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MHG62509 - Hut circle - Allt Nead, Loch Lungard, Upper Glen Cannich

Summary

Remains of a hut circle near Allt Nead, Loch Lungard, Upper Glen Cannich

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

Several circular stone-built structures were identified on land exposed by low water at the top west end of Glen Cannich by Glenn Wilks, a walker, on the 29th June 2021. Following notification to Historic Environment Scotland, four members of the North of Scotland Archaeological Society and Mr Wilks visited this area on 27th July 2021. Their aim was to survey these structures and to obtain material for carbon dating before the waters of the loch rose again.

The structures associated with Allt Nead;

Structure 2; Hut Circle. A circular kerb of rounded boulders defines a structure 9.2m N-S and 9.7m E-W within an inner kerb forming a wall 1.0 - 1.2m wide. The wall has been partially buried on the SW quadrant under silt flowing down slope towards the loch, so that 3.7m of the kerb is missing. The interior is sealed with a peaty soil capped by a fine bleached (or leached) sand, except in the centre where there is a spread of rounded stones measuring 2.1m N-S by 1.9m E-W. This was later defined by excavation to be a stone-lined and kerbed hearth (centred at NH 10584 30131). There are larger stones in the SE of the kerb wall up to 1.1m in length whereas the remainder are up to 0.4m in diameter suggesting the entrance may have lain in this area, although there is no other evidence to suggest this.

The inspection and excavation of two small trenches in the interior of this Structure are described in more detail in the data structure report. Trench 1 cleaned a section of the central collection of both laid and apparently random stones. Trench 3 on the periphery, just within the stone circle, was sited to pick up any post- or stake-holes that would have supported either the roof or the inner wall. 4.4m SW of the presumed outer edge of the missing SW kerb line is a large near-vertical slab of schist 0.15m thick, aligned NW-SE. 1.5m long and 0.6m high, it is set almost vertically into the ground at a slight angle sloping towards the structure. The two main faces are unmarked and un-decorated. It is, of course, possible that the missing kerb fragment never existed and that this gap in the wall and the large stone were directly related, as the structure has some similarity to recumbent stone circles. It is perhaps noteworthy that, unlike Structures 1 and 3, there was no obvious flooring visible in this structure, though if it had existed it could have been subsequently washed out. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 2013 aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 1058 3014 (10m by 10m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH13SW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	KINTAIL

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)