EHG6234 - EMI survey - The Bay of Laig, Eigg (The Norse and the Sea: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Scandinavian Scotland)

A geophysical Electromagnetic Induction Survey was undertaken under the direction of Prof. A Sanmark of UHI Institute for Northern Studies and Assoc. Prof. Dr. S Kalmring of the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, Schleswig, Germany in 2022 at the Bay of Laig, Eigg. The fieldwork formed part of the research project 'The Norse and the Sea: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Scandinavian Scotland (NaS)'. This project was initiated to investigate the maritime cultural landscape in Scandinavian Scotland (c. AD 790-1350), through an interdisciplinary approach using archaeological, written and toponymic evidence and addressing the overarching questions of connectivity and communication in Norse Scotland. The research was to be carried out through three work packages. The first one encompassing a PhD project entitled 'Norse harbours in the west of Scotland' for which a number of Norse landing places in Scotland were to be identified and examined through geophysical survey and targeted excavation. The Bay of Laig was chosen as it was the site of the discovery of two stemposts from a Viking-Age vessel, found in 1878, during the draining of the peat bog. At the time of their discovery, it was suggested that the whole bog behind the gravel ridge "...was formerly a lake, which the Norsemen used as a winter harbour for their galleys." From the sea, access may have been possible via the mouth of the river Abhainn a’ Cham Loin ‘River of the Bent Pool (?)’. The fieldwork was carried out over six days, with a team of 7 people. The methods predominantly used were geophysical survey accompanied by excavation via test pits (see EHG6235). The geophysical survey did not reveal any artefacts or structures. However, the survey and additional modelling provided important results as the inland loch as suggested previously was unlikely to have existed, but a former riverbed was identified. This meant that at this point there was no evidence of an inner harbour at The Bay of Laig, but the storing of stemposts still suggested that Viking Age/Norse boats were repaired at the site. <1>