Monument record 12002 - ORMACLEIT, LOCH NA DUCHASAICH

NF73SW 15 7447 3115

NF 7447 3115 Loch na Duchasaich, Ormacleit. Artificial or modified island, or 'high cairn crannog'. Bald (1805) notes a 'Duine' here. It is roughly circular in plan, constructed of concentric rings of stones, rising sharply out of the loch. A causeway links it to the land to the S. Nearby is a very well-constructed level, regular and compact area of stones, extending into the loch for 1m, possibly a boat landing. The causeway is well preserved, 25-50cm below the water level.
The top of the island is relatively flat and heavily overgrown. Two incomplete cellular structures are evident in the centre of the island. The walls are incomplete, but survive to 40cm high in places and are composed of two compacted skins of stone.
Sponsors: Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield, King Alfred's College.
J A Raven and M Shelley 2003

REPORT DATE: 22/02/2005

The islet comprises of portable stones that form an island around 2m above the loch surface. It sits on coarse-grained bed, with seam of natural boulders approaching the islet from the southeast. Along the eastern half of the islet, soft-grained sediments were noted at a depth of 80cm below the loch bed, and to the north of the islet a silty shell-rich sediment layer was observed below the soft-grained sediments. Late Bronze Age/Early Age pottery sherds, quartz, pumice, burnt stone and burnt bone were found on the shallow loch bed around the islet and amongst submerged stones along the islet’s margins. Blankshein.S et al (2022).

Stephanie Blankshein, Angela Gannon, Duncan Garrow, Fraser Sturt, 2022, UIST CRANNOG SURVEY (Monograph). SWE41375.