External Reference

Event ID 962095

Category Documentary Reference

Type External Reference

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/962095

Description from SAIR 31:

2.2.11 SFS 6: Ashaig 1, NGR NG 6866 2420

Type of Site: Open-air midden

SFS Record: 1999

Survey Area: South Skye

Size: Unknown

Aspect: North-east

Height OD: 5m

Ground Cover: Short mown turf

Distance to Sea: 20m to north, indented marsh and shingle

Distance to Fresh Water: 30m to east

Threats: Grazing, rabbit burrowing

Description: A substantial open shell midden associated with an ancient cemetery (see Illustrations 114, left & 115, right)

Archaeology: One test pit (1m×0.5m) was opened to assess the depth of midden deposits

* Context 1 Turf

* Context 2 Midden material, mostly periwinkle

* Context 3 A series of large boulders with midden material in the soil matrix, lying between the boulders. Excavation was stopped at 76mm as the boulders impeded further work.

Finds

Lithics: There were three lithic finds at Ashaig 1, all came from Test Pit 1 and all were debitage. There were two pieces of baked mudstone and one of quartz.

Metalwork: 15.9g unclassified ironworking slag.

Shell: Oyster, limpet, periwinkle and cockle were all found.

Dates

This site has three radiocarbon dates, all taken from Test Pit 1 (see Table 32, below). All relate to activity in the 13th century AD.

Table 32

SFS 6 Context Material Date BP Age

TP1 Spit 4 OxA-9278 Hazel charcoal 771±32 AD1215–1290

TP1 Spit 6 OxA-9279 Birch charcoal 723±33 AD1220–1390

TP1 Spit 12 OxA-9277 Birch charcoal 769±36 AD1210–1295

Discussion

The large boulders uncovered in Test Pit 1 appear to have been displaced from further up the slope and may have originated from a collapsed revetment from earlier structures pre-dating the present cemetery. The lithics are likely to relate to general background ‘noise’, but the dates and general proximity to the graveyard suggest that this was a site of some interest in more recent times. Metalworking at such locations would not be unexpected.

Karen Hardy & Caroline Wickham-Jones (eds). Mesolithic and later sites around the Inner Sound, Scotland: the work of the Scotland’s First Settlers project 1998–2004 (SAIR 31). Www.sair.org.uk/sair31/section2-2.html

Information compiled by ARCH Community Timeline project, 2011