Field Visit
Date May 1986
Event ID 1102675
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1102675
Loch Glashan fills an upland basin about 2km NNW of Loch Gair, its waters formerly flowing freely down to the Abhainn Mhor to Loch Gair. In April 1960, when the water-level was lowered by about 3m to allow the construction of a storage dam as part of a hydro-electric scheme, the upper part of a crannog was revealed; it was situated just off the S end of what had been a small island near the SE shore of the loch. The crannog was excavated in the summer of the same year by Mr J G Scott (Scott and Scott 1960; Fairhurst and Scott 1961). Situated about 45m to the WSW of the crannog, an island dwelling was excavated in 1961 and was found to be of medieval date (Glasgow Archaeol J 1969). Other discoveries in the loch included two logboats, one of which (now preserved in the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum) was found 950m NNE of the crannog, and the other near the island dwelling (Glasgow Archaeol J 1969).
The crannog lay about 40m from the old shoreline at a point where a muddy shelf gave way to deeper water; the mud consisted of a soft yellow layer overlain by a brown layer about 0.15m thick, which was thought to be formed of decayed vegetation. There was no evidence of a causeway.
Prior to excavation the crannog appeared as a low mound about 0.9m in height, partly covered with stones and measuring about 16m by 11m, with a number of upright posts visible beyond the apparent edge; up to a third of its area may have subsided into deeper water, and it is thus difficult to estimate its original size. The site was divided into six sectors before excavation: the three landward sectors and the central section nearer to the edge of the water were taken down to a depth at which water penetration rendered further work impractical; the other two were not excavated. On the landward side the substructure of the crannog consisted mainly of brushwood mixed with ferns and bracken. On the other side layers of logs, mainly oak, but including some silver birch, had been placed on top of brushwood. It was thought probable that the whole structure had been stabilised by heavy piles, although no evidence of these was found above the water-table.
In the SW part of the crannog the sub-floor of a rectangular timber building was identified; the surviving portion of the sub-floor, which consisted of massive timbers stripped of their bark and roughly trimmed to form a level surface, indicates that the overall area of the building was about 7.5m by 4.5m. A forked timber, about 2m in length and lying on top of the floor, may have been the SE corner post; sockets cut into the timbers of the sub-floor may indicate the positions of uprights. The sub-floor was covered by a layer of sand and gravel, and the E end was roughly paved. The patches of clay adjacent to the paving were probably the remains of domestic hearths, but it is uncertain whether these were inside or outside the building. A pile of stones on the NW side of the crannog may have marked the site of another structure, but its form and its relationship to the house are unclear.
A considerable range of artefacts was recovered from the site, the majority of which, found in the layers of brushwood, had been preserved by the waterlogged conditions. The large number of wooden objects is worthy of particular note; they include a paddle, a bucket (reused to line a post-hole), a scoop, several bowls, a trough, a spoon, and a spindle-whorl. Among the pieces of discarded leather were parts of a sheath, shoes, and a jerkin. A small crucible, pieces of slag, whetstones, and parts of at least thirteen rotary querns were found on the site; the querns had been quarried from local stone. An iron 'bearded' axe, and a bronze penannular brooch were discovered. An almost complete vessel of E-ware was found on the surface of the crannog and parts of at least four others were found in the floor and in the brushwood forming the crannog platform. The pottery has been assigned to the period between the later 6th and 8th centuries AD, and the brooch, found about 0.6m deep in the layer of brushwood, may be dated to about AD 800.
(The significance of the finds is discussed in the Introduction to volume 6 of the RCAHMS Inventory of Argyll (1988).
RCAHMS 1988, visited May 1986.
