Monument record 12068 - WEST CILLE BHRIGHDE

NF71SE 36 7534 1429

NF 7534 1429 West Cille Bhrighde. Atlantic roundhouse and MoLRS site. A large amount of non-diagnostic pottery has been recovered from rabbit scrapes at this site, which has been badly quarried. Five trenches were opened.
The latest phase of activity was represented by two cobbled surfaces and a large amount of 18th/19th-century building debris, including tile and slates. This possibly relates to the 18th-century mansion, Boisdale House, located nearby and demolished at the end of the 1800s. A large portion of the site was covered by a series of deep midden layers, probably representing one phase of build-up, which contained a proliferation of limpet shells, bone and pottery. A number of drystone and stone and turf walls were also uncovered, some of which were curvilinear. Most of these were related to different structures, though some appeared to be rebuilds of the same structure. The upper part of the site was topped by a number of peat-capped features, presumably related to agricultural improvement.
Whilst some of the pottery sherds are characteristic of post-medieval craggan wares, with one 13th-century piece, the vast majority, including a large corpus of diagnostic material, are Middle Iron Age in date. Along with the large build nature of the walling, this suggests the presence of a complex Atlantic roundhouse, possibly a wheelhouse, tentatively surmounted by some medieval settlement. (SEARCH Site 98)
Sponsors: Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Bournemouth and Southampton, King Alfred's College.
J A Raven 2003

REPORT DATE: 21/02/2005