An Eala Geophysical Survey

Date 6 January 2013 - 11 January 2013

Event ID 993422

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/993422

NM 2846 2387 A gradiometry and resistance survey was undertaken, 6–11 January 2013, on two fields to the SW of the village on Iona. The first survey, immediately to the S of the nunnery, aimed to establish if structures associated with the nunnery were located in this area. The second survey was further S and covered an area of known burials at Martyr’s Bay, which are associated with An Eala, a pronounced mound, and Clad Nan Druineach, an 18th-century or possibly earlier graveyard, which lies in the S of the survey area. This work aimed to investigate the nature of the mound, and identify further burials, their limits, and any other remains.

The survey data from the field to the S of the nunnery was dominated by anomalies of presumed natural and modern origin. However, a cluster of linear trends in the resistance data and curvilinear anomalies in the gradiometer data may be of archaeological interest.

The resistance survey of the second area identified several anomalies. A curving high resistance anomaly suggests a kerb or revetment surrounding An Eala. Anomalies suggestive of possible burials/cists were detected in the S of the survey area, and these may indicate an extension to the graveyard. Several more ephemeral anomalies were also noted, including a possible structure.

Archive: Rose Geophysical Consultants

Funder: The National Trust for Scotland

Susan Ovenden, Rose Geophysical Consultants, 2013

(Source: DES)