Skye, Aultatua

NG 6410 0700 (centred on) and NG 6300 0550 A desk-based assessment and walkover survey were carried out 21 October 2010–22 February 2011, in advance of a woodland creation scheme. The work was undertaken to assess the nature and extent of any archaeology likely to be affected by the scheme and to inform recommendations for the protection and management of any sites.

The survey identified a significant number of new sites including 38 farmsteads/houses, 11 byres/bothies, 11 small enclosures and kale yards, 1 corn-drying kiln, 83 shielings, 1 possible still, 15 large field enclosures, 84 field boundaries/dykes and 36 areas of rig and furrow cultivation. The majority of these structures had been constructed from turf, with only a small proportion of the farmsteads and shielings built from stone. The only prehistoric site was a hut circle.

The survey of the area has revealed a complex of small settlements, individual farmsteads and houses, and their associated ancillary buildings, enclosures and cultivation plots, possibly relating to several phases of occupation and the use of the wider landscape through transhumance activities. The location of some of the farmsteads and more nucleated areas of settlement appear to relate to the abandoned and cleared townships of Leanigarry, Ostaigmhor and Ostaigbeg, which had been identified from estate and OS maps.

The large numbers of shieling structures identified within the survey areas at Kilbeg indicate the important role of the transhumance economy. While often considered as ancillary to the main townships, it is clear that shielings should be considered an equally important counterpart to the main settlements.

Archive: Highland HER, RCAHMS and WCAS (intended)

Funder: Clan Donald Estates, Armadale, Skye

West Coast Archaeological Services, 2011

OASIS Id: westcoas1-96347

Field survey in advance of woodland planting scheme recorded a number of sites all of which have been assigned as part of a township (survey site Nos 148-55, 174, 212-24.

148 Enclosure Attached to the W side of a boundary dyke are the partial remains of a turf and stone enclosure measuring 18m long E-W over walls spread to 1m wide and surviving to 0.8m high. The enclosure, covered in heather, grass and moss, becomes less well-defined to the SW and appears to be contemporary with or post-dating the main dyke (NG 62759 04135).

149 Enclosure Located to the E side of a boundary dyke are the partial remains of a turf enclosure measuring 9m E-W by 8m N-S over walls spread to 1.2m wide and surviving to 1.0m high. The enclosure, covered in heather, grass and gorse, becomes less well-defined to the SW side (NG 62772 04064).

150 Pen Located to the N of a large boundary dyke and adjacent to an electricity line pole is a turf and stone pen under grass. The structure measures 11m NE-SW by 6m over walls spread to 1m wide and surviving to 0.5m high. A platform has been excavated out of the slope to the SW of the pen (NG 62920 03844).

151-a House Located at SE corner of survey Area 3 is an area of dispersed settlement situated to the E and W sides of a burn within scrub and trees. The structures comprise ephemeral turf and stone foundations under grass, heather and bracken that are only barely visible within the landscape. This site is a stone and turf rectilinear possible house measuring 6m NE-SW by 3.5m over walls spread to 0.8m and surviving to 0.5m high. There is an entrance in the SE wall. A small area of rig and furrow survives between Site 151-a and Site 151-b, rigs aligned NE-SW (NG 63022 03902).

151-b House Located at SE corner of survey Area 3 is an area of dispersed settlement situated to the E and W sides of a burn within scrub and trees. The structures comprise ephemeral turf and stone foundations under grass, heather and bracken that are only barely visible within the landscape. This site is a stone and turf rectilinear house measuring 8m NE-SW by 5m over walls 0.8m wide and surviving to 0.8m high. A small area of rig and furrow survives between Site 151-a and Site 151-b, rigs aligned NE-SW (NG 63038 03882).

