Archaeology Notes

Event ID 649565

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/649565

NC50SW 1 507 023.

(NC 507 023) Hut Circles and Field System (NR)

OS 6"map, (1969)

On the SW slopes of Doir'a' Chatha, just above the enclosed land, is a large group of mounds and hut circles. Two huts, a crescentic mound and a "mounded construction are specified, the latter measuring 35ft NW-SE by 19ft transversely, and 1ft 6ins to 2ft high. From its east side a narrow curving passage leads into the interior, sloping downwards till the floor level at the back is 2ft deep. Two stones, the largest 2ft high and 2ft across, form the back wall.

RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

A total of six huts were located, the "crescentic mound" (noted by RCAHMS) being the remains of a hut. The "mounded construction" at NC 506 024 appears to be a partially robbed clearance heap or natural mound. The numerous mounds within the area are field clearance heaps. Visited by OS (E G C) 21 June 1963.

This is a settlement of five stone-walled huts (A-E) within a small field system. The "crescentic mound" at NC 5081 0220 does not resemble a hut but is a fortuitous arrangement of cleared stones. The "mounded construction" cannot be located. The huts are both oval and circular, but broadly similar in appearance. They vary from 7.5m in diameter (E) to 9.5m NW-SE by 7.5m internally (B), each with a turf or heather-covered wall tumbled and spread to 2.5m broad. Hut B is the best-preserved; the wall is 0.4m interior height with occasional inner facing stones visible. The south arc of hut D is destroyed by an old track; its entrance was presumably in the SE in common with the other huts.

The field system comprises scattered clearance heaps and no plots are discernible. Only between huts A and B where the heaps are more concentrated can the occasional lynchet be seen.

Re-surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (N K B) 3 September 1976.