An Iron Age settlement has brought work on a major road bypass in Scotland to a standstill. Contractors are twiddling their thumbs while archaeologists excavate three 2500-year-old houses that were unearthed directly in the way of the road. Any further discoveries at the Aberdeenshire site could cause a rethink of where the road will go.
     Analysts found shards of broken pottery during a check of the Oldmeldrum site last month, halting building work. They discovered the remains of three dwellings along with domestic debris and evidence of tool-making and cloth-weaving. Aberdeenshire Council's Mike Maysmith said: 'We're more than happy to support something like this - if we hadn't it would have been lost.

Source: Daily Record (12 May 2005)