Dùn an Achaidh (Dun Acha)  |       

History, historical sites & Archaeology

The history and archaeology of Coll are topics for a specialist which, sadly, I am not. It would be easy, and improper, to copy and paste others' work so instead I will point you to some excellent material where you can browse at your leisure.

History:

For a general history lesson, the Coll in Crisis article by Brian Wills-Johnson is a splendid read. It is found on the excellent Isle of Coll Genealogy web site which too will provide a lot of detail to the historical facts of ancient happenings.

There are many articles about Coll's history, written by Collachs, to be found in the Coll Magazine archive. Started in 1986 by Pat Barr, the passing of the magazine is a loss to the record keeping about the community.

For a pictorial record of Coll (post the invention of the camera), the Isle of Coll Photo History Facebook page is a must visit.

Historical Sites:

Coll is rich in historical sites, having Castles, Crannogs, Dùns ..... etc. The most famous site is probably Na Sgeulachan 'Teller of Tales', the standing stones at Totronald           

As a starting point, there are excellent guides by Brianann MacAmhlaidh (Wikipedia user) & Canmore:

For further details of the numerous Crannogs on Coll, please view Mark Holly's website with retails of his 1990s survey.

There's a plethora of information about Coll's historical sites at CANMORE website (searches for "Isle of Coll").
Canmore holds the National Record of Historical Environment.

Archaeology:

A professional archaeological survey of Coll was undertaken in 1987. There is an excellent précis of their findings in The Coll Magazine Archive - Archaeology by Julian Hill and Norman S. Newton

Cup-marks Sorisdale

Sorisdale cup-marks. There are three in a neat line, 2 visible here
(Click image for close up)