Monument record 2128 - BEALACH A' MHAIM, BARRA

NL69NW 28 6386 9850

T132: This site lies well back up the Gortein valley, on a small shelf overlooking the confluence of the Allt a' Ghoirtein with an un-named burn. It was recorded in survey as the grassed-over remains of a circular hut (c. 7m in diameter) and was tentatively identified as prehistoric (perhaps Iron Age) with later re-use.
In 1993, a triangular area (3.5 x 2m) was opened in the NE segment. A peat deposit was found to have accumulated below the turf and topsoil and been heavily disturbed by rabbits; the footings of a stone wall (0.75m wide) were found collapsed into the runs. At the N end, the wall was less disturbed and stood two stones high. In the centre of the area, a stone block (0.7m square and 0.4m high) projected from the inner face of the wall, and was apparently in its original position. No floor surface or cultural deposit was recognised.
At a higher layer, a rough circle of stone blocks (about 2m across) had been set in place to incorporate the large block noted above. A fire had been lit on the peat against the E face of the block, causing cracking and discolouration. This appears to have been a shepherd's temporary shelter.
The lower structure has most probably been late prehistoric, and comparable with NL69NW 57, which produced a small quantity of Roman Iron Age pottery. Re-survey suggested that the hut was oval, measuring 7 x 6m.
K Branigan and P Foster 1995; NMRS, MS/595/9.

K. Brannigan & P. Foster, 1995, Barra: archaeological research on Ben Tangaval from the end of the Ice Age to the Crofting Commissio, 40, 167-8, 203, 204 figs. 3.9 and 6.6 (Bibliographic reference). SWE33223.