EHG1615 - Plot 1, Savalmore, Lairg

An archaeological evaluation was carried out in June 2007 in advance of construction of a new house at Savalmore, Sutherland. The desk-based assessment incorporated with the project found there to be no recorded archaeological features within the site itself, although the surrounding area is rich in archaeology, containing extensive prehistoric and later sites including hut circles, cairns and field systems from the Bronze and Iron Age. The place-name Saval (Sabhal) means a barn or store and may perhaps refer to a medieval tithe barn or an estate girnal. To the SE of this site is the Creag an t-Sabhal, the rock of the store or barn. However no evidence of this can be seen today. The trial trenching evaluation consisted of five trenches: four linear trenches measuring 1.5m x 20m and one box trench measuring 4m x 4m. These trenches covered a total of approximately 164.5 sq.m, representing a sample of 6.1% of the total area of approximately 2695 sq.m. One possible anthropogenic feature was noted in trench 5, a shallow layer of medium (<0.15m) stones covering an area of 1.5m x 0.75m in a rough oval aligned NE to SW. This was interpreted as either the infilling of a hollow in the field of the remains of a 19th century track-way. <1><2>