EHG6106 - Excavation - Hut circles, Aultcraggie, Brora

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by GUARD Archaeology in 2023 on behalf of the Clyne Heritage Society across parts of two hut circles at Aultcraggie, Brora, Sutherland. The investigations involved members of the Clyne Heritage Society, volunteers from the local community and archaeology students from the University of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews. The excavation involved the partial excavation of both structures revealing successive floor deposits, internal features and an entrance for each structure. A metal detecting survey was also undertaken across the site and a small assemblage of metal artefacts, in the main musket balls were found. Other finds recovered during the course of the excavation included small abraded prehistoric pottery sherds and lithic finds of flint, quartzite, quartz and coarse stone tools including a possible saddle quern or saddle quern rough-out fragment. The excavations made significant discoveries that may span the late Bronze Age to Iron-Age periods. It was not yet clear whether the hut circles were occupied in the Bronze Age and/or during the Iron-Age period, or whether the site was abandoned then resettled. It was considered that to fully understand the chronology and complexity of the site a programme of post-excavation analysis and specialist appraisal of the artefact and ecofact assemblages would be required. <1> The excavation was subsequently published following post-excavtaion analyses. Hut circle 1 was radiocarbon dated to 1387 – 1131 BC, the middle to late Bronze Age, while hut circle 2 was radiocarbon dated to 1124 – 930 BC, the late Bronze Age. Finds included undiagnostic pottery and two coarse stone tools. In addition, the presence of lithic artefacts suggests earlier use of the landscape before the hut circles were built. <2>