A strip and map exercise was carried out in the zone recommended by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for the new pole (pole 8a), starting in a confined area, but expanding outwards as necessary, with the aim to ensure preservation in-situ of all significant archaeological remains. The pole being replaced (8) was also the subject to a strip and map exercise using the same methodology. The proposed location of the replacement pole is approximately 1m to the east of the current, defective pole. The strip and map required topsoil to be removed in the proposed locations of both poles by an excavator with a toothless bucket under the supervision of an archaeologist. In the case of archaeological deposits or features being encountered, a new location within the area recommended by HES was to be excavated and assessed. The results of this were HES to provide potential pole locations for both poles that appear to be without significant archaeological remains. Once the location of the new pole (8a) and the replacement pole (8) were established and agreed upon with HES, the installation works required a watching brief. The pole sites were excavated using an excavator with a toothless bucket under constant supervision of an archaeologist. No archaeological finds or features were recorded during the two phases of works.
Neil Ackerman (Mon,) studied this question.