Braemore Square

This work forms part of an ongoing survey, by Anna Welti and Elizabeth Beer, of a realtively level, unforested strip of grassland with bracken and heather, and bog, some 500m NW-SW and nowhere more that 50m wide, 'centred' at c. NH 195 788. It is situated SE of Braemore Square, some ten miles (16km) SSE of Ullapool, at between 60m and 70m OD, along the Abhainn Droma, which here runs below a steep, rock bank. This forms the W side of the strip; to the E lies a slope up to the A835(T), and beyond are the steep slopes of Braemore.

NH 196 788 Survey continues over this multi-period site S of Braemore Square described in DES 2004 and 2005. The northern area of the site has been investigated by plane table survey, including the stone-walled roundhouse (NH 19485 79077) and associated clearance heaps. Further clearance cairns, hut circles and other features were identified, and this area of the site is believed to date from the Bronze Age. Plane tabling of the central area of the site has started, with the identification of possible pre-clearance structures, banks and dykes. This survey is well advanced and will be completed by early 2007. Work will continue in 2007 on the S area of the site in the vicinity of the dry stone oval structure (NH 1956 7885) with the aim of completing a 1:500 plan of the whole site by the end of 2007, with 1:100 plans of notable features. A preliminary walkover survey has been undertaken of Strone Wood, the area immediately across the Abhainn Droma from the site. A mound has been identified with ambiguous features on top, and further investigation is planned when the tall bracken has died back.

Sponsor: OFARS, Mr and Mrs Hughes, Braemore Square.

A Welti, J Wilson and G Sleight 2007

NH 1955 7895 Plane table survey has continued during 2007 and has been completed over most of the site. Walls, banks and dykes in the southernmost part of the site have been mapped in less detail due to thick bracken cover. A systematic sweep of the site by metal detector has revealed fragments of iron farm implements, horse shoes, cartridges and bullets. Features examined include an extensive D-shaped stone wall,

a subrectangular stone house structure possibly associated with nearby banks and foundations, and several pits and hollows of uncertain function. Further walkover, aided by massive bracken clearance, has enabled initial interpretation of many of the site features.

Archive deposited with the Highland Council SMR.

NH 1955 7895 Targeted excavation of two features at the northern end of the site (see above), was followed by a preliminary investigation, 22–24 August 2008, of a massive sub-circular stony mound of uncertain date and function at the southern end of the site. A shallow slot trench 1m wide was dug into the S bank of the mound, with a sideways extension at its lower end.

The upper part of the bank consisted of a matrix of coarse orange subsoil containing a mass of small stones and a few larger ones. The base end of the trench consisted of dark grey silt and clay. The boundary between the two soils was defined by narrow bands of red and black material. There was no evidence that the mound was man-made.

Archive: HSMR and RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Mr and Mrs E Hughes

Anna Welti and Gordon Sleight (Lochbroom Field Club), 2008

NH 1946 7909 A plane table survey over the entire site (DES 5, 6, 7 and 8) was followed, 21 May–1 June 2008, by

a small-scale targeted excavation. The work aimed to reveal the form and construction of selected features and their inter-relationships, and if possible to locate datable finds or samples. Two features, a possible hut circle and a nearby cairn, both previously identified by field survey and thought to be of early prehistoric date were excavated.

Two trenches were opened across the presumed hut circle in opposite quadrants, each 2m wide and extending from the centre of the feature, to a distance of 2m beyond the visible wall alignment. One trench was later extended and a further trench was opened over a possible entrance.

Many parts of the walling had been extensively robbed out and damaged by tree roots. There were indications of inner and outer facing stones roughly 1m apart, with a possible further face 1m beyond this. The perceived gap in the wall to the SE was not an entrance. A more probable entrance was indicated by stone alignments and numerous paving slabs to the NW of the structure. No pottery was found, and no indications of either postholes or a hearth. Soil in the northerly trenches was darker than in that in other trenches and contained significant amounts of charcoal. There were several small white quartz chunks among the paving slabs. The structure was oval in shape and it was not clear if it was a hut circle or an unroofed enclosure.

Analysis of four charcoal samples showed them to be alder, birch, hazel and willow. Radiocarbon dating indicated a range from 800 CalBC to 200 CalBC. One of the samples had been located between interior slabs, and therefore provides a secure early prehistoric date for activity in the structure.

One quadrant of the cairn was excavated to ground level, revealing that it was a clearance cairn with no noteworthy features.

Report: Highland Council SMR and RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Awards for All (Big Lottery Fund), CBA Challenge Funding, The Russell Trust, The Catherine Mackichan Trust and local sponsors

Anna Welti and Gordon Sleight (Lochbroom Field Club), 2008

NH 1946 7909 A second season of excavation took place from 18–29 May 2009. Although the results of excavation in 2008 (DES 2008, 111) on a supposed hut circle had been inconclusive, radiocarbon dates were found to be firmly within the Iron Age. This season the main aim was to ascertain whether the structural remains were contemporary with the Iron Age deposits or merely overlying them and therefore most probably dating to the Early Modern period.

This year’s excavation was concentrated on the W part of the structure originally thought to be a hut circle. This part was composed of a series of interconnected small oval structures, similar to Early Modern shieling huts in dimensions although unlikely, due to their location on arable ground but without easy access to water, to be shielings. They may be Iron Age in date, with a function similar to that of later shielings. The interiors of the structures did appear to contain concentrations of charcoal which may be the remains of hearths. An alternative interpretation may be that the structures, overlying a uniform deposit of charcoal from burning prior to cultivation, have preserved this layer where elsewhere it has been weathered away. Indistinct small pits and cuts, adjacent to the structures and contained by the rubble banking which formed the E side of the putative hut

circle, also contained concentrations of charcoal, with a small quantity of calcified bone identified as probably belonging to large mammals. No artefacts were recovered.

Elsewhere within the Braemore Square site, trenches were placed across a number of features to establish their approximate date and relationships. The various remains of boundary walling appear to divide into two groups, with early modern turf banks built over a core of upright stone slabs and mid-late 19th-century dry stone double-skinned walls. A small sub-oval building set on a bank above the cultivation area was fully excavated and found to have a roughly paved floor and a hearth set opposite the doorway. The building was seen to have similarities to medieval structures known at Achnahaird in the N of Lochbroom. Samples from the hearth have been sent for radiocarbon dating.

Archive: HHER and RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Scottish Natural Heritage, Robert O Curle Charitable Trust, CBA, Hunter Archaeological Trust, Awards for All, Ernest Cooke Trust, Katherine McKichen Memorial Fund and Drs Dumugn

Catherine Dagg – Lochbroom Field Club