Rum, Kinloch

NM 40145 99268 (centred on) A desk-based assessment and archaeological evaluation were undertaken, 15 – 18 August 2018, in advance of a residential housing development on land 160m S of Kinloch Castle. A programme of trial trenching across the site established the presence of a Mesolithic lithic scatter site, which appears to have been truncated by the Main Postglacial Transgression, and buried geomorphological features relating to the contemporary landscape, including a forest soil containing tree remains (wood) buried below deep peat deposits.

The lithics were recovered from reworked till deposits and show some indications of rolling due to marine activity, although some material retains a sharp edge – possibly due to swift burial within the deposits. However, the mechanisms acting on the site during the past 8000 years or so have been dynamic and require further interpretation. Preliminary results obtained from the site during the evaluation would indicate that the upper surface of the till, which is located at around 7.5m OD, had been truncated and reworked by the Main Postglacial Marine Transgression, which reached its maximum altitude on Rum after c7000 BP. The evidence for sea-level change during the Flandrian around the shores of Loch Scresort is sparse. Sutherland noted a gravel terrace at c11m above current sea-level along the S shore of the loch, whilst elsewhere on the island the highest altitude at which presumed marine deposits have been found is c8m at Harris and 9m at Guirdil Bay. It is therefore probable that the maximum altitude for marine processes by the Flandrian Sea around Loch Scresort were 10 – 11m above current levels; although at the head of the sheltered loch, levels may have been 1 – 2m below this upper limit. It has been suggested that the lowest elevation of the excavated Farm Fields site, which is located at c9.9m, may be considered a maximum figure for quiet water sedimentation at the head of Loch Scresort at this time.

A total of c750 lithics were recovered during the field evaluation, and the assemblage is dominated by bloodstone, with smaller quantities of flint and other raw materials (agate and quartz). Much of the assemblage comprises debitage, but there are a number of diagnostic artefacts present including core, flakes, blades, scrapers, burins and at least two narrow-blade microliths. The assemblage includes platform, disc and bipolar cores, indicating a comparable type of reduction strategy to that used at the nearby Farm Fields site excavated in 1984-86 (Wickham-Jones 1990). A preliminary examination of the bulb types noted on blades and flakes suggest hard and soft-hammer techniques. One cobble tool (hammerstone or anvil) was recovered from the spoil from the access bellmouth. Analysis of the lithics assemblage will provide important information relating to the activities taking place at the site, which appears to be Mesolithic in date.

Archive: Highland Council HER and NRHE (intended)

Funder: Marine Harvest (Scotland) Ltd

Steven Birch – West Coast Archaeological Services

(Source: DES Volume 19)

OASIS ID: westcoas1-328652