Culduthel Ironworks Site

The eyes of the archaeological world were directed at Inverness recently, with the uncovering of an "unprecedented" Iron Age ironworks in Culduthel by a team from Headland Archaeology. The Edinburgh company came across the site whilst doing routine searches for a new housing project for Tulloch Homes.

Project supervisor Ross Murray attracted a huge crowd when he spoke about it during Highland Archaeology Fortnight. "It would certainly have been of national importance and known internationally. It is possibly the most exciting recent discoveries in Scotland."

Findings from the site are currently being curated by the National Museum of Scotland, prior to a full report being published, but Heritage North is very pleased to get an update on the progress and analysis of the dig. Gordon Urquhart conducted an interview with Ross Murray and Mark Roberts of Headland Archeology at their base in an industrial estate just off Leith Walk in Edinburgh.

This discussion is presented to our heritage fans as an audio file, largely unedited. After some initial discussion we went through a presentation of photos. These photos are mentioned by the same names as they are labelled on this page, so use then as a kind of do-it-yourself presentation. If you have any trouble with the audio files get in touch with the Heritage North team at info@heritagenorth.co.uk.

We have a few small video files, which are too big to go on this site. If you would like a copy on disc, please get in touch at the same email address.

We hope to be able to get access to further progress reports from Headland Archaeology about the outcomes from the Culduthel site, and other Highlands and Islands digs. In the meantime enjoy this, and don't forget to let us know what you think.