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MHG12211 - BA Settlement (Excavated) Allt Na Fearna Beag

Summary

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Type and Period (3)

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Full Description

(Centred NC 584 019) Hut Circles and Field System (NR) (Five huts shown A-E) OS 1:10,000 map, (1970)

Five stone-walled hut circles were found during fieldwork.
Visited by OS (R D L) 4 July 1963.

Situated in flattish ground in rising moorland, is a settlement of five huts (A-E) and an associated field system. All huts are overgrown with peat; they appear to be of similar form, though 'A' is considerably smaller than others,being 5m in internal diameter. Huts 'B','D' and 'E' are circular, varying from 9.5m to 10m internal diameter within a wall spread 2.0m to 2.5m broad. A single line of earthfast stones, purpose unknown, bisects hut 'D' from E-W. Centrally within 'E' is a peat-covered mound, 4.0m in diameter and 0.2m high. Though this gives a superficial impression of an enclosed cremation cemetery, there is no doubt about the huts validity. Hut 'C' the best-preserved and only oval example, is built up on a slope, and measures internally 12m N-S by 9.5m E-W within a wall spread to 2.5m, but widening on downslope. In all examples the entrance, overgrown and indeterminate, is in S or SE arc.
The field system occupying two hectares, is best distinguished by cleared, stone-free ground flanked by some lynchets and the odd clearance heap. Narrow rig cultivation has encroached upon the original field pattern, and the field plots now visible are contemporary with the rig.
Revised at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (J M) 30 July 1976

Prehistoric multiphase settlement and field systems, NC 8400 0189. As part of a continuing programme of work in advance of a road improvement scheme, two seasons of field work were undertaken. The first was designed to furnish samples of dated buried soils, to be analysed for information on soil husbandry and erosion through time.
The second season was first stage in a programme of excavation designed to investigate well-preserved but typical examples of each of classes of monuments recorded in 1988 survey. Revisions to road shedule have allowed a greater time in advance of construction than is usual and it was decided to exploit this advantage by further investigation.
Five embanked house sites and transects acrosss putatively contemporary fields were excavated. Immediate interpretation indicates that no upstanding structure was built on uncleared land. Phases of intensive ard ploughing preceded and ran concurrently with occupations. In many cases it was apparent that plough-truncated features exist within field areas and must attest to now denuded sites.
Benath one of smaller embanked sites, an ard marked soil overlay the truncated features of a sub-rectangular structure. Pottery from this site appears to be Grooved ware and Beaker.
The 1989 season's work has resulted in 41 successful radiocarbon assays with dates ranging from 2460+-50bc (GU-2862) to ad 1650+-50 (GU-2856). Most dates occur at around 1200-1000 bc. A similar intensive dating programme is planned with the 1990 samples. Using dated excavation material as a framework, and employing various scientific analyses it is hoped that a detailed picture of Man's use and abuse of environment can be constructed from the Neolithic to the Post-Medieval.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland (HBM) R McCullagh 1990

Excavation was resumed on two of sites that were examined in 1990. Three radiocarbon dates from these two sites were obtained in 1989: 3150+-50bp (GU-2809), 3180+-50bp (GU-2799) and 3020+-50bp (GU-2801).
In each case, 1990 season demonstrated that large embanked hut circles had been constructed upon a tilled land surface. In 1991, excavation concentrated on this tilled land surface and revaled an intensively ard-marked sub-soil surface and numerous 'plough-truncated' features.
In the vicinity of the upstanding structures, where the truncation of features was less deep, sufficient sediments survived for the ground plans of pre-existing buildings to be determined. This preservation allowed for features such as entrance-ways and hearths to be identified. Further from the upstanding structures, less sense could be made of the numerour sub-soil features. With one group, however, it was clear that a small diameter, circular structure was erected late in the sequence and had been destroyed by the final phase of narrow rig cultivation.
In 1990, narrow rig and furrow was revealed beneath the peat and in one case, occupied the interior of a large hut circle. As part of the 1991 season test trenches were dug to define the extent of this cultivation. This exercise has suggested that the final stage of agriculture occurs over an extensive tract of land centred on the large hut circles. One clear boundary dyke was identified and several clear changes in orientation were revealed. An acceptable association between ard marks and furrows was demonstrated, but there is good evidence for a sequence of procedures for land preparation. There is also some evidence to suggest that rig and furrow is not a late development, but merely survives best in the latest contexts.
The sites contain numerous refuse deposits which have produced fairly standard, Bronze Age pottery. A few decorated specimens from the earliest structures appear similar to material of the first half of the 2nd millennnium BC. Other artefacts include flint and quartz flakes, baldes and a single arrow-head. Cremated human bone was recovered from pits associated with the external wall of one of the truncated and early structures.
Excavation was also resumed within the entrance to the largest of the later hut circles. The excavation was able to record the various forms of the entrance as it evolved from a simple portal in the facade to an elongated lobby, formed by the construction of parallel stone walls jutting out from the facade. In its final phase of use deep deposits of midden material - inlcuding fire-cracked stone - had accumulated within this passage.
R McCullagh 1991

Results of the extensive Lairg Project were published in 1998. This included the radiocarbon dating programme results and specialist reports. <1>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 5841 0192 (250m by 124m) (3 map features)
Map sheet	NC50SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	CREICH

Finds (1)

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

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