Loch Eisiadair, Sollas NF 80991 72838
The site consists of a turf bank surrounding a mound located around 50m north-east of the north shore of Loch Eiseadair in the township of Middlequarter on North Uist.
The bank (A in survey plan) is sub-circular in plan and varies in internal diameter between 30m and 32m. It appears to have been largely constructed with turf or peat blocks, now slumped to a width of between 2m and 4m, and no more than 0.5m high at its highest point. There may be a break around 1.5m wide in the bank near its south extremity (D), defined by a pile of stones to its west and a single stone to its east. The mound (B) appears, from a number of exposed areas of bedrock on its south-west side (C), to be natural in origin. Also sub-circular in plan it measures between 21m and 19m across its base, and its highest point, somewhat offset to the north-east, is around 4m above the surrounding ground level. Near the foot of its south-west facing slope are two lines of stones (E) and a pile of stone rubble (F) which may be anthropomorphic in origin. Between the site and the shore of Loch Eisiadair are a number of other features including a linear discontinuity in ground level (G) which appears to be a line of former peat cuttings and a 15m length of tumbled stone dyke (H) aligned perpendicular to the shore which extends below the loch water level. Its inland termination is located at what is believed to be the loch’s former, higher shoreline which existed before the water level was lowered by cutting a drainage channel out from the loch’s east end. Although the dyke appears to be roughly aligned with the mound’s centre there is no direct evidence that the two are related. |
Plan of the site drawn by David Newman |
Although classified as an enclosure in Canmore, this combination of a natural mound surrounded by a low turf bank has been noted at a number of other locations on North Uist and may represent a new class of site yet to be identified. There are significant numbers of folds and enclosures on the island that do not enclose mounds, and the logic of herding animals into one almost wholly occupied by a mound is unclear.
However, the combination of a mound almost filling an enclosure does fit with the descriptions of Norse ‘Things’ or assembly sites, and the distribution of similar sites across different late middle age terung land units supports this possibility.
The nearby place names do provide evidence for Norse settlement here with the likely deirvation of Eisiadair is ON eiðs sætr = 'shieling of the isthmus'. The image above shows this to be a good topographicla fit.
The mound is situated on the slopes of Cnoc Mugaraidh. This is less obvious to interpret but an option would be ON mó- gerði = 'moor enclosure'.
However, the combination of a mound almost filling an enclosure does fit with the descriptions of Norse ‘Things’ or assembly sites, and the distribution of similar sites across different late middle age terung land units supports this possibility.
The nearby place names do provide evidence for Norse settlement here with the likely deirvation of Eisiadair is ON eiðs sætr = 'shieling of the isthmus'. The image above shows this to be a good topographicla fit.
The mound is situated on the slopes of Cnoc Mugaraidh. This is less obvious to interpret but an option would be ON mó- gerði = 'moor enclosure'.