Monument record 567 - AN CAISTEIL, ARD AN RUNAIR

NF67SE 3 6970 7119.

(NF 6970 7120) An Caisteil (OE) (Site of)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

The site of An Caisteil at the NW corner of Traigh nam Faoghailean is just traceable as a small flattish knob elevated about 15ft above HWM. Some large stones lie in its east face, where two fragments of crude pottery were found.
Remains of a turf and stone dyke, a little to the south, are doubtfully associated with the fort.
E Beveridge 1911.

No trace of this feature remains, except for a few vague traces of walling. The turf and stone dyke is later.
Visited by OS (W D J) 19 June 1965.

NF 6970 7119 Recent coastal erosion of the site of An Caisteal on the North Uist machair close to the township of Hougharry, was reported by a resident of Hougharry. The site has been previously recorded (NMRS NF 67 SE 3) as that of a dun (long since lost to erosion if it ever existed) and more recently as an area of prehistoric midden. Tidal erosion seems to have accelerated sharply over the past year and is continuing apace, exacerbated by surface deflation. The visible extent of the site, marked by a distinctive talard, now comprises some 80m N-S of eroding middens and structures visible in section on a steep erosion face some 4-5m in height. The E-W extent cannot be gauged as it lies under a heavy sand overburden. One wall, towards the N part of the erosion face, stands up to 2m high and appears to relate to a circular building just beginning to erode out of the sand.
At the N end of the site is a small corbelled structure some 3m in diameter by around 1.5m high, the upper corbels having collapsed into the interior. The structure has been recently exposed and is perched precariously above the erosion face. Although it appears superficially to be a corbelled cist, a stump of walling protruding from one side suggests that it may originally have formed part of a larger structure. The upper courses of two apparently similar structures lie close to the W and will shortly be vulnerable to erosion.
Quantities of pottery recovered from the site include characteristic Iron Age incised wares and sherds with applied wavy cordons. The eroding deposits are also rich in bone and antler.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
Ian Armit 1996

NF 6970 7119 A site inspection was conducted on the previously reported eroding machair site at Hougharry (Armit 1996). Although there has been some further slippage from the dune face, erosion has progressed most rapidly on the surface of the site above the eroding beach section, where scouring, presumably by wind, has revealed several structures and areas of midden or formerly cultivated soil.
Three distinct circular cells are now visible on the surface. Each is stone-built and with a diameter of approximately 2.5m. The northernmost has clearly been a corbelled structure and the upper corbels are visible, tipping into the centre of the structure. The middle cell is apparently similar, if rather less well-preserved, while the southmost survives only in its basal course, which is formed of orthostatic slabs revetted into sand. This latter structure also projects into the beach section, a small part having been lost through tidal erosion. Although there are numerous other walls in the erosion section and projecting through the surface above, the three cells do not appear from the limited evidence available to be incorporated into any coherent building plan, such as a wheelhouse or unitary cellular structure.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
I Armit 1997

Finds from this site were handed into Highland Archaeology Service, thence to Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, and awarded to Museum nan Eilean. They include three whalebone objects, one a weaving baton. MML 15.1.2001

Erosion in the winter of 2002 revealed that this site is continuous with midden sites smr nos 570 & 572.
MML 28.6.2002

Erskine Beveridge, 1911, North Uist: its archaeology and topography, 191 (Bibliographic reference). SWE12876.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 97, No. 319 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

I A Crawford, 1966a, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 28 (Bibliographic reference). SWE12927.

PSAS, 1975-6, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 333 (Bibliographic reference). SWE9731.

J Barber, 1984d, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 45 (Bibliographic reference). SWE12926.

I Armit, 1996g, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 106 (Bibliographic reference). SWE38151.

I Armit, 1997b, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 84 (Bibliographic reference). SWE40608.