Cracknie
Souterrain (Prehistoric)
Site Name Cracknie
Classification Souterrain (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 5765
Site Number NC65SE 1
NGR NC 6655 5092
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/5765
- Council Highland
- Parish Farr
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC65SE 1 6655 5092.
(NC 6654 5091) Earth-house (NR)
OS 6" map, (1962)
An almost intact earth-house whose entrance, on the top of a hillock, is an aperture about 2ft square beneath a slab. The passage slopes downward, gradually growing wider and higher, and some 20ft from the entrance is about 3ft wide and from 4ft 6ins to 4ft 10ins high. At 32ft inwards, its width is reduced to 2ft by a rebate on the right side; thereafter it gradually widens and curving round to the right terminates in a pear-shaped expansion about 6ft wide and 4ft 4ins high. The extreme length of the earth-house is 42ft. A few flags lying displaced outside the entrance suggest that it was longer. The sides are carefully built without mortar and it is roofed with slabs overlapping each other; the walls throughout are in perfect condition.
J Horsburgh 1870; RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.
The only external signs of this souterrain are two large slabs at the entrance, now 2ft wide and 1ft 6ins deep, and a depression in the ground. To a length of 12ft to 15ft, the souterrain appears to be in good condition.
Visited by OS (J L D) 29 April 1960.
No change to the preceeding report. Now at corrected plan position NC 6655 5092.
Resurveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (J M) 19 July 1978.
Scheduled with deserted settlement NC65SE 4.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 26 April 1993.
Laser Scanning (21 February 2012)
NC 6655 5092 A 3D survey of the souterrain at Cracknie, near Tongue, was carried out on 21 February 2012 using laser scanning. Detailed stone-by-stone elevations, a reflected capstone plan and cross sections were produced.
Archive: RCAHMS
Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland
Graeme Cavers, AOC Archaeology Group
Gemma Hudson,
2012
Note (March 2017)
Archaeological Measured Survey
A souterrain is an underground stone-lined cellar, usually dating from the Iron Age. The word comes from the French ‘sous terrain’, which means ‘underground’. The souterrain at Cracknie is a particularly good example. It leads from a narrow entrance on the surface, gently sloping downwards to reach a small chamber at its end. It was probably associated with a roundhouse built on the ground surface above and could have been used to store food (most likely meat and cheese), or as a secret refuge or even a prison for slaves.
The entrance is marked by a small hollow and a number of large stones, including one fallen cap stone. The full length of the souterrain is 13.2m and it measures about 1.3m in height and about 0.8m in width. The souterrain is curved on plan – as is usual for such sites – with a distinct sub-circular chamber at its end. The walls are carefully built without mortar and it is roofed with large slabs overlapping each other.
The souterrain was recorded by terrestrial laser scanning and the results – illustrating the well preserved walls and roof lintels – are displayed as orthographic views and line drawn elevations. The baseline measured survey was supported by a detailed condition statement and an assessment of cultural significance, providing both an enhanced historic environment record and placing the site within its regional context.
Souterrains are some of Scotland’s most mysterious structures. They are intimate and domestic, their scale and simplicity creating a very personal connection to the past. You wonder who built it and why? But you are also an intruder, disturbing the silence and chill darkness. You are under someone’s house…
An asset management approach
Forestry Commission Scotland’s historic environment programme includes a wide range of sustainable conservation management, from path repair on ancient duns and hillforts to masonry consolidation of 18th century military bridges. But in order to protect the many archaeological sites, historic structures and cultural landscapes across Scotland’s national forest estate, we must first identify and assess their surviving remains to inform conservation and management.
An asset management approach requires a baseline knowledge of the resource, including an overall asset register, thematic and site-based surveys, individual site-based
condition monitoring and an appreciation of the wider context. Identifying the most significant aspects of the historic environment in any given area is important, as is undertaking archaeological measured survey in advance of conservation management projects. Cracknie souterrain is a designated asset (a scheduled monument) and a particularly well preserved example of an important and unusual site type.
The detailed archaeological measured survey and associated photographic recording will help us to both better understand the site and to monitor its condition. This archaeological recording is the bread and butter of the asset management approach, informing subsequent conservation management and repair. However, the creative use of archaeological measured survey can also form an important element of cultural heritage interpretation. By combining new archaeological survey techniques with an aesthetic illustrative methodology, we can produce detailed site records alongside innovative and spectacular illustrations, encouraging greater engagement and understanding.
The Very Archaeological Cut Out of Cracknie Souterrain is part of a series created to explore the potential of archaeological measured survey in model making, promotion and outreach. Model making can be a great way to engage children and adults with the physical scale of a site, both as it survives today and how it may have looked like in the past. It may be fiddly to build, but it is strangely satisfying to peer down the tiny aperture of the model of Cracknie souterrain and see its drystone walls and roof lintels disappearing into the dark!
Matthew Ritchie - Archaeologist, Forestry Commission Scotland
Archaeological Evaluation (February 2022)
NC 665 509 A programme of investigation and conservation was undertaken, in early February 2022, at the Iron Age stone-lined souterrain at Cracknie, Borgie, Sutherland.
The purpose of the works was to enhance access to the monument, which was becoming difficult and potentially hazardous. This was achieved though the small-scale excavation of deposits filling the entrance to the passageway, along with conservation and stabilisation of the stonework in the entrance area.
While the works were mainly focussed on improving and making safer access to the monument the small scale excavations provided material that can shed light on the history of use and abandonment of the souterrain. A charcoal rich basal fill of the souterrain returned a date of 360 to 170 cal BC. Two dates from a charcoal rich collapse and infill deposit returned a broadly similar date of 395 to 45 cal BC.
A 3D laser scan survey of the monument was carried out to record the souterrain fully.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Forestry and Land Scotland
Jamie Humble – AOC Archaeology Group
(Source: DES Volume 23)
