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Achilty
Henge (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Achilty
Classification Henge (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 12470
Site Number NH45NW 1
NGR NH 4411 5692
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/12470
- Council Highland
- Parish Contin
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Ross And Cromarty
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
NH45NW 1 4411 5692.
(NH 4411 5692) Stone Circle (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6"map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1907)
Henge: A roughly circular area 32' in diameter, surrounded by a ditch 20' wide, broken by an entrance causeway in the ESE, which is at present about 4' wide. The whole is enclosed by a continuous bank, there being no gap to correspond to the causeway, and the overall diameter of the site between opposite points on the crest varies from 66' - 76', the larger axis being that which passes through the entrance. No berm is visible between bank and ditch, and the top of the bank averages 4' above the ditch bottom.
The NSA (NSA 1837) states that "a few empty earthen jars" were found, and the enclosure is described as "a circle formed of stone." The bank is largely composed of earth and any large stones must have disappeared by 1822, an engraved idealised plan of that date having been made. (Archaeol Scot 1822)
A A Woodham 1955
Contin (Henge): A monument of which there is certain room for doubt. At first sight it seems to be a Class I henge, 75' diameter, but the bank appears to run without interruption across the entrance causeway in the ditch. Only excavation could determine if it was a henge. Even so, it is extremely likely that it belongs to some obscure phase of the transitional period early in the 2nd or even late in the 3rd millenium BC.
R W Feachem 1963
Probable henge, as described above. Slightly mutilated in the W quadrant.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 20 January 1965
Classified as a henge, as opposed to a possible henge.
H A W Burl 1969
No change.
Visited by RCAMS (JRS) March 1989.
Field Visit (29 August 1943)
This site was recorded as part of the RCAHMS Emergency Survey, undertaken by Angus Graham and Vere Gordon Childe during World War 2. The project archive has been catalogued during 2013-2014 and the material, which includes notebooks, manuscripts, typescripts, plans and photographs, is now available online.
Information from RCAHMS (GF Geddes) 4 December 2014.