Monument record 2129 - BEALACH A' MHAIM, BARRA

NL69NW 30 6383 9846

T134 ('roundhouse and shelter'): This site lies about 40m SW of NL69NW 28 on a ledge immediately above the confluence of the Allt a' Ghoirtean and an unnamed burn. It was recorded in survey as a circular hut (about 5m in diameter) with traces of an additional structure to the S, and was considered probably post-medieval.
It was planned in detail, and (in 1993) partially excavated, an area of 2.5 x 1.5m being opened to expose elements of the lower structure. This proved to survive to a depth of only one course, and neither a floor nor cultural deposit was recognised. Beneath turf and topsoil there was a layer of peat which ran under the footings of the lower structure. The wall of this was slightly over 1m thick and built (on this lower side) of large blocks of stone with an earth fill between the inner and outer stones. The full width was only visible on the lower (S) side, but careful examination revealed sufficient further traces on the N and E to allow the overall dimensions of the lower structure to be established as 6.75 x 5.5m. The type of construction, the totally embedded nature of the lower course, and the evident destruction of the lower structure before the building of the upper hut, all suggest that this was a prehistoric structure, possibly comparable to NL69NW 28.
The upper hut was built in an entirely different (and more casual) fashion, rocks and small boulders being piled up to form a circular shelter about 4m in diameter. There was only a rudimentary attempt at coursing (on the N), but the rubble wall still stands 0.4m high. This structure can have been no more than a temporary shelter, and its survival in good condition suggests a relatively recent date.
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, 168, 203, 204 figs. 5.5 and 6.6 (Bibliographic reference). SWE33223.