EHG6257 - Watching brief - The Barn, Kilchoan, Knoydart

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by West Coast Archaeological Services in 2024 in advance of the proposed demolition of an existing building and erection of a new dwelling house at The Barn, to the sourtheast of Inverie, on the Kilchoan Estate, Knoydart, Lochaber. The watching brief and small-scale excavations carried out showed that the Barn had been built on a levelled platform, cut into the top of a natural mound of glacial origin – possibly an esker or drumlin. The poorly sorted silts, gravels, and larger boulders identified during the excavations are indicative of re-deposited materials of natural origin. The two mechanically excavated sondages cut into the demolition layer (008) failed to locate the boulder revetment feature, so it was either removed during the initial site clearance or remains buried below the deeper deposits of demolition material. A sequence of deposits investigated in the northeast corner of the construction site were more difficult to interpret, especially with the limited area cleaned back and excavated. However, it appeared that these deposits, which included a sequence of contexts comprising burnt residues, were only located on the east-southeast side of the glacial mound on which the Barn had been constructed. The sequence of deposits, running down the slope from west-northwest to east-southeast and mirroring the natural subsoil, had also been deposited directly on the subsoil and therefore, may have been earlier than the structures built on the raised platform to the southwest. At first, when uncovered, it was thought the deposits may have been ash and associated midden deposited during the use of the Barn/steadings. However, the deposits contained no artefacts or other cultural deposits. The deposits also formed a linear feature, following the base of the esker or drumlin south-southwest-north-northeast and apparently, continuing in each direction. These deposits were located outside and below the level of the foundations for the new building, so they will be buried by spreads of demolition material removed from the platform to the southwest and retained in-situ. During the excavation of the sondage to investigate the sediment sequence a bulk sample was taken of the burnt residues running down the slope above natural slope-wash deposits. Charcoal fragments appeared to be present, so it was recommended that the sample is processed, and any contents analysed, and that samples are selected for radiocarbon dating. <1>