EHG2944 - Excavation - burnt mound, Arisaig (A830 improvements)

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by CFA Archaeology in 2005 to the east of Arisaig of a possible burnt mound that had been located and partially exposed during an earlier trial trench evaluation as part of the A830 Loch nan Uamh to Arisaig road improvements (see EHG1373). A trench measuring c 13 x 12m was excavated by machine, to encompass the entire extent of the burnt mound. The size of the trench was defined by access constraints, the presence of large trees and the need to bund the topsoil within the road corridor. Revealing a weathered spread of reddened fire-cracked stones with intermittent charcoal covering an area of 11 x 6m. Six trenches were dug across the material of the burnt mound, to try and characterise the nature of its deposits. Although damaged by the later excavation of a ditch and field drain, it appeared the burnt mound lay on low banks of sand, which may have been natural or introduced to the site. There was a stream on one side and a marshy area on the other. The sand banks sealed an underlying primary deposit of burnt material containing stones that were not similarly reddened and this was associated with a stake-hole. There was no sign of either a hearth or of a trough. <1> The excavation and post-excavation analysis of the site was subsequently published as SAIR Vol. 39. <2>