Excavation and survey at Loch Bhorgastail, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (July 2021): Interim report

Abstract

Following on from previous survey work carried out in 2016 and 2017, a more substantial excavation was undertaken on and around the crannog in Loch Bhorgastail (Figure 1), during July 2021. This involved both terrestrial and underwater excavation. On the surface of the islet, vegetation and peaty soils were removed across approximately 60% of its extent, revealing the full structure and character of its stone architecture. Additionally, a small sondage was excavated through the stone ‘base’ of the islet. This revealed a sequence of brushwood/heather and other layers, indicating that the stone phase of the crannog was pre-dated by a timber construction. Adjacent to the stone islet, an underwater trench was excavated extending out from the SE quadrant. This revealed an extensive spread of laid timbers, brushwood and silts. To a considerable extent, this stratigraphy matched closely the lower levels observed in the on-land sondage. Underwater, the pre-stone, timber phase architecture was traced six metres beyond the outer edge of the stone islet, with the furthest extent yet to be determined. Alongside this excavation work, four additional surveys within the local landscape were undertaken: palaeoenvironmental coring across an area of 1.4 x 0.7 km; coring of the loch bed in the vicinity of the islet to obtain sedaDNA evidence; a walkover GPS survey involving recording of features across the local landscape and multiple drone flights to build a topographic model.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Stephanie Blankshein: orcid.org/0000-0002-4622-9180

ORCID for Fraser Sturt: orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-990X

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