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Resistivity imaging was carried out over two linear earthworks that cut off a peninsula at the neck of the Mull of Galloway. The geophysical work formed part of a wider research programme, funded by Historic Scotland, involving excavation and survey, designed to assess the extent of erosion to the site. The southern (inner) line of earthworks is ca. 440 m long, whereas the northern (outer) earthwork measures only ca. 120 m. Both survive as turf and gorse covered, upstanding banks and ditches. Four resistivity images were taken across the earthworks. A further image was placed just to the south of the southern earthwork in an attempt to trace cobbles identified during excavation. The surveys used a Geopulse Imager system with 25 electrodes and an interelectrode spacing of 1 m, and apparent resistivities were acquired with the Wenner configuration. Topographic corrections were applied to the 22-m-long pseudosections, which were then inverted using Res2DInv to obtain resistivity models. Excavation of trenches through the earthworks confirmed that the resistivity models had been successful in providing an accurate picture of the character and construction of these rampart and ditch systems.

Excavation carried out prior to the development of Park Lane Hospital, Musselburgh revealed the partial remains of a probable ring-groove house of first millennium B.C. date and a later sub-rectangular, post-built structure attached to a curving fence line. Although initially interpreted as a Roman granary, it now seems likely that the features were the partial remains of a timber amphitheatre associated with Roman Inveresk. Ditches and a number of negative features of unknown date and function were also recorded.

Non-invasive fieldwork carried out on the Neolithic long barrow at Capo, present-day Aberdeenshire has considerably enhanced our knowledge of this monument. Topographical survey has provided the first detailed record of the barrow and its environs. Resistivity imaging has revealed key elements of the structure of the long barrow, including side revetment walls, a flat façade and possible mortuary structures, confirming that the barrow at Capo is of a similar morphology to the nearby (excavated) long barrow at Dalladies. The resistivity survey has demonstrated that rabbit burrowing and the roots of the tree stumps that covered the barrow have had little effect on the integrity of the major structural elements of the monument (the revetments and façade). However, it is not possible to assess the more subtle damage, such as mixing of archaeological layers, which may have been caused. It is concluded that, whilst resistivity imaging at the survey density employed here is time-consuming and would not be appropriate at many sites, as a management tool and as a means to explore sites that are unavailable for excavation, such as scheduled ancient monuments, it has been demonstrated to be of considerable value.

An archaeological excavation was carried out by the Centre for Field Archaeology (CFA) from October to December 1995 of a Bronze Age kerbed cairn at Olcote, Breasclete, Isle of Lewis (NGR: NB 2180 3475). The cairn was discovered by CFA during an evaluation of a dense scatter of worked and unworked quartz made by local archaeologists, Margaret and Ron Curtis. The remains lay in the path of the improvement of the single track road through Breasclete. A range of archaeological features and deposits was identified and recorded within the excavation trench. These fell into three groups on stratigraphic grounds: pre-cairn features, including pits, spade or cultivation marks and a buried ground surface; the cairn itself, including inner and outer kerbs, burnt peat deposits, a central cist and other features; and modern deposits which cut the cairn, including post-holes and field drains. Excavation and post-excavation were wholly funded by Historic Scotland.

This report describes the results of an archaeological field survey of the Bhaltos peninsula in Lewis. The results are assessed in the light of both older research and the continuing programmes of excavation and palaeoenvironmental analysis in the area. The examples and distributions of various site-types provide a comparison with more general models recently proposed for settlement in the Western Isles and appear to suggest a series of settlement discontinuities in the Iron Age, Norse and medieval periods.