Monument record MHG51510 - Building (structure d), Kinakyle

This structure was initially identified during a walkover survey in October 2007. <1>

The building measures 20.5m by 5.5m. It is the largest of the identified buildings and the only one aligned NW-SE across the site and down the slope. The walls are spread and eroded, particularly at the NW end, where the building becomes indistinct within the trees. There may be an internal partition; the smaller section measures internally 8.7m by 3m and may have a doorway centrally in the SW facing wall. The larger section measures internally 9m in length. Just SE of the trees, both walls contain what appears to be mounds of rubble which does not appear to be structural. An eroded section of the NE wall shows a number of sharp-edged stones which have the appearance of rubble fill to a double-skin stone wall. At the NW end, at the edge of the tree line, rabbit burrowing has thrown up a quantity of clay. This is clean, without any noticeable inclusions and is assumed to be a natural glacial deposit rather than the remains of a clay floor. <2>

An evaluation trench (trench 5) was excavated across this structure in April 2008 to try and explore its function.
Structure D is perhaps the poorest preserved of all the buildings at Kinakyle. Oriented north-west by south-east, this building had an entrance facing south-west at its south-eastern end and may in fact represent two separate structures aligned end to end. Strong evidence was apparent within its walls to suggest that the building was of turf construction, edged with slabs. This form of construction was particularly common prior to the mid-eighteenth century within the
Highlands as recent work at Easter Raitts, Badenoch and a number of sites on Loch Tayside, including T16 and T17 at Kiltyrie have proved. The discovery of two iron hoops, similar in form to the type that was used for binding barrels, may imply a storage function for this building. <3>