2004 Fieldwork Season
The two buildings investigated in June 2004 were discovered during GUARD's survey of the area in 2001. Both had been exposed through erosion of the wind-blown sand that covered them. They are substantial, sub-rectangular buildings with distinctive bowed sides, similar to Norse structures identified elsewhere in the far north of Scotland, in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland.
One of the buildings (structure 46) sits high on a ridge to the west of Loch Borralie, next to a yard and a small field. Excavation showed that its interior had been scoured out in the past by erosion, but there were traces of a small hearth, a few sherds of coarse pottery and a scrap of decorated bronze. On the basis of the material culture, the form of the building and its isolated position, it is likely to be of Norse/Medieval date.
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Structure 46 |
Structure 89 |
The other building (structure 89) runs beneath later, 18th-century structures on a terrace west of the loch. This proved to be very complex. It had been built on top of earlier deposits of charcoal-rich midden material. Its walls were very thick, and they had been made even thicker over time with the addition of outer wall skins, with several small quern stones or fishing weights built into them. Outside the building were midden deposits contemporary with its occupation: fish bones, animal bones, limpet shells and charcoal. Inside, excavation revealed paving and what may be a hearth, along with spreads of burnt clay. Pottery sealed by the building's walls appears to date to the late first millennium AD, which suggests that the building itself could be Norse/ Medieval in date. Further excavation and some radiocarbon dates should provide answers.
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Structure 89, with earlier midden deposits under the walls in the foreground |
Click here to view a high resolution plan of structure 89 during excavation
Click here to view a high resolution plan of the trenches in structure 46