Stronechrubie

At NC 2490 1870, on a fairly level river terrace within degraded pasture is a turf-covered burnt mound measuring 12.0m E-W by 11.0m transversely and 1.0m high. There is a depression extending from the centre towards the S side, where there is an old watercourse, now dry. Erosion in the W side reveals a content of small stones and earth; the former shows some evidence of burning. There is no trace of hut circles or associated cultivation in the area.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (J B) 2 September 1980.

NC 24902 18699 As part of the Assynt Fire and Water Festival, an excavation was undertaken, 1–11 October 2012, to investigate the burnt mound at Stronechrubie (NC21NW 3) near Inchnadamph. The excavation was accompanied by a series of experiments to test the effectiveness of boiling water using local stone.

The mound was found to occupy a small mound of fluvioglacial clay situated next to a relict streambed. The mound of burnt stone was a maximum of 1m deep, penannular in plan surrounding a central pit. The pit was sub-triangular with 2m long sides and a small channel running in the direction of the stream bed. This channel was found to be roughly level with the streambed, suggesting that it could have been used to fill the pit. The central pit was partially lined with flat slabs of quartzite. A single small find was recovered from the burnt mound material – a fragment of possibly worked quartz. All deposits in the mound contained charcoal, which was sampled and will be submitted for radiocarbon dating.

Funder: Heritage Lottery Fund and Robert Kiln Charitable Trust

Graeme Cavers, AOC Archaeology Group

Gordon Sleight,

Jake Streatfeild-James,

Charlotte Douglas,

Alan Duffy,

2012