The remains of three much smaller structures survive in the interior of one of the longhouses, and are thought to represent the ruins of shepherds' huts or shielings, built after the larger building was abandoned and perhaps ruinous.


It seems likely that this farmstead, which is built on marginal farmland, proved not to be viable and was abandoned in favour of use during the medieval period as a seasonal settlement from which livestock was tended on nearby common land during the summer. If so, the site, uniquely for the Island, brings together buildings of Iron Age and Viking styles that were used together and survive down to the present.