Proc SocAntiq Scot, 122 (1992), 149-160, fiche 2: A5-B7 The excavation of a souterrain and roundhouse at Cyderhall, Sutherland Rober PollockW t * with contributions by Sheila Boardman, Catherine Smith, Anne Crone and Brian Moffat ABSTRACT The excavation of a newly discovered souterrain on the northern shore of the Dornoch Firth yielded evidence of internal timber supports and a pit dug through the floor. The partial remains of an associated roundhouse and gully represented three occupation levels. Radiocarbon dates ranged from 270+50 BC to 390±50 BC uncal. CONTENTS PRINT Introduction ...........................................................9 14 . The souterrain .......................................................... 152 The Roundhouse ........................................................ 153 The finds .............................................................. 157 Conclusions and Discussion ............................................... 158 Radiocarbon dates ....................................................... 159 FICHE botanicae Th l remains t Sheilfropi ma a Boardman fich : A5-1e2 2 The bone Catherine Smith fiche2:A13 The charcoal Anne Crone fiche2:A14 Investigations into the environment and ethnobotany of the Cyderhall souterrain Brian Moffat fiche 2: B1-7 INTRODUCTION previouslA y unknown souterrai associated nan d roundhouse were discovere Novemben di r 1987 during gravel-quarrying operations (associate Dornocw d ne wit e hth h Firth road bridgen o ) the land of Cyderhall or Sydera Farm, by Dornoch (illus 1). The site was first noticed by members of Dornoch Heritage Society e remainTh . s were excavated during December 198 Januard 7an y 1988. The beed yha n badly damaged befor archaeologicae eth l excavation began. Two-thirde th f so roundhous beed eha n remove machinese th stone y th d b d e souterraian , n whic s likelhi havo yt e * 1 Front Row, Drumlemble, Argyll 150 I SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1992 ILLUS 1 Cyderhall: location. Based upon the Ordnance Survey map © Crown copyright POLLOCK: THE EXCAVATION OF A SOUTERRAIN AND ROUNDHOUSE AT CYDERHALL 151 ILLUS 2 Plan showing the relationship of the souterrain, roundhouse, gully and grain pit, and areas cut away by quarrying, before excavation began 152 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1992 been contemporary wit e hous hth beed t awaha ecu n t botya h ends (illu . Nonetheless2) s , significant structural informatio well-drainen s recoveredo t nwa se s site ewa Th . d sandy gravet a l c 17mOD. SOUTERRAIN This was set into a slight slope above the roundhouse, and was aligned NW/SE. The surviving souterraie trencth r hfo n measure m2 d 7. lon side)E m7 g(N 2. ,side)lon W g(S , 2.25m t werwid 1.7d cu ehighan e 4 m sidee almos th f Th . so t vertical likels i t I . y that this trencd hha walline th d gan bee builg nshordu n i t t length sande tima th t s a syea grave t througo cu s t s i l hwa unstable. walline Th principalls gwa f largyo e reddish sandstone blocks, roughly t dressewitse hd dan their long axes vertically, with their flatte r interioe facesouterraine th th o t sf o r . Smaller rounded -7 B section 5m plan : ^^>;•• j :.-••'''••'•'•'-;U3:^4^T-r-p- -T--- f ' — .•'.•'• : *''•••. ' ^ iJ'Oi^tiM/n-A ILLUS 3 Section drawing of the remaining part of the walling of the souterrain (north-east side)plaa d n an ,showin e internagth l features POLLOCK: THE EXCAVATION OF A SOUTERRAIN AND ROUNDHOUSE AT CYDERHALL | 153 stones from the local gravel had been used as packing between these blocks and formed areas of wallin thein righgn i placen row i t interioe s (illuTh . s3) r width betwee buile nth t 1.c . wall 7s m swa It is not likely that the maximum surviving height of the walls corresponded to the original height, and no direct evidence of the original roofing technique survived. Cuttin gvera y thin trampled construction deposit wer single efouon d ean r paired post-holes (illu , featur3 s s 105-9no e , 123-6). Fiv f thes eo packind eha g stone placen i s , defining post diameters of c 0.2 m. The opposite pairs of post-holes had a transverse distance of 0.8-0.95 m between them, south-easexcepe th r fo t f onlt o pai yp r0.4ga whic a betwee 5m d hha n them. This, an dsligha t wallstaperine th f o , suggestn gi s tha souterraie th t havy nma e ended about here f thiI . s is so, the presence of the roundhouse at the other end, unfortunately separated from the souterrain b buckeya t scoop, indicate souterraie sth n would maximu a hav d eha m lengt