Excavation

Date 20 July 2014 - 9 August 2014

Event ID 1013377

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1013377

NM 5470 7076 The Ardnamurchan Transitions Project (ATP) is a long running research and community project exploring the archaeology of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. While research into the archaeology of much of Western Scotland has been intensive over the last few decades, the Ardnamurchan Peninsula remains a relatively understudied area.

Consequently, little is known of key periods and transitions in lifeways, from hunting and gathering to farming, to the arrival of metalworking in the area, to the developments of the Iron Age, the coming of the Vikings and subsequent changes in lifeways in the medieval and post-medieval periods, including the Highland Clearances. As such, the ATP aims to investigate these key transformations in the area through a combination

of site specific excavation and wider survey work.

Since 2006 the project has focused on Swordle Bay on the N coast of the peninsula. To date we have excavated six sites from five different periods: Cladh Aindreis from the Neolithic (DES 2010); Ricky’s Cairn from the Bronze

Age (DES 2010); the Iron Age promontory fort of Dun Mhurchaidh (DES 2012); a 10th-century Viking boat burial (DES 2011) and the post-medieval settlements of Swordle Corrach and Swordle Huel (DES 2011, 2012, 2013). The extent of activity at Dun Mhurchaidh, and the sites of Ricky’s Cairn and the Viking boat burial were all unknown prior to our work in the area. Our work has also included an initial radiocarbon dating programme of these monuments, and an intensive walkover survey, which has identified a number of previously unrecorded sites, and a geophysical survey.

The 2014 season, which ran 20 July – 9 August 2014 focused on Cladh Aindreis and Ricky’s Cairn. Our work to date at Cladh Aindreis, and post-excavation analysis, has shown that previous assumptions that the cairn dated exclusively to the Neolithic, and that the cairn was an Early

Neolithic Clyde Cairn vastly understate the complexity of the site. Radiocarbon dates do put the construction of the monument in the Early Neolithic (3700 BC), which is typical of Clyde Cairns, but the morphology of the monument changed significantly over time, including the construction

of a Bronze Age kerbed cairn (Ricky’s Cairn) abutting Cladh Aindreis, and an intervention of some sort, which may have taken place during the Viking period, as suggested by a Viking bead found in a ‘robber’ trench, which was cutting the Neolithic chamber in the cairn. Our work in 2014 aimed to

investigate three key areas to further elucidate the sequence of construction and use of Cladh Aindreis and Ricky’s Cairn.

Three trenches were opened. The first was located over the visible chamber of Cladh Aindreis where the Viking bead had been found. A second trench was located over the unexcavated portion of the cist of Ricky’s Cairn. This was only partially excavated in 2010 due to the constraints of our scheduled monument consent at the time. We therefore

wanted to fully excavate the cist to better understand the nature of the funerary deposits and the treatment of the body. Finally, a large trench, in which we had permission to strip and map only, was opened over the ‘tail’ end of Cladh Aindreis to investigate the form of the deposits, and to establish if these are indicative of particular phases of construction.

Viking intervention at Cladh Aindreis: Disappointingly, this trench had been extensively robbed in the postmedieval period, as evidenced by modern material culture and extensive deposits of modern fence wire. The postmedieval cut itself cut the potential cut [175] associated with the Viking bead. All deposits, including those within the Neolithic chamber itself, were significantly disturbed and redeposited, and the multiple later interventions mean that understanding the sequence in this part of the chamber of Cladh Aindreis is impossible. However, this trench did yield

important information about the construction of the main chamber, demonstrating it was an integral part of the initial circular mound.

The Cist of Ricky’s Cairn: The cist was excavated in full. In 2010 four jet beads had been found in this cist, and a further bead was found in 2014. In 2010 disarticulated human remains had been found and the presence of one individual had been established in osteological post-excavation analysis. This was dated to 1700 cal BC by radiocarbon dating. Our excavations in 2014 found further disarticulated remains, which indicated

that a minimum of two individuals were interred in the cist as depositions of disarticulated remains. This is somewhat unusual for the Bronze Age, where single (and usually articulated) internments are often perceived to be the norm. It joins an increasing body of evidence for these kinds of

practices in the second millennium BC. Also of note is that the four stones making the sides of the cist were each from the different geological types within the Bay.

The Tail of Cladh Aindreis: The exercise of stripping and mapping this section of the monument raised more questions than it answered. Rather than revealing a straightforward and uniform tail of cairn material, it appears that several phases of construction (and reuse) are likely. The very end of the cairn is very likely Neolithic because we found this to be respected by a small (1.0 x 0.5m) robbed out, but typologically Bronze Age, cist on its E side, indicating the tail predated this. In this very end section a potential further chamber on a NE–SW alignment was noted, with large

limestone stones suggesting this may have similarities with the visible chamber at the front (SW) end of the cairn. In the central section, the cairn construction indicated a circular structure had been present with a central box hearth or further cist, suggesting further potential Bronze Age reuse.

However, our understanding of this phasing was limited both by the fact that we could only strip and map the monument (due to the limitations of our SMC), and also complicated by a further phase of reuse in which a potential medieval or post-medieval flue, and perhaps kiln, may have been

constructed within the monument itself. Without intrusive excavation it is impossible to confirm any of these potential structural elements or their specific phases.

Archive: RCAHMS and Highland HER (intended)

Funder: The University of Manchester, The University of Leicester, The University of Cambridge and Viking River Cruises

Hannah Cobb, Héléna Gray, Oliver Harris and Phil Richardson - Manchester University, Leicester University, Archaeology Scotland and CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES)