Ballachulish Moss

NN06SE 4 0560 6013.

(NN 0560 6013) (Christison 1881) In November, 1880, a wooden human female figure was discovered during digging at Ballachulish Moss. It was lying face down at a depth of 4'3" below the subsoil (within the previous 30 years the area had been covered with peat to a depth of 6ft).

It was covered and surrounded by interwoven twigs and branches, suggesting that it may have been contained in a wattled hut, but these remains were too frail for thorough examination or preservation.

The figure (4'6" high), carved from oak, probably represents a Scandinavian deity, and the pedestal suggests that it may have been mounted in the prow of a galley. It is now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS).

R Christison 1881; J Stewart 1888; M E M Donaldson 1923.

Anne Ross, however, suggests that the figure is Celtic in origin, comparing it with several similar figures.

A Ross 1967.

No further information.

Visited by OS (RL) 6 May 1970.

Undated, but probably 1st century BC or earlier.

S Piggott 1970.

Radiocarbon date 540 + - 70bc (HAR - 6329). For comparable figure from Corlea, County Longford, Eire, see Times newscutting 20 December 1990.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

NN 056 601 An archaeological evaluation was carried out in advance of the construction of an extension to the Alltshellach Hotel. Three trenches were opened within the footprint of the new build. A rubble drain was identified running approximately east to west in one of the trenches, representing the remains of mid-19th century efforts to improve the land. No other finds of archaeological significance were encountered.

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Ross White, 2006.