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MHG28575 - Circular Enclosure - Loch Poll

Summary

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

This is an extensive and structurally diverse settlement. It comprises elements of stone and stone-and-turf construction and structures and enclosures of various sizes. The presence of a substantial head-dyke (Site 4a), lazy-bed cultivation (Site 4i), areas of adjacent (and presumably contemporary) peat-cutting and possibly corn-drying (Site 4d) clearly imply that this is unlikely to represent the remains of a shieling settlement. The evidence of the clearance cairns (Sites 2, 4b, 4 c& 4f) and the adjacent areas of old pasture would point to the same conclusion. The place-name evidence, presumably preserved in the loch name, Loch Poll, would also suggest that the settlement is possibly of some antiquity. Derived from the Old Norse bolstadr (farm), and preserved in its Gaelic-Scandinavian hybrid form (boll /poll /pool / bo), the name remained a creative name-forming element for a considerable time and was used wherever permanent settlements were formed by the Norse: Nicolaisen (1976, 92), for example, has considered the bolstadr distribution as 'the map of Norse settlement in the Northern and Western Isles and adjacent mainland when such settlement was at its most extensive and Norse power at its height'. The settlement remains on the side of Loch Poll, potentially, have a very early origin indeed. The date of its abandonment is not known, although a clearance-period date might be assumed.

Site 5; A large subcircular enclosure, lying to south of Loch Poll, was recorded by Headland Archaeology during a pre-afforestation survey, 30.5m by 33.5m within a turf-and-stone bank which is up to 1.4m wide and 0.8m high. The enclosure bank is covered in heather, with occasional bracken, but is nonetheless well defined and clearly visible. Ground-cover inside the enclosure is predominantly grass and heather. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 1021 2942 (60m by 60m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC12NW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

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