Excavation

Date September 2010

Event ID 966132

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/966132

NB 1002 3628 In September 2010, a sample from the main body of a previously identified aceramic shell midden was taken for radiocarbon dating, as part of a wider project investigating the Mesolithic of the Western Isles. The site was first located due to coastal erosion in the 1990s (Armit 1994) and very little of the shell midden now remains due to the extremely active erosion. The dating sample was taken because it was thought that the site may relate to the Mesolithic period, as the base of the midden graded into a possible early to mid-Holocene soil, in a similar fashion to the first Mesolithic site published from the Western Isles at Northton, Harris (Gregory et al 2005). The 2 litre sample was processed and contained hundreds of shells, hundreds of fish bones, some crab, a single hare bone and small numbers of burnt hazel nutshell and a single piece of charcoal. No evidence of any domestic animal or plant species or pottery was recovered. Two radiocarbon dates on carbonised hazel nutshells produced calibrated dates in the second half of the fifth millennium cal BC, or the very last centuries of the conventional British Mesolithic.

Therefore, a full coastal erosion assessment of the site was undertaken in September 2011, with the extent of the midden remains identified. Approximately 4m2 of midden remains in plan and the midden deposits are up to 0.3m deep and capped by a thin layer of turf. The eroding section edge was stepped back by c0.1 m along its edge, photographed, drawn and over 50 litres of shell midden sampled. The midden has little evidence for structural lamination and appears to have been accumulated relatively rapidly, perhaps over a few seasons. It rests on a possible old ground surface which grades into a largely inorganic sandy silt. The eroding edge was consolidated with gravel and turf but it is envisaged that the site will be completely eroded in a few years. Initial processing of the samples taken from the midden have produced a large assemblage, including thousands of shell and fish bones, with fewer numbers of hazelnut, charcoal, crab and animal bone, including hare and bird bones. A few flint and quartz worked lithics were also recovered. Due to the erosion threat and the uniqueness of the site, further funds are being sought to fully excavate the midden and any underlying archaeology.

Archive: To be decided

Funders: National Science Foundation of America, Historic Scotland and Durham University

Durham University, 2010