Overview
- In fieldwork conducted October 13–18, archaeologists from the University of Glasgow and the National Trust for Scotland recovered more than 100 items, including lead musket and pistol balls plus cannon shot.
- Researchers report the assemblage likely relates to closing clashes between the battle lines, where boggy ground slowed the Highland charge and government fire proved decisive.
- The finds appear to align with accounts of an Irish battalion in French service under Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stapleton resisting government cavalry, including Cobham’s Dragoons and possibly Kingston’s Horse.
- The cache includes what the team believes may be a three‑pound cannon ball from Jacobite artillery, recovered in a zone that had previously produced no artifacts.
- Metal detecting, trial trenching, and test pitting overcame challenges from 19th‑century forestation and wet soils, and the results will guide further analysis, mapping, public interpretation, and site management by the Trust.