Excavation

Date 27 August 2010 - 3 October 2010

Event ID 884674

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/884674

NF 7823 6085

The excavation of the eroding wheelhouse at Baile Sear continued from 27 August–3 October 2010. Excavation was undertaken by the North Uist local archaeology

society, Access Archaeology and SCAPE. In addition to the great support from local volunteers, the excavation also hosted visits by students from Taigh Chearsabhagh, who used the site as inspiration for their artwork.

This final season completed the excavation of the half of the wheelhouse that lies closest to the coast edge. The other half of the wheelhouse remains within the dune, but is extremely vulnerable to future erosion. The excavation confirmed that the wheelhouse had collapsed and been rebuilt in antiquity. The rebuilding changed the shape and form of the structure, and the southern part was deliberately backfilled with sand. The sand was held in place with upright stone slabs positioned in the area of the hearths described in 2008 (DES 2008, 181–182).

A series of floor deposits relating to the period prior to the collapse of the building were excavated. Within and below these were numerous large and small pits. The greatest concentration of pits was in the central area and many were cut against the ends of the piers. Most pits contained large amounts of burnt and unburnt animal bone, and many also contained pottery. One pit at the end of a pier contained an almost complete crucible. Analysis is ongoing and results will be conveyed in the next edition of DES.

Funder: Historic Scotland

Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Report: The Scape website (intended)

T Dawson 2010