Skye, Coill A' Ghasgain

NG61SW 57 644 122

Hut circle, 8m diameter (no other details given).

ACFA 1993.

NG 644 122 In April 1993, excavation of a stone-walled hut circle was undertaken. One period of settlement activity was identified within which only minor structural modifications occurred.

The hut walls were raised on a gentle S-facing slope, with a single SSE-facing entrance. Roughly-faced drystone walling was bonded with a core of similar but smaller material.

A little over lm from the inner wall face, and concentric with it, lay a ring of eight post pits. Each contained a post-pipe indicating that it formerly contained a single timber upright 0.15m in diameter. This circular arrangement was broken by a gap of 2.25m in line with the entrance. At this point two flanking posts were inset within the area enclosed by the posts, in effect producing a short passage to a centrally-placed hearth, made of well-laid sandstone slabs. This lies within a low, circular setting of small stones, 2m in diameter,

Lying to the SW of the hearth was a small cobbled area measuring 0.80m by lm which overlay the filling of three of the post pits, butting up against their timber uprights. All the pottery fragments and a total of 5kg of pot-boilers were recovered from or close to the edges of this feature.

A radiocarbon date was obtained from haze charcoal. This produced a calibrated date of 2370 ? 190 b@ BP (centroid at 469 BC at 95%). [Beta 66137]

Interim report, Manchester Archaeological Bulletin Vol 8, 1993. pp 5- 10.

Details of excavation lodged with Dualchas, Skye and Lochalsh Museums Service.

Sponsors: Skye & Lochalsh District Council, Manchester University.

Wildgoose, Burney and Miket 1994b.