151-c Pen Located at SE corner of survey Area 3 is an area of dispersed settlement situated to the E and W sides of a burn within scrub and trees. The structures comprise ephemeral turf and stone foundations that are only barely visible within the landscape. This site is a possible stone/turf pen or kaleyard aligned NW-SE possibly measuring 13m NW-SE by 6m wide over walls spread to 1m and surviving to 0.3m high (NG 62992 03891)

151-d Structure Located at SE corner of survey Area 3 is an area of dispersed settlement situated to the E and W sides of a burn within scrub and trees. The structures comprise ephemeral turf and stone foundations that are only barely visible within the landscape. This site is a possible stone/turf house possibly measuring 8m E-W by 5m over walls spread to 0.8m and surviving to 0.3m high (NG 62984 03912)

151-e Structure Located at SE corner of survey Area 3 is an area of dispersed settlement situated to the E and W sides of a burn within scrub and trees. The structures comprise ephemeral turf and stone foundations that are only barely visible within the landscape. This site is a possible house or byre possibly measuring 6m E-W by 4.5m over walls spread to 0.8m and surviving to 0.3m high (NG 62992 03874).

152 Hut circle Located on a SE-facing slope under heather, grass and gorse is a possible turf hut circle measuring 10m N-S by 9m over walls spread to 1.5-2.0m at the base and surviving to 0.5m high. There is no visible entrance (NG 62960 03962).

153-a House Located 50m to W of the eastern boundary of survey Area 3 and to the NE of a stream valley is an area of settlement under heather, grass and dense bracken comprising the remains of stone-built houses and associated walls. To the W sides of the houses are three U-shaped possible sunken structures which appear as ditches in the ground. This site is a drystone rectangular house measuring 12.5m long N-S by 5.5m over walls 0.6m wide and surviving to 0.5m high. There is a partition wall 2.6m from N end and piles of stones (either from clearance or dismantling) fill the interior, although there is no visible entrance to the building. A foundation to a possible earlier phase of house is visible at the S end of the house and measures 5.5m E-W by 3.0m over walls 0.7m wide and surviving to 0.3m high. Attached to the W wall of the house are two lines of rough stone walling 0.6-0.8m wide aligned E-W, which may form the remains of a kaleyard (NG 63258 04606).

153-b House Located 50m to W of the eastern boundary of survey Area 3 and to the NE of a stream valley is an area of settlement under heather, grass and dense bracken comprising the remains of stone-built houses and associated walls. To the W sides of the houses are three U-shaped possible sunken structures which appear as ditches in the ground. This site, located to the N of Site 153-a on a stone-revetted platform visible along the E side of the site, is a stone-built rectangular house, measuring 11.5m N-S by 5.5m over walls 0.6m wide surviving up to 0.6m high. There is an entrance 0.8m wide located in the E wall. To the N of the structure is an arc of walling 0.7m wide that may represent earlier structural footings. There is a drainage ditch cut into the slope of the W side of the house (NG 63244 04635).

153-c Structures Located 50m to W of the eastern boundary of survey Area 3 and to the NE of a stream valley is an area of settlement under heather, grass and dense bracken comprising the remains of stone-built houses and associated walls. To the W sides of the houses are three U-shaped possible sunken structures which appear as ditches in the ground. Two of the structures have possible stonework in the base which may have formed part of the original structure. Their use is unknown and it is possible that these features are natural (NG 63237 04631).

154 Structure On a E-facing scarp under heather, bracken and grass is a small quarried pit with the ephemeral remains of a drystone wall built across the E side. The interior of the possible structure measures 5m N-S by 2m. The wall is spread is 0.8m and is 0.6m high and there is a possible entrance 0.6m wide (NG 63227 04673).

155 House Built into a E-facing slope is the remains of a house under grass, heather and rush. The drystone structure measures 12m N-S by 5m over walls 0.6m wide and standing up to 1.4m high on the W side. The entrance in the E wall is 0.8m wide and is located 5.5m from the N end. Immediately to the W of the structure is a depression in the ground now infilled with vegetation and may have been a quarry for building stone for nearby sites (NG 63175 04762).

174 Rig and furrow Area of rig and furrow on S-facing slope located in SW corner of Survey Area 3. The rigs are generally aligned N-S and measure up to 1.5m wide and stand to 0.5m high, with 0.6m-wide furrows (NG 62763 03953).

