Monument record 13576 - SOUTH UIST, SLIGEANACH, CILL DONNAIN

NF72NW 37 centred on 726 289

NF 764 474 to NF 758 140 The South Uist machair has been surveyed between 1993-1996, from Cille Bhrighde (West Kilbride) in the extreme S of the island to Baile Gharbhaidh (Balgarva) at the N end of the island, a distance of 35km. This year, the number of known prehistoric and Early Historic settlement sites has now increased from 81 to 176.
The continuing pattern of Iron Age-Viking Age settlement clusters along the machair supports the hypothesis of 'proto-townships'; that the system of land allotment amongst the townships is essentially an Iron Age phenomenon which survived substantially intact until the Clearances of the early 19th century (see unpublished reports, Sheffield University). An unusual concentration of sites was found at Machair Mheadhanach in the Iochdar (Eochar) area, N of the rocket range and W of Loch Bee; some 35 settlement sites, ranging in date from the Late Bronze Age to the early post-medieval period, are strung out within a 2km line along a NW-SE axis. This multifocal pattern is very different from other settlement patterns on South Uist but still fits the 'proto-township' model.
The second major concentration of sites is at Drimore where a group of 14 settlement sites, of various dates, are arranged in a SSE-NNW line 750m long. Most of these were identified in the 1950s during survey and excavation in advance of the construction of the rocket range.
The pattern of hypothesised proto-townships throughout the survey area (unpublished report, Sheffield University) holds reasonably well but there are gaps for each of the six 'shieling' (gearraidh) townships of South Uist. This suggests that these shieling townships may have formed in the medieval period by sub-division of larger units, and thus do not have prehistoric predecessors. Other medieval peatland settlements are tentatively identified at Upper Bornish, Aisgernis (Askernish), Frobost and Cille Pheadair (Kilpheder). There is a strong possibility that most of the nucleated villages mapped by William Bald in 1805 are located on earlier post-medieval and medieval settlements. The movement of settlement off the machair mainly occurred in the post-Norse medieval period. The only exceptions are Baghasdal, where the machair settlement was abandoned only after 1805 supposedly due to 'machair fever' (James MacDonald pers comm), and Machair Mheadhanach which was deserted some time between 1654 and 1805.
Sponsor:
Sheffield University.
M Parker Pearson 1996

Eleven settlement mounds, discovered during the coastal survey of the machair plain, were trial trenched to characterise and date the deposits.
NF 7260 2902 This very large mound was examined with two trenches, which indicated that preservation was the result of a single unimpressive occupation layer at the very top of the mound. This layer appears to be preserving a large mound of natural windblown sand. Finds from the occupation layer were rare and undatable.
NF 7250 2889 This mound was explored by three trenches and was largely found to be sterile windblown sand. However, preserved within the windblown sand was a soil horizon cut by two ditches and containing evidence for ard cultivation. A few small sherds of Beaker pottery were recovered from this layer.
NF 7252 2889 Four test-pits suggest this mound was a focus for settlement in the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, with structural evidence and pits present. The settlement overlay soil horizons dating to the Early Bronze Age.
NF 7250 2883 Four test-pits indicated a sequence of activity all belonging to the Early Bronze Age. The earliest features were two soil horizons, separated by windblown sand, with ard marks indicating cultivation and associated with Beaker pottery. Above these was a more complex sequence of layers indicating occupation associated with Food Vessel fragments.
NF 7248 2877 A single trench in this small mound recovered shells, bone and pumice, indicating human activity, but there was no contemporary soil horizon and the activity appeared to have been much disturbed by recent erosion.
NF 727 288 Three low contiguous mounds were examined by four trenches. These indicated that the archaeological deposits in this area consisted of a thin discontinuous layer of shell midden with only the occasional bone and no diagnostic pottery.
NF 7271 2892 The occupation deposits at this location lay immediately behind a natural shell sand mound. A single trench suggested that the activity dates to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, and four distinct occupation layers were noted.
NF 7270 2895 The occupation deposits at this location lay immediately behind a natural shell sand mound. A single trench suggested that the activity dates to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. The lowest deposit exposed, a thin red clay layer, appeared to be a floor layer and suggests the presence of a house. It was covered by several less diagnostic occupation soils.
NF 7269 2898 The occupation deposits at this location lay immediately behind a natural shell sand mound. The excavation of a single trench fortuitously exposed the top of a roundhouse wall, and the associated pottery suggests it is a wheelhouse.
Sponsor:
University of Wales, Cardiff.
N Sharples 1998

REPORT DATE: 21/05/1999