Monument record MHG9126 - Hut Circle - Loch Raa (Loch Raa 2)

A hut circle on the east shore of Loch Raa.

At NC 0213 1188 is a well-preserved circular stone-walled hut measuring 8m diameter between centres of a wall spread to 2.5m. The entrance is in S arc. A ruinous wall to N, ending in loch, may be contemporary.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (A A) 17 July 1974.

On E of public road to Achiltibuie there are two bracken-covered hut-circles and a fragmentary field-system. NW hut-circle (ACHIL94 552, NC 0212 1188) measures 7m diameter within a stony bank spread to 1.6m in thickness and standing 0.5m high, with an entrance on SSE. SE hut-circle (ACHIL94 553, NC 0218 1184) is smaller, measuring 5.4m diameter within a stony bank spread to 1.7m in thickness and 0.3m in height, with occasional facing-stones visible. The field-system comprises low stony banks, mainly visible to NE of N hut-circle, to which it is connected by an arm of main artery of field-system. The latter runs SE for a distance of 80m from public road (NC 0210 1193 to 0216 1187), from which two arms are subtended, one leading to hut-circle, and second to shore of Loch Raa. (ACHIL94 552-3)Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 10 August 1994

202132 911872 Loch Raa 2 CM102 (ACHILL94/552): The hut circle was visited by A Welti, C MacNeilage and C Martin in 2010 as part of research for a dissertation on hut circles in Wester Ross. This was part of a degree course overseen by Aberdeen University. His circular stone structure is in fair condition. It was visited by OS in 1974 and by RCAHMS in 1994. It lies on a very gentle west facing slope in grazing land, beside the road, 15m from the freshwater Loch Raa and 15m from a stream. The wall stones are covered in bracken but facings and infill are still visible. The HC is part of a linear cluster along a shore contour of around 10m to 20m. These HC's are in sight of the linear cluster on the W side of Loch Raa and Loch Vatachan. This HC, CM102, is cut by a later double skinned wall across its S section. The wall runs W towards the loch. To the NE of the HC is a meandering double skinned tumbled wall running to NW. This could be contemporary. A shallow ditch runs part way round the outside of the NE arc. The ditch is 1.5m wide and 0.2m deep. At the termination of the ditch a large stone slab is well set into the ground, 0.6m high and 1.8m long, at the edge of a small hollow, (see sketch). Average inner diameter is 5.35m, outer diameter is 10.35m. The double skinned wall is 1.0m thick with maximum height 0.75m. The probable entrance faces south, with external width 1.1m and internal width 1m. The passage length is 2.5m, indicating extended terminals. This HC may be associated with a linear cluster, AW401 distant 800m (see MHG45594), CM101 distant 200m (see MHG9125), CM103 distant 50m (see MHG38976), as well as CMM205 distant 400m (see MHG13057) and CMM204 distant 470m (see MHG24962). <1> <2>

[Note: a database was set up as part of research for the dissertation and was subsequently expanded as an extension of the We Digs Project (see website link below). The full access database can be made available to enquirers/researchers if requested - contact HER for details].

This HC was partially excavated as part of the Wedigs Community project in 2012. Three small trenches were excavated. A series of hearths was exposed and radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal deposits from the earliest and latest of these. The earliest hearth gave a C14 date of 3207±27 BP (GU30612) This is 1257±27 BC, Early Bronze Age, and the most recent hearth in the stack was dated at 2374±27 BP (GU30611), this is 424±27 BC, Early Iron Age. The site was artefact-poor, with a sherd of early Iron Age pottery and a sherd of steatite, possibly part of the rim of a vessel, being among the only finds and reliance was therefore been placed on radiocarbon dating to indicate when the structures were occupied or used. Extra information came from micromorphological soil analysis, from pollen analysis, and from a limited multi-element analysis. In the round, the analyses indicated periods of occupation and abandonment over 800 years. <3>

NGR adjusted to position as seen on 2009 vertical APs. <4>