Print

MHG53610 - Occupied Cave - Leitir Fura, Kinloch, Isle of Skye

Summary

A sea-worn fissure cave, which shows signs of occupation from the 3rd century BC to the present day. It has been subject to survey and excavation.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

A sea worn fissure cave 6.0m deep and a maximum of 3.5m wide. Discovered by J MacLeod in March 1996. The floor when first discovered, was littered with occupation debris dating to the first half of the 19th century. Finds included 2 bone pins, a wooden knife an chopping board, a broken iron pot, fragments of 19th entury blue and while undergalze pottery and many limpet and mussel shells. The cave was being excavated by M Wildgoose (as of May 1996), with initial results expected in the latter half of the year. <1>

An ‘L’ shaped former sea cave situated behind a small birch copse, in the face of low cliffs, some 25 meters beyond the high tide line. A tall Holly tree lies outside the cave entrance and is plainly visible from the forest road overlooking the bay close to Site 21. The cave is 6.00 meters deep and 1.00 meter wide at the entrance widening to 3.00 meters wide inside. The interior of the cave varies from 2 – 3 meters high. A small revetted platform lies just outside the cave entrance. At the time of discovery the interior of the cave was littered with evidence of occupation (tools, pottery a hearth and a shell midden) from the late 18th or early 19th century. Subsequent excavation in May of 1996 showed that the cave had been occupied intermittently from at the least the 3rd century BC. In 2010, the cave was recorded as being in regular use again with a new hearth set against the SW wall and stacks of cut wood and kindling against the NE wall. Archive and report includes plans, recording sheet and photographs. <2> <3>

The excavations carried out in May 1996 have not been published and only a plan of the cave as found in 1996 has been made available (see <3>).

Sources/Archives (4)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 7377 1594 (24m by 25m)
Map sheet	NG71NW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (2)

External Links (0)