Site Report

WoSASPIN 2517
NR39SE 47 3579 9330.

A settlement of possibly four, single-roomed houses dating from c.800 AD was noted in machair at Cnoc nan Gall and was excavated by RCAHMS in 1977-8. All the houses were severely eroded but a typical example was squarish with rounded corners and measured 4.2m across the centre. The walls were of upright slabs set in a shallow groove in the sand and there was an entrance in the NE. There was no outer wall-face nor was there any indication as to how the roof was supported. Internally there was a central hearth and probable cupboard. Excavation finds included iron knives. A saddle quern was found, built into an external bench.
The occupation appeared to have been sporadic and possibly seasonal. A long-cist burial was excavated about 14m ESE of the settlement. The cist measured 1.6m NE-SW by 0.7 by 0.3m deep and contained the remains of a flexed inhumation which had been accompanied by a dog and grave-goods including pin with a loose ring-head, a fragment of decorated bronze,
an iron nail and a fragment of textile. The bones produced a C14 date of AD 780 +/- 70. It is not certain that the burial and the settlement were associated.
J N G Ritchie 1982