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MHG55636 - Bronze Age cist - Broadford Medical Centre site, Strath, Skye

Summary

A Bronze Age cist was exposed during a watching brief and subsequent excavation on the site of a new medical centre at Broadford, Strath, Skye by West Coast Archaeological Services in 2011. No human remains were recovered but accessory vessels were found.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

An archaeological evaluation including a watching brief and excavation was carried out by West Coast Archaeological Services at the site of the new Broadford Medical Centre at High Road, Broadford, Isle of Skye, between the 25 July and 20 August 2011. What at first was thought to be an undisturbed cist, complete with capstone, proved on initial investigation to have been disturbed and the cist was completely filled, including the broken remains of collapsed slabs. Under the slabs several fragments of an All Over Cord beaker were found in the upper fill. No trace of a body was found although it was noted that the matrix of the gravel fill of the cist was dark, possibly indicating the completely decayed remains of a body and/or organic grave goods. An in-situ broken beaker was found in a central position towards the north-east end of the cist. The very degraded remains of a possible second but crushed beaker were also found. A date of early Bronze Age (c.2500BC) has been assigned to the cist based on typology of the recovered pottery. No additional grave goods apart from a single fragment of worked pumice were recovered. Sherds of Beaker pottery were also recovered from a nearby grain drying kiln complex (see MHG55638). A nearby pit had been cut by the construction of a late Iron Age souterrain (see MHG55637) although its more elongated shape and shallow depth was more reminiscent of a grave cut similar to that found elsewhere on the site. Given the residual presence of Beaker pottery elsewhere it was thought likely that there had previously been more cist burials on the site which had been disturbed and/or destroyed in antiquity. <1>

A revised Data Structure Report (for <1>) was subsequently produced which includes the results from the post-excavation analysis along with radiocarbon dating results on samples submitted to the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at East Kilbride. The stone-lined cist was radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, while the wide range of features relating to the processing of grain including drying and storage date to the Iron Age. A full synthesis of the results from the excavations at the Broadford Medical Centre site will be published in due course. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 6407 2389 (2m by 1m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG62SW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	STRATH

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