Aerial Photo from Dunbeg
Complex of circular structures from the air, image copyright Argyll Archaeology Ltd
The photograph above shows a complex of features at Dunbeg, taken by Alan Hunter Blair of Argyll Archaeology Ltd using a camera mounted on a kite. A number of structures are visible in this view; in the centre of the picture, towards the bottom of the frame, are two roundhouses. Each is formed from a double ring of concentric post-holes, with structures at their entrances, which are aligned to the south-east, at the bottom left-hand corner of the photograph. These two houses overlap, indicating at the presence of two phases of construction on the site. Above these, towards the top left-hand corner, a third structure is visible. In the centre of this structure is a large pit, with a drain visible running through the entrance, and it is spectulated that this could represent some form of sauna or sweat lodge. A fourth structure is visible in the top right-hand corner of the picture. This shows sections cut across a cresecent-shaped feature inside the building, to the right of the doorway. Similar features are also present in the other structures on the site, and these all occur in the same position relative to the entrance. Excavation has revealed this to be of a fairly substantial depth, around 0.3m, though tailing off towards the rear of the building.