A 1st millennium bc Atlantic roundhouse in Argyll: Survey and excavation at Loch Glashan

Abstract

A detailed survey of the Atlantic roundhouse at Loch Glashan (NMRS: NR99SW 8; NR 9227 9301) was carried out over two weeks in June 2003 alongside a small-scale excavation to assess the extent of damage caused by encroaching vegetation and to obtain dating evidence. The structure is a large dry-stone circular building located above Loch Glashan, and the excavations produced architectural evidence suggesting more than one phase of occupation, alongside Iron Age artefacts and radiocarbon dates. These reinforce the argument that circular Iron Age structures in Argyll belong within the wider Atlantic milieu of brochs or Atlantic roundhouses dating to the second half of the 1st millennium cal BC.