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Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Rocks & Rows, Sailing Routes across the Atlantic and the Copper Trade

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<< Other Photo Pages >> Sloc Sabhaid - Ancient Village or Settlement in Scotland in North Uist

Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 17 November 2014  Page Views: 11493

Multi-periodSite Name: Sloc Sabhaid Alternative Name: Baile Sear, Baleshare
Country: Scotland County: North Uist Type: Ancient Village or Settlement

Map Ref: NF781609
Latitude: 57.523349N  Longitude: 7.379469W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

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Sloc Sabhaid
Sloc Sabhaid submitted by dodomad : Excavation at Baleshare Archaeologists excavate a building revealed by coastal erosion. An Iron Age settlement near here has been under investigation since 2006. Site in North Uist Scotland Copyright Rob Burke and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence (Vote or comment on this photo)
Iron Age houses in North Uist. Hurricane-force winds exposed 2,000-year-old Iron Age houses at Baile Sear, North Uist, in January 2005.

A team from St Andrews University has been investigating the roundhouses before they vanish in another storm. The wind and waves have already taken their toll and some parts have been lost.

Tom Dawson, of the group SCAPE (Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the problem of Erosion) is leading the community project, which is partly funded by Historic Scotland and will start work in about four weeks.

He said: "The structures are just sitting on the beach. There are thought to be two roundhouses. We believe they are Iron Age, making them 2,000 years old."

In May 2005, a hearth was visible in one of the houses, but by September that year it had been washed away. Two months later, strong winds helped to expose the top of a roundhouse wall, but by February 2006, wind and waves had caused it partly to collapse.

See the comments below for more news on this site, and also our news page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Map Reference given is an approximation based on information from the sources found on the web

Note: 3500-year-old basket excavated on North Uist beach
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Sloc Sabhaid
Sloc Sabhaid submitted by dodomad : The remains of a wheelhouse excavated by archaeologists in August 2007. hoto was taken with a 8m long pole. Copyright Jac Volbeda and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence. Site in North Uist Scotland (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NF7860 : Atlantic storm beach on Baleshare/Baile Sear by M J Richardson
by M J Richardson
©2016(licence)
NF7860 : Gateway at Sloc Sabhaidh by M J Richardson
by M J Richardson
©2016(licence)
NF7860 : Excavation at Baleshare by Rob Burke
by Rob Burke
©2010(licence)
NF7861 : Take care - terns nesting by Gordon Hatton
by Gordon Hatton
©2019(licence)
NF7860 : Miles of sand by Gordon Hatton
by Gordon Hatton
©2019(licence)

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"Sloc Sabhaid" | Login/Create an Account | 8 News and Comments
  
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The Baleshire Basket - 3,500-year-old basket excavated at North Uist beach by Andy B on Saturday, 20 March 2021
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News from 2014 that I had missed:

In a visit after storm in November 2014 Roger Auger spotted a new silt layer exposed in the inter-tidal zone a few metres away, and a minor discontinuity which caught his eye turned out to be the remains of a buried basket containing animal bones and quartz flakes.

The day after the discovery, the team returned with local archaeologist Dr Kate MacDonald and carried out assessment and preliminary survey work which included 3D imaging of the basket and the surrounding silt layer, and posting a new SCHARP record (12856). Although this site was originally red listed it was soon able to be changed to green when a team of specialists came a few days later and removed the remains for detailed analysis and conservation.

https://scharpblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/a-blog-post-from-uist-the-view-from-scharp-volunteers/

An area of dark brown/grey deposits were exposed in November 2014 following two storms in October. First identified on 7-11-14 was a small oval shape containing bones and white quartz fragments, which seemed to be the remains of a basket and contents.
The deposit is exposed for at least 24 m along the beach, from NF 77649 61507 in the south, to NF 77636 61529 in the north.

http://scharp.co.uk/sites-at-risk/12856/

Reported by the BBC on 14th November 2014
3,500-year-old basket excavated at North Uist beach

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30055116
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Some bits on Sloc Sabhaid by Andy B on Sunday, 28 April 2019
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Some bits on Sloc Sabhaid here, page 42 on

Living in Liminality: An Osteoarchaeological Investigation into the Use of Avian Resources in North Atlantic Island Environments - Julia Bettina Jennifer Best
Thesis submitted for PhD
Cardiff University Department of Archaeology and Conservation
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
2013
https://orca.cf.ac.uk/58668/1/2014bestjbphd.pdf
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Race to study Iron Age roundhouses before they are lost to sea storms by Andy B on Wednesday, 26 April 2017
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See also (from 2007) Race to study Iron Age roundhouses before they are lost to sea storms
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413172
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3,500-year-old basket excavated at North Uist beach by Andy B on Monday, 17 November 2014
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An artefact thought to be 3,500 years old that was uncovered by the tide on a Western Isles beach has been excavated before being washed away. The prehistoric basket was discovered in an area of shoreline where the sea has been eroding the land at Baleshare in North Uist.

Archaeologists have managed to remove the object with help from the local community.

It will be examined by AOC Archaeology Group.

The basket appears to contain animal bones covered in a layer of quartz pebbles.

Deborah Anderson, regional archaeologist with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said it could prove to be a historically valuable find.

She said: "I'm delighted the rescue was successful.

"The archaeologists were brilliant and the local community were so helpful, we couldn't have done it without them."

Many well preserved ancient artefacts have been discovered at other sites on North Uist in the past.

From the Bronze Age, finds have included a skeleton and from the Iron Age evidence of metal work.

Also, from the Iron Age are the remains of homes dubbed Jelly Baby houses because the shape of them looked like the sweets.

