Barabhas Machair: surveys of an eroding sandscape
Contributors: Mark Elliot, Torben Bjarke Ballin and Trevor Cowie
Summary: The townships of Barabhas are on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides between the blanket bog of Barabhas Moor to the east, and machair and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Barabhas Machair (centre NGR: NB 351 513) has been eroding for at least a century, and of archaeological interest for nearly as long. Survey and excavations over the last 40 years have revealed settlements from the Early Bronze Age to the present day, in a landscape that has been used and reused. This paper is the first of a series presenting the results of this fieldwork, reporting on the results of the surveys and on the results of initial documentary research, and has been produced as part of a wider post-excavation project supported by Historic Environment Scotland.
Keywords: Lithic Scatter, Archaeological Landscape, Croft, Cemetery, Wall, Beaker
Periods: Late Iron Age, Early Iron Age, Late Bronze Age, post-medieval, Early Bronze Age
Location: Western Isles, Scotland, UK
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence.
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[Gaelic]
Tha bailtean Bharabhais air costa an iar Eilean Leòdhais anns na h-Eileanan an Iar, eadar brat- boglaich Mòinteach Bharabhais chun ear, agus a’ mhachair agus An Cuan Siar air an taobh siar. Tha Machair Bharabhais (meadhan NB 351 513) air a bhith ga bleith fad co-dhiù ceud bliadhna, agus tha ùidh air a bhith aig arc-eòlaichean anns a’ mhachair cha mhòr a cheart cho fada. Tha sgrùdaidhean agus cladhachaidhean thairis air an dà fhichead bliadhna mu dheireadh air tuineachaidhean fhoillseachadh, bho thràth Linn an Umha chun an latha an-diugh, ann an dealbh-tìre a tha air a bhith air a chleachdadh agus air ath-chleachdadh. ’S e seo a’ chiad artaigil ann an sreath a bhios a’ taisbeanadh toraidhean na h-obrach seo, a’ toirt cunntas air toraidhean nan sgrùdaidhean agus toraidhean ciad rannsachadh aithriseach. Tha iad air an cruthachadh mar phàirt de phròiseact iar-cladhach aig a bheil taic bho Alba Aosmhor.
