Monument record 8564 - ALT CHRISAL

24.Alt Chrisal
Site Type:Clearence cairn
Grassed over mound,3.5m in diam,with large stones around perimeter and many smaller stones on the south side.
Branigan and Grattan p.27

The monument known as Alt Chrisal, multi-period settlement 750m ESE of Gortein, Barra, comprises the remains of a multi-period settlement site that also includes some evidence for prehistoric ritual activity. Survey & excavations between 1989 and 1994, by Sheffield University, found evidence for settlement dating from the Neolithic (about 3600 years BC) to the 18th and 19th centuries. The stone-built elements of the excavated structures are still largely visible on site today, where not destroyed by the road and sheep pen. The area to be scheduled is irregular, with maximum dimensions of 300m NNW-SSE by 270m NNE-SSW, to include the main focus of surviving above-ground structures at Alt Chrisal and an area in which evidence related to their construction and use may survive. The fenceline along the roadside and around the sheep pen (which forms the S boundary of the site) is excluded from the scheduling, to allow for maintenance.
HS scheduling document, 8.11.2005

Keith Branigan & John Grattan, 1998, Coastal Assessment Survey Barra and Vatersay (Bibliographic reference). SWE41024.