Monument record 13336 - LEWIS, ABHAINN DUBH

NB23SW 79 2333 3068

NB 2333 3068 An excavation was undertaken of a possible cist which had been identified during peat cutting. It comprised a number of flat stone slabs, lying both horizontally and set on their edges, located at a single level within the peat bank. An area c 3 x 2m was excavated around the exposed stones and this established that they lay within a cut.
The cut was oval and aligned on a NW-SE axis. On the surface it was 0.95m long by 0.65m wide. It had near-vertical upper sides and was 0.85m deep. Further down this cut, within its bottom third, it was seen to bell out very slightly so that its basal level was marginally larger than its mouth.
Stones had been placed in the bottom of the pit and silver birch twigs were recovered from beneath them. The stones were sealed by a black peat containing frequent curins (small chunks of dried peat, synonymous with what is left behind after peat has been stacked and dried over a period of some months or years). Another layer of black peat was above, similar in formation and texture, but containing fewer curins and more small pieces of wood, which occurred most noticeably at its upper interface. The wood was mostly silver birch. An upper fill comprised a very moist, light brown peat that was much more fibrous and less humic. It contained very frequent, fibrous straw-like material, probably rotting grasses. Bulk samples were taken for analysis.
Within the upper fills of the pit, extensive fragments of wood were recovered that may have formed a wickerwork structure within the pit. These fragments were, for the most part, no longer in situ, making the identification of the structure practically impossible. Some, however, were recorded vertically embedded, suggesting that the wickerwork formed a basket, possibly staked in position within the pit.
No human remains or material culture were recovered in the excavation, making a direct date impossible. (GUARD 1290)
Sponsor:
HS
C Burgess and G MacGregor 2002, 125

NB 233 306 Peat cutting revealed a stone setting 70cm below existing ground level. Several small orthostats could be observed capped with slabs. A grey effluent discharge (which had taken place at an earlier date) could be observed immediately above the slabs and between the orthostats. The site was re-covered after a photographic record was taken. Three depths of peat cuttings have taken place, including the present cutting, which gives a depth of peat above the slabs of 2.1m. Probing revealed 60cm of peat below the present level.
J Crawford 2002, 124-5
REPORT DATE: 29/05/2003

Council for Scottish Archaeology, 2002, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41091.