130 Excavations of Lochrutton Crannog. 



The crannog when approached presents the appearance of a 

 low circular cairn of stones resting on a foundation composed of 

 logs of wood, and rising from the water level with a slightly 

 rounded section to a grass-covered plat in the centre. A row of 

 alders, doubtless sown with seeds carried there on the water's 

 surface, encircles the plat, and marks the winter level of the loch. 

 The crannog measures eighty feet in diameter, and the centre 

 plat rises six feet above the log floor. 



The work overtaken consisted in carrying a wide section 

 across the crannog in a direction approximately north and south, 

 down through the superincumbent earth and stone to the wood 

 floor of the structure. Another similar section followed, in a 

 direction at right angles with the first, and the excavations were 

 continued in the interior. After considerable advance had been 

 made, the influx of water beg-an to impede operations, and ulti- 

 mately reached a height making further prog-ress impossible. 

 The ends of the sections were then closed with earth and a pitch- 

 ing of large stones, and the works ceased for the season. 



These exploratory excavations have disclosed more fully the 

 characteristics and structui'al arrangements of the island, and 

 some vestiges, it is thought, of the superstructure or dwelling- 

 house have been brought to light. Relics have also been re- 

 covered bearing on the character and era of the occupation. 



The sections disclose the strata from the top of the centre 

 plat downwards to the wood floor. There is first turf and free 

 soil about eighteen inches thick, then comes another layer of soil 

 of similar thickness, but more compact and changing to marl or 

 clay at the bottom. Below the second bed a quantity of whin- 

 stones, unshaped and disposed without order, the intertices being- 

 filled with marl coloured earth, lies on wood floor. The layer is 

 three feet thick in the centre, but towards the margin it tapers 

 down to the wood. 



The surface of the island supporting these strata exhibits a 

 comparatively level floor, composed entirely of logs of wood dis- 

 posed in groups of parallel pieces, lying in many different direc- 

 tions and fitted closely together. The logs, measuring six inches 

 to twelve across, are mostly round, and sometimes retain the 

 bark, but a few are squared in whole or part. Oak, birch, and 

 other woods obtain. 



Round the exterior of the island a rough banking of tumbled 



