MHG12862 - Midden - 70yds N of Ferry House, Tongue Ferry
Summary
A shell mound on W shore of the Kyle of Tongue.
Type and Period (2)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
NC55NE 21 5695 5868.
A shell mound on W shore of the Kyle of Tongue, about 70 yards N of Ferry House, stands on 25ft raised beach, and is exposed for about 20 yards. Examination indicated that the shells included oyster, mussel, limpet, whelk and cockle; and also produced a 'stone celt', of igneous rock, probably dolerite, incomplete, having been fractured at one end. Near it was a hammer-stone of basalt, 4.5ins long and about 2ins across, apparently a water-rounded beach stone. Scattered among the debris were fragments of five pots, closely resembling Neolithic and Bronze Age sepulchral pottery, but there was no indications of a burial. Pieces of long bones, evidently split for marrow, also occured, as did a quartzite flake, numerous burnt stones and a piece of slag.
A Neolithic date is tentatively suggested for the mound. The finds were donated to NMAS. Ferry House has not been located, but W end of the ferry was at NC 5695 5868.
OS 6" map, Sutherlandshire, 1st ed., (1874); J Horne and B N Peach 1898
Inverness FC Vol IV p 29 - HAW 9
On a 25 foot raised-beach are two possible locations of the shell mound described in the NMRS from a 1898 source. The exact position of the site is not marked on the NMRS annotated 1:10 560 map and if this is the correct feature then the grid reference supplied (NC 5695 5868) is inaccurate, although the entry notes this is "the west end of the ferry". The first candidate is 65 m north of Ferry House and is a crescent-shaped mound 20 m long, 4 m wide and 0.5 m high. The second is 15 m north of the first and is a linear mound 45 m N-S and 4 m wide and has a dry-stone enclosure on the south end. This mound has a stone-kerb and is capped with rubble (perhaps to protect the shell-mound in the C19th) and modern rubbish (which actually resembles a long cairn). The first example fits the NMRS description better than the second. <1>
NGR adjusted based on 2023 vertical aerial photographs. <2>
Sources/Archives (3)
- --- SHG65 Text/Publication/Article: Horne, J and Peach, B N. 1895. 'A shell mound at Tongue Ferry', Trans Inverness Sci Soc Fld Club, Vol 4, 1888-95, pp 29-35. pp 30-35.
- <1> SHG21099 Text/Report/Fieldwork Report: Brady, K. & Morris, C.D.. 1997. North Sutherland Survey: Coastal Zone Assessment Kyle of Durness to Torrisdale Bay. Glasgow University (GUARD). 30/01/1998. . p.186 Site 9.
- <2> SHG29455 Image/Photograph(s)/Aerial Photograph/Vertical: Get Mapping. 2023. Getmapping aerial photography 2023.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NC 5693 5896 (37m by 43m) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NC55NE |
| Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
Finds (4)
- SHERD (Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 551 BC?)
- SLAG (Undated)
- HAMMERSTONE (Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC? to 560 AD?)
- AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2401 BC)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (1)
External Links (1)
- https://trove.scot/place/5327 (View record on the HES Trove website)
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