We’re all potty about the Iron Age at Clachtoll
Look at this beautiful array of pots that emerged once the pit kiln could be opened, twenty-four hours after the blaze on Monday! We were amazed that so few cracked or broke in the fire and there are some lovely blue shades on some of the clay. Lots of delighted people who made pots in […]
The dig is off to a blazing start
One of Assynt’s modern day assets is a wealth of talented potters, not least because of Highland Stoneware, based in Lochinver. Two people who work some of the time for them, and also run their own ceramics businesses, are Fergus Stewart and Marc Campbell. Fergus is an internationally-renowned potter and kiln builder, with decades of […]
All welcome to join in some experimental archaeology at Clachtoll
THERE ARE LOTS OF EVENTS TO JOIN IN WITH FROM 2nd – 14th JULY: ALL EVENTS ARE FREE EXCAVATION at the Broch Monday 2 July 2-5pm & then 9am – 5pm daily (not Sunday) until Saturday 14 July Volunteers welcome – no experience required CLACHTOLL BROCH ACTIVITIES AND DISPLAYS: Monday 2 July Afternoon In […]
PUTTING THE STORY BACK INTO HISTORY
Monday 26 March, 8pm, Lochinver Community Room, FREE event, all welcome Come to an evening of stories with historical novelist Margaret Elphinstone, Lewis story teller and author Ian Stephen, and raise a glass for the launch of The Walrus Mutterer, a new novel set at Clachtoll broch, in the Iron Age, by local author Mandy […]
Iron Age Food and an update from the project
On Thursday 9 November the archaeology team will be reporting back on their analysis of finds and conclusions so far. This will happen in Stoer Hall from 7.30pm. We’ll be serving some Iron Age style refreshments from 7pm onwards, so make sure not to eat too much beforehand or you’ll miss out on some archaeologically-informed […]
Our stonemason speaks
We thought you would be interested to hear from the broch builder himself. For regular readers, no, sadly this doesn’t mean we’ve managed to bring Ug back to life, but Brian Wilson, from Wildland Services in Ullapool, is the next best thing – the masterful stonemason who has been repairing some of the most dangerous […]
Only one week of excavation to go at Clachtoll broch
It’s hard to believe but the archaeological team will be at Clachtoll broch for just one more week. It’s also hard to believe the transformation to the building in that time. Almost the entire interior of the ruin has been revealed, with hundreds of tonnes of stone taken out and the floor removed right down […]
Dem bones, dem bones…
(Thanks to Jen Valentine for this post). Wednesday afternoon and Thursday last week saw the start of the specialist environmental aspect of the Broch excavation with some of the bone and deposit samples being looked at. AOC’s Environmental Archaeologist, Jack, started with a wet sieving session on Wednesday afternoon. On the bank of the burn […]
Wanted: Miniature Archaeologist!
With every stone that is moved, the broch seems to become more dramatic, and now some of the intricate corners are now under investigation, including the guard chambers off the entrance passage. Excavating these calls for a really tiny archaeologist who likes dark, confined spaces, so if that’s you, do get in touch! Meanwhile we’ll […]
Piecing together 2000 years
Today we put two and two together and made two thousand years. It happened during a finds workshop in the village hall at Stoer, cataloguing some of the objects uncovered at Clachtoll broch over recent weeks. One of the volunteers was recording a pottery find. It consisted of three pieces of ceramic, two of which […]
