Our Time Team investigators have discovered a Shot Firers Hut dated as post medieval. Move your picture over the image to see a replica of the ancient shot firing machine they had in mind.
My own estimate of the age of the hut is that it is from the Huntie Gowk period!
There were turf built banks on South Uist, which may have formed part of the wider division of the land into 'bailes' in the later medieval or post-medieval periods. Later field-clearance cairns on Eriskay were also excavated.
The trial trenching identified walls under 0.4m of peat. These are possibly of Neolithic date (up to 5500 years ago) and are thought to be field enclosure walls. The design of the causeway project was modified to preserve these walls in situ.
A canalised channel was surveyed, 20 metres wide, consisting of two coursed drystone walls approximately 25m long. This channel may date to the 18th century, built to link Loch a' Bruga to the sea after it was sealed by a storm.
After a detailed survey, the definite blackhouse was excavated. The walls consisted of an earthen core with internal and external faces of stone. Some shards of pottery and glass, datable to the post-medieval period were recovered. An unfinished millstone, which may have formed part of the floor was uncovered and a hearth excavated.
Slight traces of another possible blackhouse to the west were also investigated. A spread of peat ash was identified within the possible house and post-Medieval pottery, glass and a piece of lead recovered. Also discovered was a D-shaped enclosure defined by a low turf-built bank faced with stone on the inside. There were no features within the enclosure which probably had an agricultural function.
A wide range of archaeological finds have been made in the area affected by the causeway work including some field enclosure walls which may date back 5000 years.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar commissioned Babtie Group to investigate archaeological remains which could be affected by the construction of the causeway and associated rock extraction sites, haul roads, approach roads and laydown area. Preliminary research and a detailed archaeological survey using a Global Positioning System identified the position and layout of 254 field monuments of various dates. The scheme was designed to avoid most of these sites.
Those sites that could not be avoided were excavated by Babtie Group archaeologists, at which stage trial trenching was also completed. The excavated sites included one definite and one possible blackhouse.
A group of walls buried underneath an area of feannagan was also investigated; a similar group of features recently investigated on South Uist was of Neolithic date, but these ones appear to be of post-medieval date.
The archaeologists also made a detailed survey of twenty archaeological monuments at Ard Mhor, Isle of Barra, to ensure that the ferry terminal site there could be designed to minimise its impact on archaeological remains.
The sites included two blackhouses and associated structures, two possible kelp ovens and a number of agricultural clearance cairns. Two cellular structures which were also identified were more exciting; they could date to the medieval period or earlier. Babtie Group were preparing a full report on these archaeological discoveries to be submitted to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
Archaeologists from Babtie Group investigated the area of the ferry terminal and access road at Ceann a' Gharaidh on Eriskay. The work was commissioned by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to make sure that no archaeological or historic sites were damaged without being recorded.
Babtie's archaeologists have made a detailed survey record of 24 monuments, including black houses and associated yards and structures, a well and areas of feannagan. Small-scale excavations were undertaken on some of these features, to confirm that they were of post-medieval origin. Some previously unknown features were identified, including a sub-circular structure, possibly a stack base.