of the scheduled area, where a number of cropmark sites had been recorded, the northern part of West Forres embankment and the temporary A96 road was subject to a 100 percent archaeological topsoil strip.Topsoil removal revealed the remains of three square barrows, two circa 7m square with a central pit, the third comprising a double set of ditches, the inner circa 10m square, the outer almost 30 m square. Other areas of cropmarks within the stripped area revealed archaeological features. The southern part of West Forres embankment was subject to a 10 percent (1250 m2) sample evaluation. A total of 14 trenches were excavated with no features of archaeological significance recorded. The Greshop Farm barrow site is one of only a handful of barrow cemeteries to have been excavated in Scotland. The large barrow is an extremely rare, possibly unique, variation of the typical square barrow. A watching brief was carried out by HAS in October and November 2012 during topsoil stripping in the eastern part of the site for flood alleviation works. Six possible archaeological features were recorded, including a large pit although this was possibly modern.
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