More, with pictures at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30055116

With thanks to Coldrum for the link
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Revealing the Western Isles ancient history by Anonymous on Sunday, 10 October 2010
As evidenced:- The British burial find of Boxgrove man who was evidently in front of Neanderthal (in France) from at least 500,000 BC; and by the Red Man of Paviland British burial dated at least 30,000 BC on the Gower Peninsular, this was a front line Nation in a fruitful land-fall and ice-shelf Gulf Stream catchment area in the farthest land North-West, which was a very good area to settle (and going further north up against a 100 meter block of ice-shelf was not accessible by any person or animal). From this place the British understandably extended west into the Americas and east along the ice shelf to colonize other lands; while occupying all of the British Isles areas as the ice-shelf would allow at any time. Understandably the British moved into the north behind the receding ice-shelf in more temperate climes, or moved back when the weather was harsh, just like our North American Indians cousins.
From about 10,000 BC the British had progressed into flint, and the burnt flint-lime was used in kiln construction and for fertilizing the land, whitewashing their daubed air conditioned louse free round-houses and not to forget, for spiking up their louse free hair styles.
In these times the British progressed their superiority in astronomy and found the basics of mathematics thousand of years before Pythagoras, which is apparent in their construction techniques and following technologies, particularly in large scale mining and the sciences of metallurgy and metal-casting etc from as early as at least 3,500 BC; from which the British pedigree evolved and exists today.
The unique houses of Skara Bray are the forerunners to you modern semi with drainage systems, draft-proof air conditioning, built in beds and wardrobes etc, and with an on-suite indoor toilet, all built before the Pyramids in Egypt.
What we call Celtic Rock Art today including the eddy portal designs and cup marks are found in great numbers around the British Isles, and particularly at New Grange in Ireland dated to at least 4,500 BC, and also on the Isle of Man and Anglesey are evidenced to be unique British Celtic designs, because no other people resided in these places at these times, and this area was called in ancient times “Britan” or “Britanishan” which is the British Isles; which you can read about in my book called “FOOTPRINTS IN THE STONE”, or for more information visit my website:-
http://www.aptwebsite.toucansurf.com

David J
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Re: Revealing the Western Isles ancient history by Andy B on Saturday, 02 October 2010
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There is more information from the excavators here:
http://www.shorewatch.co.uk/html/accessarch.html
and some photos of this site here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6242232.stm
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Revealing the Western Isles ancient history by Andy B on Saturday, 02 October 2010
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A heavy storm in 2005 ripped a stretch of coastline from North Uist’s tidal island of Baile Sear (Anglicised name: ‘Baleshare’), revealing a two thousand year-old settlement which seems to extend some way below the land of a neighbouring croft. Part of the settlement was excavated and recorded last year by Scape (Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion), a charity existing to research, conserve and promote the archaeology of Scotland’s coast. Then a high tide in August tore away another three metres of the coastline including the excavated area. This year professional archaeologists funded by Historic Scotland have been working on a three-week dig helped by volunteers from the local archaeology group, Access Archaeology.

Tom Dawson, a research fellow at St Andrews University, a senior archaeologist and a founder of Scape, is managing the Baile Sear project. He says: ‘This site is incredibly significant. It would be totally lost if Access Archaeology and Scape hadn’t started excavating it, and at the current rate of erosion it will be gone in three to four years. The information we’re getting from it will significantly increase our knowledge of that time’.

The site at Sloc Sabhaid on Baile Sear is a settlement of wheelhouses – round structures divided by internal radial walls forming rooms within the building. These structures are related to – and a little later than – the great Atlantic round houses or brochs, like Dun Carloway in Lewis.

Finds include a layer of at least four hearths. This indicates a long period of habitation of the wheelhouse. The top hearth is perfectly preserved, outlined by stones and with a clay foundation, marked with a cross. Mr Dawson says: ‘It looks like it’s been scratched on wet clay with the three middle fingers, but we have no idea why. I’ve never seen anything like it before’. There are also bones – human and animal and crafted artefacts made from bone, shell and pottery.

http://forargyll.com/2008/09/race-to-excavate-iron-age-site-on-north-uist-tidal-island/
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Revealing the Western Isles ancient history by Andy B on Saturday, 02 October 2010
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AN Iron Age site on North Uist which is seriously threatened by coastal erosion is gradually revealing more of its secrets in a race against time.
Community volunteers and professional archaeologists are uncovering part of a wheelhouse settlement first exposed at Sloc Sabhaid on Baleshare beach in 2005.

Wheelhouses are circular stone buildings divided by internal radial walls, forming rooms within the building. They were thought to have been built up to 2000 years ago, and used up until roughly 500AD.

The Sloc Sabhaid site has been excavated each summer for three weeks since 2006, with members of the local archaeology group Access Archaeology playing a significant part in the work.
Coastal erosion has already taken away much of the site, which after excavating and recording each year has been covered over and left to winter's tidal forces.

Lead archaeologist is Tom Dawson, founder and manager of SCAPE, Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion.
He said: "This week a Glasgow University specialist in OSL dating, or optically stimulated luminescence dating will take sand samples from the site.

"By measuring the light radiation captured within the quartz he will tell us when the sand was last buried. We hope this way to date the site from its origins through its various stages of use and development, to when it fell into disuse."

He added: "SCAPE has undertaken these excavations with funding by Historic Scotland because the community has expressed a great interest in them. This is likely to the final dig for the foreseeable future, so we are urging more volunteers to come along and join in before the digs ends on October 1st."

http://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/features/Revealing-the-Western-Isles-ancient.6540320.jp
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