trunk road archaeology

Historic Scotland assists in the mitigation of the impact of major road schemes on Scottish archaeology. Most effort is invested in the route selection stages, when HS and the Local Authority’s archaeologist work to avoid construction on or close to known monuments and to reduce the chance discovery of unforeseen archaeological remains and sites during construction.

In recent years, HS has worked with Transport Scotland on the following new roads and improvements: A1, A9, A68, A75, A76, A77, A82, A96, A830, A876 (Kincardine crossing), M74, M77 and M80 amongst others. One of the largest archaeological projects in Europe is currently underway along the route of the M74 improvements in SE Glasgow

Reports on many of these trunk roads archaeology projects are in preparation. For example, the report on archaeology along the route of the A1 in East Lothian will appear in the Society of Antiquities of Scotland’s Monograph series during 2008