Excavation

Date 23 July 2018 - 29 July 2018

Event ID 1089991

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1089991

NM 3243 3545 As part of a multi-disciplinary project over

a number of years, survey and excavation work has been

carried out at the site of the ruinous stone bothy in the centre

of the island of Staffa.

This season, 23–29 July 2018, we returned to the trench

which we had excavated in 2016 in front of the bothy. A recent

radiocarbon date from the 2016 samples suggested that there

was a feature dating to the Middle Bronze Age. The previous

trench was therefore extended from 3m long by 2m wide to

4m by 5m. Within this trench, under 0.4m thick deposit of

topsoil, there was part of a small ring ditched feature, 0.6m

wide by 0.3m deep, which was at least 3m in diameter. Finds

from the excavation included a range of sherds of prehistoric

pottery, some decorated with incised and impressed designs,

including chevron and diagonal patterns. Assemblages of

chipped stone and coarse stone tools were also recovered.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: The National Trust for Scotland, NTS London Members

Centre and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Derek Alexander, Daniel Rhodes, Stuart Jeffrey, Sian Jones and

Tessa Poller – The National Trust for Scotland, Glasgow School

of Art, University of Stirling and University of Glasgow

(Source: DES, Volume 19)