Scheduled Monument
Eilean Domhnuill,settlement,Loch OlabhatSM5238
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 17/12/1991
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 25/01/2023
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: island structure, not definitely a crannog; settlement (if not assigned to any more specific type)
- Local Authority
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Parish
- North Uist
- NGR
- NF 74696 75333
- Coordinates
- 74696, 875333
Description
The monument consists of an island settlement of Neolithic date, together with the causeway which links it to the shore of Loch Olabhat. Although superficially reduced to a low mound by recent excavations, Eilean Domhnuill stil retains, in its lower, waterlogged, portions, extensive evidence of a late Neolithic settlement, including the remains of a succession of houses.
This settlement has proved particularly rich in decorated pottery, and the waterlogged conditions promise good preservation of much perishable evidence usually lost by decay. The island is 25m by 20m, and is attached to
the shore by a boulder causeway running from its SW corner for 45m. The area to be scheduled is marked in red on the attached plan. It is defined by a circle diameter 45m centred on the centre of the island and an attached strip 10m wide centred on the causeway, and includes the loch bed within these boundaries.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance for the evidence it contains, accessible to excavation, for settlement and ceramic manufacture during the late Neolithic period. Its importance is enhanced by the presence of deep, waterlogged, deposits in which much perishable organic evidence will survive, with the potential to illuminate normally unrepresented aspects of artefact manufacture and environmental interaction.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
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