Newton House Souterrain, North Uist
In February 2008, AOC Archaeology Group investigated an area of known archaeological significance at Newton House, North Uist on behalf of North Uist Access Archaeology Group. The aim of the project was to record and stabilize a partially collapsed souterrain located at the site and to investigate a nearby geophysical anomaly identified during a previous survey. Newton House is located in the district of Baile Mhic Phail in the north-west of the island of North Uist, Western Isles; the area under investigation lies 750 m south-east of the foreshore, on the upper part of a north-western facing slope of a house mound.
The Souterrain
The souterrain comprises a 3 m diameter, roughly circular, subterranean chamber with a 5.2 m long passageway running from the chamber. The chamber wall is constructed of roughly finished gneiss stone blocks, the largest stone being 0.75 m by 0.25 m and the smallest being 0.15 m by 0.04 m. The wall is of dry-stone construction laid in a stringing fashion with occasional small spacer stones inserted between larger blocks and stands up to nine rough courses high (1.2 m). The wall is also corbelled, leaning inward toward the centre of the chamber.
One unusual feature of the souterrain is a roughly finished gneiss stone masonry pillar, also of dry-stone construction, standing nine courses high. The pillar is sub-rectangular in plan and stands to a height of 1.2 m from the floor of the chamber to the roof. The south-eastern side of the pillar is faced, presenting a neat façade when the chamber is entered from the passageway. However, the other three sides are less well constructed, with gaps appearing through the masonry. The form of the pillar, narrow at the base and expanding in width to the top is of a style commonly found in wheelhouses in the Western Isles.
The roof of the chamber is also constructed of roughly finished gneiss stone. The dry-stone build is constructed in such a way as to create a roughly spiralled corbelled roof made up of seven irregular slabs (the central uppermost having tumbled into the chamber). The roof also contains a gap or niche directly to the east of the supporting pillar, containing bones.
The 5.2 m long passageway of the souterrain rises at an angle of 14° from the chamber and is formed by two parallel walls running in a WSW to ENE direction and standing to a height of 1 m. The passageway averages 0.77 m in width and was entered from the top at its WSW extent. The walls of the passageway are constructed of roughly finished gneiss stone masonry. Like the walls of the souterrain chamber, the passageway is of dry-stone construction with occasional small spacer stones between larger blocks, up to six rough courses high. No clear masonry join was discernable between the passage and the souterrain chamber wall, suggesting one continuous phase of construction. The roof of the souterrain passageway was formed by a row of single gneiss stone lintel slabs, spanning the gap between the passageway walls. The floor of the souterrain (both chamber and passageway) was constructed of large irregular gneiss stone slabs (0.7 m to 1.0 m) upon which the walls of the chamber and passageway were built.
Both the chamber and passageway floor had numerous deposits of animal bone (sheep and cattle), of which two fragments were retrieved for analysis. The walls of both the passageway and chamber also contained small fragments of animal bone within gaps in the stonework.
Laser Scanning the Souterrain
In order to create an accurate and detailed record of the souterrain, a laser scanner was used to create a 3D model. AOC Archaeology Group’s Trimble GS101 scanner was used to scan the structure from six positions, creating a ‘pointcloud’ model with a resolution of 5mm or better.
The 3D scan model was used to extract elevations and plan drawings in AutoCAD, as well as fly through animations and Quicktime VR movies.
AOC Surveyor: Dr Graeme CaversClient: North Uist Access Archaeology Group