f onlho y 10me Th . function of the posts set at intervals may have been to revet the walling, possibly with the addition of lateral timbers supporo t d roof e an ston,e th t Th . e walls themselves wer t sufficientleno y rigio dt suppor stona t e roo havfy safelyma e t don bu ,wit o es additionae hth l buttressin f timbego r posts. However slabo n , f sufficienso t length were found durin excavatione gth timbea d an , r roo mors fi e likely. The floor surface of the souterrain consisted of grey silty gravel, and this was extensively sampled. (For the very informative results of the analysis of the samples, see fiche 2: Bl-7.) This layer sealed the post-hole packing stones, making it likely that the internal posts were a primary latea t featurrno responsd ean slumpino et g walls flooe Th . r surface laye 0.05-0.0s wa r deep9m ; despite slow and careful excavation and sieving of the whole deposit no finds were recovered. A pit, 103/120 beed througt ha ,n cu flooe rouns hth r wa surfact d pi dept a e o et f 1.0 Th ho . 5m and 1.5 m in diameter. This would have made access up and down the interior of the souterrain very difficult, unless coverewa t i s d ove plankingy b rpurpose th d f sucan ,eo huniqua e featurt no s i e clear, unlessimpls wa t creatsi o yt extrn ea a volum sands f storageo wa t y pi e e spaceth file f o l Th . gravel with several large sandstone blocks whic falled h ha fro n ni south-wese mth t wall. It was not possible to determine whether the souterrain collapsed, perhaps when the supporting timbers s intentionallrottedwa r o , y destroyed siltino n e s notet th wa gbu n , do transverse section or during excavation of the interior deposits, and the souterrain had been deliberately infilled wit hhomogenoua s dum f loospo e grey-brown sandy gravel 100/115. This fill survived to a maximum depth of 0.9 m. Above that were thick dumps of earth and gravel which had been dragge dmachine therth y eb e bucket durin e strippin gth e topsoi th f go l before gravel quarrying began. THE ROUNDHOUSE e survivinTh g one-thir roundhousa f do e wit hsunkea n floo immediately la r ye westh f o t souterrain. Leading off from the roundhouse at its western side was a straight-sided gully, with some similaritie souterraine th o st . Threroundhouse th f eo phasee us f es o wer e identified. PHASE 1 (ILLUS 4) t int naturae cu oedg e th a f Th eo l sandy gravels define survivinshape e dth th f eo ge areth f ao house. The level of the floor was 0.22-0.44 m below the machine-stripped surface. The indicated diameter of the roundhouse was 9 m. verA y thin (0.0 primar) 2m y occupation deposit insid roundhouse eth e consiste f compacdo t sandy gravel. Associated with this were nine post-holes. Six were around the outer edge of the 154 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1992 . J>» o .0 -o 0 « o o•o o ILLUS 4 Phase 1 roundhouse and gully features house (357a-f), and had depths in the range 0.14-0.28 m. Three others, much more substantial (355, 358 & 359), formed part of an inner arc. Two other post-holes encountered outside the surviving housaree machines e t dowth th a cu n ey i n b ,335 d namelan , 9 alsy30 o form par f thio t s inner arc. All five together form almost a semicircle. The depth of these five post-holes varied from 0.63 m to 0.69 m, and most of them had large packing stones in situ. The indicated diameter poste o0.21-0.2s th f swa innee Th . r 8rinm g would have carrie roofe dth , wit outee hth r ring being part of the low outer wall which would have carried the ends of the roof timbers. A possible storage pit 351 also cut the floor to a depth of 0.72 m. Two further major post-holes, 308 and 360, were located where the roundhouse and gully conjoined. These were c 0.55 m deep. The posts here may have formed part of a portal to allow access throug gullye th o ht . POLLOCK: THE EXCAVATION OF A SOUTERRAIN AND ROUNDHOUSE AT CYDERHAL5 15 | L At the east end, the floor level of the gully was the same as that of the roundhouse. The gully 361 had a similar alignment to the souterrain, but curved very slightly to the north. It was 7.4 m long, 1.8 m wide and sloped gently upwards to the rounded north-west end. The occupation surfac thia s n layeewa f silto r y gravel gulle sidee th Th f .y so were steep thred an , e set f paireso d post havy sma e helpe reveo dt unstabl e th t e sand e walle th th y f s o sgravel a same y th ewa n i , souterrain were supported 344d depthd an ha , 347 d 3 f post-holese so an 34 , 353Th .d 6 an 34 , 8 33 , up to 0.52 m.