EHG5001 - Excavation - Achnahaird hut circle

The targeted excavation of a prehistoric roundhouse at Achnahaird in Wester Ross was carried out by A Welti and associates in 2012 as part of the Wedigs Community Project. Five small trenches were excavated, one of which (Trench 3) was to test the ground surface under nearby lazy-beds and a further trench (Trench 5) to examine a boundary wall which appeared to form an enclosure around the site. Excavation within the hut circle revealed that there had been two phases of construction, the later of which produced a radio-carbon date of 395±29 BC (early-middle Iron Age). A post hole from the earlier phase was found sealed below the wall of the later structure. Small finds included several pebble hammers, broken pot-boilers and a polisher. 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>