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MHG63065 - Hut circle - Aultcraggie 'B'

Summary

One of four hut circles at Aultcraggie.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

One of four hut circles at Aultcraggie. First recorded by the OS as hut circle 'B'.

Enclosures (NR) OS 6" map, (1964)

A settlement of four huts ('A'-'D') situated within a well-preserved associated field system discovered during field investigation and surveyed at 1:2500 in 1961.
All huts are obscured by peat growth with their entrance in the E or SE arc. Measurements in each case are between wall centres.
'A' is 9.0m in diameter, 'B' and 'C' are 13.0m in diameter and 'D' is oval, 10.0m E-W by 8.0m N-S.
The cultivation plots of the field system are delineated mainly by stone clearance heaps with occasional field walks and lynchets.
Revised at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (E G C) 17 July 1961 and (J B) 4 December 1975.

The hut circle is clearly visible in Environment Agency LiDAR data from 2012. <1>

This hut circle (referred to as HC1 - see MHG63066 for HC2) was one of two investigated as part of a community project in 2023 by the Clyne Heritage Society and directed by GUARD Archaeology. Following an initial strip of upper vegetation and turf using a tracked excavator equipped with a smooth-edged bucket under archaeological supervision, all excavation was by hand and undertaken by volunteers under the constant supervision of the GUARD Archaeologist at all times.

The two hut circles investigated at Aultcraggie were very similar in plan and both contained evidence of flint knapping and the use of quartzite for tool production, and the walls appeared to have been built in a similar way with the walls widening towards the terminals creating a long entrance passage. Although both structures enclosed a similar space internally (HC1 94 m² and HC2 95 m²), the variation in construction and use between the two buildings was notable. HC1 contained a sequence of three trampled occupation layers/ floor surfaces, although given the limited areas of excavation it was not determined whether the floor layers had been re-laid or repaired in parts or if the entire floor had been replaced. A series of pits excavated within the building may relate to different phases of rebuilding or repairs to the structure perhaps commensurate with the refurbishment of the floor surfaces. A shallow cut containing a hearth was found towards the east side of the building seemingly associated with the initial use of HC1 but unusually positioned away from the centre of the building. HC1 with a hearth and finds of pottery and lithics would appear to have been a domestic dwelling.

Lithic debitage was found in both buildings including flakes of a honey-coloured flint which may have been sourced locally from the beach in pebble form. Alternatively, the flint may have derived from anthropogenic exploitation of the Buchan ridge gravels that produce cobbles of a honey-coloured flint; the Buchan ridge is located to the south-west of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The presence of honey coloured flint flakes in both buildings would indicate a possible contemporaneity between the two buildings but does not guarantee it. If sufficient charcoal has been recovered within soil samples taken from HC2 and HC1, radiocarbon dating would provide a more reliable method of testing whether the two buildings were contemporary. <1>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 8777 0538 (27m by 27m)
Map sheet	NC80NE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	CLYNE

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