EHG4994 - Excavation - Loch Raa hut circle

The targeted excavation of a prehistoric roundhouse at Loch Raa in Wester Ross was carried out by A Welti and associates in 2012 as part of the Wedigs Community Project. Three small trenches were excavated. A series of hearths was exposed and radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal deposits from the earliest and latest of these. The earliest hearth gave a C14 date of 3207±27 BP (GU30612) This is 1257±27 BC, Early Bronze Age, and the most recent hearth in the stack was dated at 2374±27 BP (GU30611), this is 424±27 BC, Early Iron Age. The site was artefact-poor, with a sherd of early Iron Age pottery and a sherd of steatite, possibly part of the rim of a vessel being among the only finds and reliance has therefore been placed on radiocarbon dating to indicate when the structures were occupied or used. Extra information came from micromorphological soil analysis, from pollen analysis, and from a limited multi-element analysis. <1> <2> Indicative centroid adjusted to position as seen on 2009 APs. <3>