Roundhouses and Ritual at Glenshellach
Excavated roundhouse, image copyright WoSAS
Ongoing fieldwork in advance of a proposed housing development in Glenshellach, Oban, has identified three round-houses. The photograph above shows one of these houses, with water filling sections cut across the ring groove that would have run around the wall of the structure. The picture below shows two large stone-filled post-holes located on either side of the entrance to another of the round-houses - stone from these has been dragged out by ploughing, and lies on a thin layer identified as the floor surface of the round-house. These may have formed some sort of porch or entance to the structure.
Stone-packed postholes, image copyright WoSAS
The majority of the pottery found in the vicinity of the round-houses is undecorated, while pottery found in the group of pits shown in the photograph below is mostly decorated. This has led the excavator, Dr Clare Ellis of Argyll Archaeology Ltd, to suggest that this area of the site may have been used for a different, possibly ritual, function, rather than purely occupation.
Pits that produced predominantly decorated pottery, image copyright WoSAS