The Isle of Eigg was the destination for the maritime archaeologists of the SAMPHIRE team yesterday. We travelled from the Sound of Mull to revisit one of Scotland’s most fascinating maritime archaeological site, the clinker-built boat wreck at Galmisdale Bay. This wreck was first archaeologically surveyed around 20 years ago but is still not fully understood. It shows elements of a unique traditional boat-building technique common to the western British Isles and Scandinavia. The team was investigating reports by local residents of some of the timbers washing ashore over the winter and went to survey the current condition and investigate some of the construction details to try to enhance our understanding of the wreck.

We visited the home of local author Camille Dressler to record some of the timbers which she has saved from the beach and also took the opportunity to scan a galley carving at Kildonan church.