212 Boundary dyke The very degraded remains of a turf and stone boundary dyke, measuring 0.7m wide and survives up to 0.5m high and cross survey Area 3 from N to S (NG 62816 04218).

213 Boundary dyke A very degraded linear stone and turf boundary dyke measuring 0.9m-1.2m wide and surviving up to 0.6m high. Probably formed part of a field boundary (NG 63092 04666).

214 Boundary dyke A very degraded turf and stone boundary dyke measuring 1m wide and surviving up to 0.4m high (NG 63177 04816).

215 Boundary dyke A substantial turf and stone boundary dyke measuring 1.4m wide and surviving up to 1.2m high in places. Appears to have formed part of a major field boundary (NG 62924 03930).

216 Boundary walls A very degraded fragment of a turf and stone wall which may have formed a small enclosure. It measures between 0.6-0.8m wide and survives up to 0.4m high (NG 62828 03851).

217 Boundary wall A fragment of a turf and stone boundary wall measuring 0.8m-1m wide and surviving up to 0.8m high and may have formed a small field boundary, possibly associated with the settlement at Site 151 (NG 62967 03869).

218 Boundary dyke A fragment of stone and turf boundary dyke measuring 1.2m wide and surviving up to 0.8m high. It possibly formed part of a large subcircular enclosure which extended outside of the E side of survey Area 2 (NG 63078 04270).

219 Boundary dyke A very degraded linear fragment of stone and turf boundary wall measuring 0.8m wide and linked at the W end to the main N-S dyke Site 210 (NG 63129 04228).

220 Boundary dyke A stone and turf boundary dyke measuring 1m wide and surviving up to 0.5m high. It is joined at the S end to boundary dyke Site 218 and appears to continue beyond survey Area 3 at the NE end (NG 63191 04685).

221 Boundary dyke A stone and turf boundary dyke measuring 1m wide and surviving up to 0.5m high. It appears to continue beyond survey Area 3 at the N and S ends (NG 63314 04423).

222 Boundary dyke A stone and turf boundary dyke measuring 1m wide and surviving up to 0.5m high. It appears to have formed part of a field boundary within the area (NG 63250 04467).

223 Boundary walls An area of the very degraded remains of fragments of stone and turf walling, probably representing many phases of land use and division (NG 63220 04514).

224 Boundary walls Two fragments of very degraded parallel stone and turf boundary walls measuring 0.8m wide and surviving up to 0.5m high. They appear to represent two phases of a field boundary to the S side of the burn valley (NG 63081 04574).

Information from OASIS Id: westcoas1-96347 (S Birch) 2011

NG 6410 0700 (centred on) and NG 6300 0550 A desk-based assessment and walkover survey were carried out 21 October 2010–22 February 2011, in advance of a woodland creation scheme. The work was undertaken to assess the nature and extent of any archaeology likely to be affected by the scheme and to inform recommendations for the protection and management of any sites.

The survey identified a significant number of new sites including 38 farmsteads/houses, 11 byres/bothies, 11 small enclosures and kale yards, 1 corn-drying kiln, 83 shielings, 1 possible still, 15 large field enclosures, 84 field boundaries/dykes and 36 areas of rig and furrow cultivation. The majority of these structures had been constructed from turf, with only a small proportion of the farmsteads and shielings built from stone. The only prehistoric site was a hut circle.

The survey of the area has revealed a complex of small settlements, individual farmsteads and houses, and their associated ancillary buildings, enclosures and cultivation plots, possibly relating to several phases of occupation and the use of the wider landscape through transhumance activities. The location of some of the farmsteads and more nucleated areas of settlement appear to relate to the abandoned and cleared townships of Leanigarry, Ostaigmhor and Ostaigbeg, which had been identified from estate and OS maps.

The large numbers of shieling structures identified within the survey areas at Kilbeg indicate the important role of the transhumance economy. While often considered as ancillary to the main townships, it is clear that shielings should be considered an equally important counterpart to the main settlements.

Archive: Highland HER, RCAHMS and WCAS (intended)

Funder: Clan Donald Estates, Armadale, Skye

West Coast Archaeological Services, 2011

OASIS Id: westcoas1-96347