Title: |
Monks, Priests and Farmers: A Community Research Excavation at Baliscate, Isle of Mull |
Series: |
Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports
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Volume: |
68
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Number of Pages: |
111 |
Downloads: |
2056-7421_68_Baliscate.pdf (14 MB)
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Download
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Monograph (in Series)
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Abstract: |
A community research excavation centred on Baliscate on the Isle of Mull took place in autumn 2012. The excavation has revealed the existence of a thriving sixth-century agricultural settlement which was either adopted or replaced by a seventh-century Christian community which appears to have been a monastic establishment. The continued ecclesiastical nature of the settlement into the ninth and tenth centuries is attested by the presence of a later enclosure/vallum and a rectangular structure interpreted as a leacht. In the late 11th or early 12th century, a stone and turf bow-ended structure was built which probably functioned as a longhouse or hall. This structure was later used in the 12th century to house a large corn-drying kiln. Although no 11th- or 12th-century structures were identified adjacent to the leacht, occupation deposits were identified. Then, in the late 13th or early 14th century, a wattle and turf structure was built over these
deposits and the remains of a seventh- to eighth-century cemetery. This structure burnt down and was
rapidly replaced by a new stone and turf structure enclosed by a rectangular stone and turf enclosure. This
is tentatively interpreted as an enclosed chapel, but the evidence is contradictory and it may have simply
been an enclosed farmstead. Occupation around the site continued in one form or another until the 16th
century and thereafter the site was used intermittently. The excavation has highlighted how little we know
about the so-called enclosed chapel sites of Argyll and the absence of evidence for the early Christian church. |
Author: |
Clare Ellis
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Publisher: |
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
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Other Person/Org: |
Torben Bjarke Ballin (Author contributing)
Angela Boyle (Author contributing)
Gemma Cruickshanks (Author contributing)
George R Haggarty (Author contributing)
Derek W Hall (Author contributing)
Derek Hamilton (Author contributing)
Richard Scott Jones (Author contributing)
Anthony Krus (Author contributing)
Kenneth Murdock (Author contributing)
Susan Ramsay (Author contributing)
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Year of Publication: |
2017
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Locations: |
Site: |
Baliscate |
Place: |
Baliscate Chapel |
Place: |
Coille Creag A Chait |
Place: |
Tobermory |
District: |
Argyll and Bute |
County: |
Argyll and Bute |
County: |
Scotland |
Grid Reference: 149677, 754068 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
EARLY MEDIEVAL
(ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods & Ages)
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chapel
(Monus)
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EARLY MEDIEVAL
(ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods & Ages)
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leacht
(Monus)
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MEDIEVAL
(ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods & Ages)
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corn drying kiln
(Monus)
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MEDIEVAL
(ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods & Ages)
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vallum
(Monus)
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LATE IRON AGE
(ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods & Ages)
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Late Medieval
(MIDAS)
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Early Modern
(MIDAS)
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Source: |
ADS Archive
(ADS Archive)
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Relations: |
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Created Date: |
02 Nov 2017 |