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MHG5106 - Iron Age homestead and souterrain - Glen Tungadal (Tungadale)

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Type and Period (2)

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(NG 4076 4006) Dun (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Earth-house, Tungadal - about 150 yards E of Loch Duagrich .. Is an earth-house, which, though partially destroyed, still shows a long straight gallery drystone building roofed with long lintel stones under about 9ins of soil, in a good state of preservation. Access to the building is at present obtained through a break in the roof and wall at the NE. The chamber runs towards the SW with maximum height of about 3ft 6ins. The walls are well built and on the S side there are several large slabs set on end. At the NE end of the gallery there are indications in a stone hollow that it had continued in a curve towards the N and back towards the W, and perhaps was connected with two oval cells placed end to end in a line roughly parallel with the gallery. The indications of these oval chambers are very indefinite and their existence can only be verified by excavation. They appear as stony hollows measuring some 12ft and 9ft in length and about 7ft and 6ft in breadth respectively. This earth-house is marked "Dun" on the OS map." <1>

Earth-house as described. Curved NE end abuts onto and is overlaid by foundations of a ruined house. At the SW end are the possible remains of a collapsed cell.
Visited by OS (A S P) 19 April 1961.

The site was visited and recorded by P Yoxon of the Island of Skye Field Club in c.1986. This souterrain is very similar to 'Claigan', consisting of an 8m lintelled dry walled passage with an average ht. of 97cm and an average width of 81cm. There are three interesting features in this souterrain, two of which are not seen elsewhere in Skye: Firstly, there is a small compartment, very like that in Claigan, which is situated 67cm from the entrance; secondly, the construction differs from the others in that not only has dry stone walling been used as in places large blocks only are used to support the lintels; finally, there appears to be a ventilation shaft near the rear of the structure. <2>

Photographs of damage to the souterrain from drainage works associated with forestry works were contributed by P Yoxon in 1986. <3> <4> <5>

The souterrain and what was found to be a contemporary homestead building was excavated in 1988 under the direction of R Miket of the Skye and Lochalsh District Museum Service (Dulachas). Report still awaited as of 26/06/2024.

The radiocarbon dates of the Tungadale building are c. 3rd century BC. The site was discussed by I Armit in relation to the building being contemporary with the construction of Atlantic roundhouses elsewhere. <6>

Photographs of the site and excavations were taken by the Highland Regional Archaeology Service in July 1988. <7> <8> <9> <10> <11>

The site lies on the north-facing crest of a small knoll above the flood plain of the Abhainn an Acha-Leathan, at the east end of Loch Duagrich. The site was excavated in 1988, prior to nearby planting of sitka spruce and lodgepole pine. Today the site is laid out for display, with access by foot from Totarder, Glen Bracadale.

Tungadale is the only souterrain that is demonstrably contemporary with an adjacent building. The sub-rectangular homestead lay at right-angles to the hill-slope into which it was partially terraced. There was no outer wall on the up-slope side, although within the building the inner wall presented a normal vertical face. Between this and the hill-slope outside, there was a dense stone packing encasing the gallery some 8m in length, which could only be entered from the living area within the building. Its form stood in startling contrast to contemporary circular forms in the area.

The implications of establishing the presence of rectangular homesteads within the Iron Age landscape of Skye, where the tradition has long been held to have been one of circular forms, are evident. Such surprises are compounded by the difficulties in isolating other, similar, Iron Age buildings from a landscape littered with rectangular buildings of later ages. Yet as fieldwork carried out since the discovery of Tungadale reveals, this form of homestead is not unique e.g. Greshornish Point (NG 3456 5601). The characteristics common to this type include: An entrance in the leeward side; a slight expansion in the thickness of the wall at the end where the doorway lies; a plan whose length is proportional to its breadth on the ratio of 3:1 and the presence of a gallery or cell within the wall thickness on the up-slope side of the buiilding.

A sub-rectangular stone and earth-built homestead, c.11 by 4m with a contemporary souterrain, lies with its long-axis set at right-angles to the hill-slope into which it was recessed. Its entrance is in the centre of the narrow east wall. A lintelled gallery 10.8m long and c.1m high was located within the thickness of the wall, between the interior wall-face and the natural hill-slope. It ran parallel with the inner wall face and was enclosed within the rubble of the wall core. Its width between the large upright slabs forming its sides was 0.7-0.9m. The far end of the gallery narrowed to a ragged termination below the point where the wall of the building turned away from the hill-slope.

The interior of the homestead appears to have been for domestic habitation with remnant benches in the eastern half of the building and a central hearth. Mid-way between the entrance and the hearth, a lintelled entrance in the south wall (1m high and 0.7m wide) gave access to the souterrain. Within the entrance, the gallery curved sharply before assuming its course within the thickness of the homestead wall. Three substantial recesses were built within the outer wall (i.e. that furthest away from the interior of the building). The first lay just within the entrance on the left-hand side. Its dimensions were 0.7 by 0.4 by 1.10m high. The second lay 3m from the entrance with dimensions of 0.48 by 0.5m and was 0.9m high. The third lay 0.47m west of the second. It measured 0.25 by 0.4 by 0.9m. The latter two were capped with flagstones independently of the main passage roof. A drain had been inserted into the floor of the souterrain, leading out through the souterrain entrance, beneath the main occupation area, to an external cobbled yard via the main entrance passage.

The accumulation of occupational debris on the floor of the homestead resulted in the floor levels being cut back for a distance of about 1m from the homestead wall, edged with a stone revetment to prevent the soil from spilling into the souterrain. This work produced an obvious stepped hollow within the living space that could not readily be concealed from the view of anyone within the building.

A circular `shieling-type' building was built subsequently within the ruins of the homestead in the C13-14th (see MHG63309). Sometime within the eighteenth or nineteenth century two rectangular stone buildings were built a few metres to the east. A plan of the site and detailed drawings of the pottery are included with the only (so far) published account. <12>

Included in the Broadford Community Heritage Project run by ARCH. <13>

Finds are in Skye & Lochalsh Archive Centre, listed under Acc. No. 1990.10. They include pottery, charred wood possibly from a handle, slag, a pot lid, glass fragment, hammer stone, and 19th century coin. <14>

Sources/Archives (14)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 4075 4006 (24m by 16m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG44SW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	BRACADALE

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