Argyll Archaeology - Projects
Some recent commercial projects
An evaluation in Campbeltown, prior to the submission of a planning application, lead to the discovery of an oval ditched enclosure measuring some 30 m in diameter. A substantial V-Shaped ditch (4 m wide and up to 2.20 m deep) was filled with fairly homogenous grey silts with some cobbles near to the base. A thin layer of charcoal, burnt bone and burnt shell occurred near to the base but there was no pottery or artefacts to give a clue to the date of the enclosure, although similar ditched enclosures of a later prehistoric date have been excavated in East Lothian. Because the enclosure was discovered before the submission of the planning application the area in which it occurred was excluded from the planning application and so no further archaeological work was required.
A recent archaeological walkover survey on the Isle of Jura resulted in the discovery and recording of over 70 small round stone and turf shielings. In general terms the stone structures measured externally between 2 x 2 m to 6 x 4 m and the turf structures measured from 3 x 4 m to 8 x 6 m. The structures often occurred in clusters of up to 16 shielings and were mainly located: adjacent to relatively small burns; two larger water courses; and around the shores of a lochan. A shieling is a summer dwellings for families tending to their cattle and other stock feeding on the high summer pasture. Typically in Scotland shielings were rectangular or round (the latter dominate on Jura) with a stone or occasional turf base and were often located on free draining low mounds. A ring of poles rose from the top of the low walls to form the roof apex. Over this frame was placed a roof covering of peat turves or heather thatch with a hole left at the top to allow the fire smoke to escape. Some shielings had an attached smaller compartment in which cheese and butter made on-site were stored. The very small circular structures are likely to be separate storage buildings.
A controlled topsoil strip in the garden ground of a cottage on Iona revealed a sedimentary sequence indicative of a fairly substantial period of soil/midden accumulation and soil stability in the later prehistoric period. Midden material (including organic matter, ashes, prehistoric pottery, stone tools, burnt and unburnt bone, fire-cracked pebbles and flint flakes and debitage) were incorporated. Subsequently, but probably still within the later prehistoric, the land surface on the gentle slope above the site was affected by a period of extreme erosion that affected both the topsoil as well as underlying unconsolidated alluvial/fluvio-glacial deposits (rill and gully erosion). Downslope this resulted in the deposition of a very mixed colluvium (hillwash) on top of the original prehistoric soils. With continued erosion it is possible that some effort was made to trap eroding silt behind make-shift stone revetments. A small programme of post-excavation is currently taking place.
A controlled topsoil strip was undertaken of a building plot on Colonsay. Within the backfill of a spring, a roughly tooled cruciform slab was recovered. This early Christian cruciform slab appears to have originally served as a marker stone of the holy well of ‘Tobar Chattan’. Following the topsoil strip of the site, approval was given for the construction of the new house.
This cruciform slab is soon to be returned to Colonsay for display.
Excavation, by trenching, on behalf of Kilmartin House Museum (Dalriada Project) at Carnassarie in mid-Argyll revealed a prehistoric ring cairn or platform cairn. The Carnasserie monument is multi-phased. The turf over the site had been deliberately removed prior to the construction of a cobble surface. On top of this cobbling was a mixed dumped deposit containing burnt bone and charcoal. Into or on top of this deposit was possibly constructed a stone circle, only one upright remains but another appears to have been toppled to form the outer kerb of the ring-cairn. Both stones had a single cup mark carved into their surface. Numerous cup marks were recorded a few metres to the west on a natural outcrop and it is thought likely that the monoliths may have been gathered from this outcrop. The character of the external kerb changed according to the very variable local topography. A possible and less substantial inner kerb was also recorded. A revetment bank abutted the outer kerb on the southern side of the monument but faded out on the southwestern side and was non-existent on the northern and western sides where the ground was flattest. The Carnassarie platform/ring cairn is unusual in that it also appears to incorporate a forecourt area, although whether this is contemporary with the construction of the platform/ring cairn or a later addition is unclear.
Community led projects
Working for Kilmartin House Museum and the Dalriada Project, Argyll Archaeology has assisted in a wide range of archaeological projects including the excavation at the Scheduled Ancient Monument of Barnlusgan dun, numerous evaluations of archaeological sites within the Knapdale forest, field surveys to identified previously unrecorded sites and on going excavations at Ormaig Rock Art site. These projects aim to not only enhance our knowledge of the archaeological landscape of mid-Argyll but also provide an opportunity for local people to take part in archaeological excavation and field survey.
Please contact Dr Clare Ellis (member of the IFA (MIFA 2368))
for further information and quotations:
email -
or telephone/fax 01586 550239.
