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Croig Cave

Mull, Treshnish, Lon Reudle, Croig Bay, Invernessshire.

Croig Cave is located in a low cliff, above a steep slope made of large basalt boulders, facing south across Croig Bay, Isle of Mull [coordinates suggested this should be Port na Ba to the west of Croig]. It is a small cave with a maximum height of c 2.5m at the front, a maximum width of c 5m and length of c 8m. The current cave floor is 6.1 m above the present-day high tide mark, with the collapsed boulders forming a bank approximately 2 m high, in front of the cave mouth.

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: A small-scale excavation within Croig Cave (2006-2007), on the coast of north-west Mull, that exposed a 1.95m sequence of midden deposits and cave floors that dated between c 1700 BC and AD 1400. Midden analysis indicated the processing of a diverse range of small fish and the collection of shellfish throughout this period, showing a high degree of continuity involving low-risk, inshore fishing. At c 950 BC, a penannular copper bracelet and an amber bead were deposited within a small shallow pit within the cave flooe, suggestive of a discrete ritual episode within the cycle of otherwise potentially mundane activities. Lead isotope analysis indicates an Irish origin for the copper ore. A piece of iron slag within later midden deposits, dated to c 400 BC, along with high frequencies of wood charcoal, suggest that smithing or smelting may have occurred within the cave. High zinc levels in the historic levels of the midden c AD 1200

might indicate intensive processing of seaweed.