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Lewis, Arnol

Lazy Beds (Post Medieval), Township (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery

Site Name Lewis, Arnol

Classification Lazy Beds (Post Medieval), Township (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Pottery

Alternative Name(s) Mol A' Chladaich

Canmore ID 4255

Site Number NB34NW 2.01

NGR NB 3030 4930

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4255

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Western Isles
  • Parish Barvas
  • Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
  • Former District Western Isles
  • Former County Ross And Cromarty

Archaeology Notes

NB34NW 2.01 3030 4930

Formerly NB34NW 2

The original site (of Arnol) was much nearer the sea, in the area above the rocky beach called Mol a' Chladaich, immediately to the north of Arnol Loch. Here the ruins of small, oval-ended stone houses are still visible. No doubt they date from and beyond the eighteen century. They lie on an accumulation of layers of sand, varying in depth, in which successive occuption layers are marked by pottery going back at least to the 1st century A.D. In the hollow behind the little settlement lay the community's fields, still outlined by stone or built up on their lower edges to make level beds or platforms.

A Fenton 1978

(NB 302 493) Erosion of stone buildings (site of old Arnol Village) and midden material by man and the sea. Finds include numerous pottery sherds, plain and decorated, and some Iron Age; two quartz and two other rubbed stones; metal slag; a sherd of reduced grey late Medieval pottery with green glaze; a bronze Highland ring brooch.

M MacRae and M Ponting 1983.

Further erosion has uncovered more Iron Age Pottery, a comb made from antler, and a stone pot lid.

M Ponting, M MacRae and G R Curtis 1984.

A township, comprising nine unroofed buildings and fifteen enclosures is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Island of Lewis Ross-shire 1853, sheet 8). One unroofed building and two enclosures are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1974).

Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 18 February 1997.

Activities

Soil Sampling (4 March 2003 - 12 March 2003)

AOC Archaeology were grant aided by Historic Scotland for a second successive season of fieldwork related to a partnership project to assist a PhD studentship investigating the Marine Reservoir Effect, as well as a further project which includes analyses of Plaggan Soils. A total of 25 potential sites were visited to ascertain their potential for sample retrieval relating to the two projects described above.

None of the ecofactual or artefactual material noted at any of the sites visited could be described as being in secure contexts. The material was either within what appeared to be deposits interpreted as topsoil, in unstratified spreads, which were eroding out of the overlying eroding windblown sands, or in the case of Galston within deposits which appeared to have slumped down from above. In light of this no samples were taken for the PhD studentship concerned with the Marine Resevoir Effect. Some soil micromorphological samples were, however, taken in the connection with the study into Plaggan soils. These samples will be reported on at a later date.

AOC Archaeology - Alan Duffy (2003)

References

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