MHG9858 - Hut Circles - Kilphedir
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
Protected Status
Full Description
NC91NE 25 990 193.
(NC 990 194) (5) Enclosures (NR)
A settlement of five hut circles (I-V) excavated by Fairhurst between 1963 and 1968. Two types of huts were distinguished, type I and type II. The first occupation of site was about 500 BC.
RCAHMS 1911; H Fairhurst 1971; H Fairhurst, D B Taylor 1974.
Each of the four type I huts consisted of a low perimeter wall in which had rested the ends of the rafters of a conical roof supported on a ring of posts half way between the wall and the hut centre. There was no evidence of central posts. In, or near, the centre of each was a hearth. Internal diameters were between 20ft and 40ft. Coarse, generally flat rimmed, pottery was found. Hut V, the only type II hut, was found to incorporate the remnants of one of the earlier type I huts, and was dated to c130BC. It had a higher, thicker wall, lined on the inside with slabs, which expanded at the entrance to form a passage 5m long. Finds included potsherds of a smoother harder ware, one with an everted rim, a saddle quern, and pounders and rubbing stones.
Contemporary agriculture is evidenced by clearance heaps, and stony banks edging plots. Fairhurst (1971) implies that the clearance cairns were possibly contemporary with the type I huts, and the stony banks with the type II house, suggesting a change in cultivation methods.
E W MacKie 1969; Visited by OS (W D J) 20 May 1960.
This is a settlement of five huts (I-V) in association with a field system as described by Fairhurst.
Re-surveyed at 1:10,560.
Visited by OS (W D J) 20 October 1976.
The excavations by Fairhurst in 1963-5 were published in PSAS volume 103. Included within it were six uncalibrated radiocarbon dates, descriptions of the finds and an evironmental report. See link below to report where it is available online. <1>
Sources/Archives (22)
- --- SHG10003 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1964, Field Cairn. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10004 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1964. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10009 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1964, Field Cairn. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10011 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1964. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10015 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1965, Field Dyke. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10017 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1963. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10021 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1963, Field Dyke. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG10092 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1968, Hut Circle & Cairn. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG1373 Text/Publication/Article: MacKie, E W. 1969. 'Radiocarbon dates and the Scottish Iron Age', Antiquity Vol. 43 1969, p.15-26. Antiquity. 15-26. 17, 24.
- --- SHG1616 Text/Publication/Article: Armit, I. 1992. 'The Atlantic Scottish Iron Age: five levels of chronology', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 121 1991, p.181-214. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 181-214. 208.
- --- SHG24003 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council Archaeology Unit. HCAU Slide Collection Sheet 1. Colour slide. . Digital (scanned). 1-20.
- --- SHG2657 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1911. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Second report and inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Sutherland. . 113-14, No. 325; fig. 40.
- --- SHG3172 Text/Publication/Article: Romans and Robertson, J C C and L. 1975. Soils and archaeology in Scotland. 37-9. 38.
- --- SHG7416 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir, Hut 5. Digital Image. .
- --- SHG7417 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 3, 1968. Digital Image. .
- --- SHG992 Text/Publication/Article: Fairhurst, H. 1971. 'Kilphedir and hut circle sites in northern Scotland', Scot Archaeol Forum Vol. 3 1971, p.1-10. Scot Archaeol Forum. 1-10. 1-10.
- --- SHG9959 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1963. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG9965 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1968, from above Broch. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG9970 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1968, Area of Excavation. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG9971 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir, from Edrable, 1964. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG9977 Image/Photograph(s): Kilphedir 1965, Field Boundary. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- <1> SHG49 Text/Publication/Article: Fairhurst, H and Taylor, D B. 1974. A hut-circle settlement at Kilphedir, Sutherland, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol 1970-71). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 65-99.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NC 9904 1938 (119m by 141m) (6 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NC91NE |
| Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
| Civil Parish | KILDONAN |
Finds (6)
- SHERD (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
- SADDLE QUERN (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
- POUNDER (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
- FLAKE (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
- SCRAPER (TOOL) (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Iron Age - 550 BC? to 560 AD?)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (1)
External Links (3)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM2807 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_103/103_065_099.pdf (Link to PSAS article available online)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/6998 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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