Faoilin

The area is abundant with uncharted historical remains.

From Souterrains in Sutherland by Alex Morrison.

The Fouhlin souterrain is the lowest-lying site at around 6 m above sea level. The Fouhlin souterrain, Durness has a western lower entrance with four steps down into the passage (Morrison & Reid 1964, 1965: report forthcoming). This entrance and the steps are at the rounded, slightly expanded, end of the souterrain passage. In many of Sutherland's single-entrance souterrains this is the shape of the inner, closed end of the passage - the 'pear-shaped expansion'. It could be suggested that this western entrance is a secondary construction inserted into the 'dead end' of a pre-existing single-entrance souterrain - perhaps found necessary because of the unusual length of the passage, or because of an extension of that passage - but there is no definite proof of this. The actual entrance gap is very narrow, only 0.58 m wide. It is flanked by two large, upright orthostatic stones which play no part in supporting the last roofing slab. These orthostats are surrounded by very well-constructed dry-stone walling which continues the walls of the passage out into the open and above the top of the last slab of the roof. Despite its smallness and narrowness, this western opening is a true entrance with steps and vertical 'doorway'. By comparison the south-eastern, upslope entrance looks much more like a 'trapdoor'' leading down through the floor of a house, but this was perhaps the original and 'proper' entrance. Three large slabs around the opening are very like paving on the floor of a surface structure or dwelling, and there were traces of the ruined wall of a possible hut circle running just beyond the edge of the opening, so that it could be suggested that the entrance to the souterrain passage at this end was through the floor of a hut. This would not be unusual, considering the number of souterrains known to be connected with the walls of hut circles in the Strath of Kildonan and elsewhere. The 'steps' leading down from this end, to the passage below, are quite unlike those at the western end. They consist of thin slabs, almost flagstones, projecting from the end of the souterrain passage, with a gap under-each slab, more resembling a ladder than a stairway. The Fouhlin structure thus had two entrances; one of which might have been a later addition. There are relatively straight-passaged souterrains such as Eriboll but the majority of the passage forms are curved. The curving might have been related to the nature of the surface structures with which the souterrains were associated, the Fouhlin structure being the longest so far discovered in the county.

The roofing slabs are of irregular shape but they fit closely enough to leave only small gaps in the roof. The roof and wall tops had been packed with stones to increase stability and to seal any gaps. The largest and heaviest roofing slabs, up to 2.4 m in length and 0.3 m thick, are at the western end, and this is also where the passage expands into the rounded 'end chamber' shape. The problem of roofing the passage with slabs, which in some places were rather shorter than desirable, was overcome by having two courses of large flat stones at the top of the wall projecting slightly in a crude form of corbelling and weighted at their outside edges with boulders. This device enabled the builders to construct a passage wider than would otherwise have been possible with the available slabs. In general, the information for the roofing of Sutherland souterrains, while incomplete, indicates that stone slabs were used on most sites. But for reasons varying from the absence of suitable building material to the requirements of function, some appear to have had other forms of roofing.

During the excavation of the Fouhlin site, traces of surface structures were detected. Some of these appear to have been built across the line of the roof of the souterrain, but they were fragmentary and not easy to follow. What seemed to be parts of the foundations of hut-circle walls petered out before much of the circumference could be determined, and in places the stones were missing altogether. Examination of the remains of what might have been a surface hut foundation above the south-eastern entrance revealed parts of querns. A matching lower quern stone for one of these was found on the floor of the souterrain passage just at the bottom of the steps of this south-eastern entrance, supporting the suggestion that, at this end at least and at one stage of its use, the souterrain could have been entered through the floor of a surface building.

At Fouhlin the sheer length of the souterrain would have provided space for storage for a number of families, and the double entrance might have been an adaptation towards allowing access from different surface structures or by different users. The question of size and space for storage is thus bedeviled by the problem of access. Even two 'end-entrances' would not bring within easy reach materials stored in the middle of a souterrain the length of Fouhlin. There is still a possibility that some structures had roofs not below, but flush with the ground surface, and that occasional (or regular) removal of roofing slabs was necessary to get at the contents. This would, also remove such structures from consideration as 'places of refuge'.

Shell midden material was found in the passage at Fouhlin, including mussel and oyster shells what  was part of what may have been a much larger once concentration on the surface. It is possible here, too, that a roofing, slab of the souterrain might have been deliberately removed in order to dispose of some surface accumulation, at a time when the souterrain itself was no longer serving its original purpose. There are two areas where roofing slabs are missing. One is where modern clearance for house foundations broke through the roof of the souterrain; there is no shell midden beneath this. The other gap is immediately above the concentration of midden maternal in the passage There is no midden material at the rubbish were deliberately dumped in the passage through a gap made in the roof, the true entrance was already obscured or blocked. It also means that any objects under the midden material in the passage (eg there were discrete patches of rust in the floor at this point) pre-date, the intrusion of that material. They too may have been dumped, but they may also belong to the period of original se of the souterrain.                   

At the time of the discovery of the Fouhlin souterrain, a small pair of bronze toilet shears was discovered projecting from between the wall stones near the roof and just beyond the collapsed roofing slab (Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. vol 94. 1960-61. 327). The shears are unique in Scotland, if not in the British Isles, and comparisons of form and decoration have been made with bucket handles from Traprain Law and Dowalton Loch, Kirkciidbright, the Benwell torc and the Newstead tankard holdfast (McGregor 1976. no 277). Again, the completely unstratified location can indicate only deposition at some period, probably early, in the souterrains use. Excavation of the surface structure connected with the south-eastern entrance to the souterrain uncovered a bead of greenish glass with a yellow enamel spiral running through it. This type has been classified by Margaret Guido (1978. 85-87, ig. 33/2) as a North Scottish spiral-decorated bead, possibly derived from, but later than, the Meare spiral beads. These Scottish beads were presumably made in the early Ist century AD or shortly before. It is impossible to say accurately when they ceased to be produced, but it may have been in the late Ist century AD. Some may have survived until the late 2nd century, but probably not later. This unfortunately does not tell us when the bead arrived at Fouhlin, although the discovery of the matching quern stone at the bottom of the south-eastern steps indicates that souterrain passage and hut circle floor were connected at some point.

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