Inner Hebrides Archaeological Project – Tiree Mounds Geophysical and field surveys Darko Maričević, University of Reading

NL 99548 42990 Crossapol

A burial mound is situated on the coastal side of the public road close to the An Talla Community Centre. It is locally known as ‘the Grave of Lord Ullin’s daughter’ (MacDougall and Cameron 1937) and was recently listed by the Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Moore and Wilson 2002: T75). The mound and adjacent ground to the SE were surveyed with magnetometry (30 x 30m) and resistivity (20 x 20m). Both techniques proved the artificial origin of the mound and confirmed the presence of a rectangular cist in the top part of the mound, which was suspected due to its pronounced rectangular shape. Geophysics suggests that the cist is filled with gneiss rubble, while the mound is predominantly built of turf and/or earth. An additional cist might be set deeper in the SW part of the mound, but this is not as clear. Further remains are visible in the magnetic plot to the SE of the mound. These include the foundations of a probable WW2 breeze block building (similar to one which stands nearby) and a possible prehistoric rectangular structure c.10 x 8 m, which appears to be partly overlain by the burial mound. The latter structure could not be verified in the resistivity results.

Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 2009, 51–2.