Ceramic urn found at the dig at Armadale

Following an archaeological dig at Armadale on Skye, several burial cists have been found dating back to the Bronze Age and earlier, writes Lisa Falconer.

Archaeologist Mary Peteranna was asked to conduct a watching brief at the Skye and Lochalsh Housing Association site in September as part of the planning procedure — a requirement in this case because of known archaeological sites in the area, including a Neolithic chambered cairn and a cist found in the 1960s.

While working at the site, Mrs Peteranna watched as a digger scraping topsoil caught the capstone lid of a cist, revealing a fully-intact urn and cremation. This was followed by the discovery of another cist two metres from the first, also containing a decorated urn. The second cist and urn appeared around two-thirds of the size of the first, with both on a north-south alignment. The size and positioning of the cists and urns suggest the Bronze Age cists are connected.

The ceramic urns were probably incised using bird bone and impressed with cord or twine to decorate them. The capstones are a micaceous schist which would have shimmered in colour and been a visable marker on the cists.

The watching brief was completed and it was following this that Mrs Peteranna — along with local archaeologists Steven Birch and Martin Wildgoose and Inverness-based archaeologist Lynn Fraser — returned to the site where further archaeological discoveries were made.

A third cist was uncovered, and excavation revealed another decorated urn, an archer’s wrist guard fragment and a flint knife. After consulting a ceramics specialist, the archaeologists believe this cist to be from earlier in the Bronze Age than the previous two.

The archaeologists also uncovered a ring ditch with a large cist at its centre. The monumental ditch, probably from the Neolithic period, was originally formed with timber posts which were later replaced with standing stones. Three stones were then left to form an arc, with smaller stones surrounding them in the form of a kerb. The human remains in this cist were uncremated, which along with the east-west alignment supports the evidence of it being from the Neolithic rather than Bronze Age period.

Beside the ring ditch another grave, possibly covered by a cairn, was found with cremation remains underneath it. This is earlier than anything else found on the site, possibly even pre-Neolithic. There was one further cist found cut into the ring ditch as well as cremation pits. The edge of a yet-unknown feature has been uncovered outside of the site area which will be excavated in the coming weeks.

The site was used exclusively for burials, Mrs Peteranna said: “It was a completely clean burial site used over millennia and it is really interesting that there is no evidence of anything here apart from burials. There’s no evidence of day-to-day activity, no animal bones or shell, no fire pits or anything else, it was kept clean.”

The site is now being cleared and the cists excavated for further analysis. Mrs Peteranna said: “Maybe the local museum will use the finds — the standing stones and capstones are in good condition. They have expressed interest and the community has as well so we will keep them safe until a decision is made. If not the developer has also expressed an interest in using them in a feature on the site.”

Once the site is cleared of the archaeological finds the work on the UBC 10-house development will continue.