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MHG13992 - Hut Circle - Coille A'Ghasgain

Summary

No summary available.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

NG61SW 62: NG 644 122 Hut circle, 8m diameter (no other details given).
ACFA 1993. <1>

In April 1993, excavation of the stone-walled hut circle was undertaken by Skye and Lochalsh District Museums Service in association with Prof. C Burney and students from the University of Manchester. One period of settlement activity was identified within which only minor structural modifications occurred. The hut walls were raised on a gentle S-facing slope, with a single SSE-facing entrance. Roughly-faced drystone walling was bonded with a core of similar but smaller material. A little over 1m from the inner wall face, and concentric with it, lay a ring of eight post pits. Each contained a post-pipe indicating that it formerly contained a single timber upright 0.15m in diameter. This circular arrangement was broken by a gap of 2.25m in line with the entrance. At this point two flanking posts were inset within the area enclosed by the posts, in effect producing a short passage to a centrally-placed hearth, made of well-laid sandstone slabs. This lies within a low, circular setting of small stones, 2m in diameter. Lying to the SW of the hearth was a small cobbled area measuring 0.80m by 1m which overlay the filling of three of the post pits, butting up against their timber uprights. All the pottery fragments and a total of 5kg of pot-boilers were recovered from or close to the edges of this feature. A radiocarbon date was obtained from hazel charcoal. This produced a calibrated date of 2370 +/- 190 bc BP (centroid at 469 BC at 95%). [Beta 66137]. <2> <3> <4>

The Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre contains pottery sherds and a rivet from the excavations. Acc. No. 1993.11. <5>

This hut circle is one of at least three sites that were investigated by Skye and Lochalsh District Museums Service and Prof. Burney. Two of these (Site A, Coille A' Ghasgain, MHG13992; Site B, Cnoc Na Fuarachad, MHG18628) are published in the 1994 DES, and an interim report for Site A was published in the Manchester Archaeological Bulletin (volume 8). Site C, Achnacloich (MHG61384) does not appear have been published anywhere, although pottery from the site and a site plan is held in the Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre and the DES entry for Site A indicates that the site archive was lodged there. It is likely that the archive for all three sites was sent there. Correspondence with the Archive Centre has discovered that there are still boxes to be added to the database which may contain further archive material from these sites. GW 05/12/19

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 6435 1223 (20m by 20m)
Map sheet	NG61SW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	SLEAT

Finds (2)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (0)

External Links (1)