Some Scottish Archaeology

By Mike Haigh from Northern Earth 81

What is certain in Archaeology? The answer increasingly seems to be "very little". Each year more articles are published which start "It has long been believed by archaeologists that such and such was true but..." which then go on to show that it was not so. When Jane Downes started to investigate a number of round mounds on the Orkney Islands it had long been believed by archaeologists that such monuments belonged to the Bronze Age. After her survey it seems that it ain't necessarily so. The reason for the investigation was that many round mounds were being damaged by ploughing, cattle and rabbits. Historic Scotland commissioned Downes to examine a number of sites to see how much this damage was effecting the archaeology.

The first site to be investigated was at Gitterpitten, Rendall on mainland Orkney. Here there was a group of seven small mounds, three of which were opened. These turned out to be conventional Bronze Age tumuli. Each had a stone cist at the centre which held a cremation burial. Each mound was encircled by a carefully built stone revetment. Further cremation burials had been placed in pits excavated around the edges. On the top of the cists and retaining walls were placed a selection of stone tools such as ard (plough) points and mattocks. This is a local custom. It is speculated that these agricultural tools connect death with ideas about fertility and regeneration.

The next site was at nearby Gorn Farm where two mounds from a group of eight were examined. The two were chosen because they had been badly damaged. Here again the results were conventional. One site had two cists containing cremation burials. The second was another kerbed mound with a central cist. It had been built over an area of burnt stones and turves. Again, a Bronze Age date can be confidently assigned to this site.

The next monument to be looked at was at Vetrafiold, Sandwick, which overlooks Skara Brae. It wasn't excavated but the survey noted the characteristic stone kerb and assigned a Bronze Age date once again.

The next site was at Littlequoy on the southern island of Burray. It was excavated but nothing was found. It was speculated that the mound was quite modern, possibly a navigation aid or stock feeding point.

The next site was on Ward Hill, Shapinsay. This mound was located on the highest point of the island. It was carefully excavated and proved to be a beacon site, consisting of a horseshoe arrangement of stones covered with many burnt layers. It was thought probably to date from Viking times because of the place name.

The final site to be examined was at Setter on the Island of Eday. Two small cairns were noted in a group of chambered tombs close to the standing stone of Setter. It was assumed that these would turn out to be later monuments, constructed among the earlier monuments to take advantage of their sanctity. This was not the case as both sites proved to be Neolithic. One was a curious type of chambered tomb which was only 5 metres across. There was some evidence of site development. The earliest feature was a chamber built from large stone slabs. The entrance to this was later blocked by the construction of a substantial stone kerb, possibly contemporary with the building of a smaller chamber set against the first. The second tomb contained a large cist. Neolithic flint tools were found by the excavators.

The final tally is surprising. Of six sites chosen, three were Bronze Age, one was Neolithic, one probably Viking and one modern. Overall, that's only a fifty/fifty success rate, suggesting that more care needs to be taken in assigning dates to these monuments.

['Orkney Barrows Project', Jane Downes. Current Archaeology 165, Vol. XIV/9, Oct. 1999 pp324-329]

The Clava cairns are a distinctive regional group of monuments to be found in the north of Scotland. The best known site is to be found at Balnuaran of Clava near Inverness. Here a Ring Cairn is flanked by two distinctive Passage Graves. It has been known for a while that the passage of the north-east grave aligns with that to the south-west and that both align on the winter solstice sunset. In 1996, artist Ronnie Scott had heard Richard Bradley lecturing about his excavations at the site. His interest was piqued by Bradley's observations about the use of coloured stones at the site (see NE 67) and so next solstice, Scott visited the site. He observed the golden red glow on the stones at the back of the passage. Impressed by this spectacle, he wondered if this indicated that the "graves" were more than that. It occurred to him that as the site was reasonably well preserved, it might be an interesting experiment to cover the graves to try to get some idea of what the event would have been like in prehistoric times. With help from Tim Phillips, one of Bradley's PhD students, and permission from the sites owners and guardians, Scott arranged for a number of large tarpaulins to draped on wooden frames to give the north-east cairn a temporary roof. This was done the day before and the day after the solstice to allow the general public access to the site for the solstice itself. As usual, the weather was not perfect but some interesting effects were observed. The most interesting conclusion concern the shape of the monument. It had been noticed that here, and at other Clava Cairns, the passage was slightly offset from the centre of the chamber. During the observations of the light effects, it was noticed that chamber was larger at the right point for the maximum number of people to have the best view of the proceedings. This implies that the monuments were constructed to enable the living to participate. So contrary to popular opinion (again!) these were not purely depositories for dead people. Provision was made for living observers. Various other subtle effects were noticed but the climax of each light show seems to focus on one "special" stone on the back wall of the chamber.

['Clava: Light at the end of the tunnel', Ronnie Scott and Tim Phillips. Current Archaeology 165, Vol XIV/9, Oct. 1999 pp332-335. See also 'Excavations at Clava', Richard Bradley. Current Archaeology 148, Vol. XIII/4, June 1996 pp136-142]

Redcastle is to be found on Scotland's north-eastern coast between Arbroath and Montrose. Aerial photographs taken of a raised beach showed a pagan cemetery containing both round and square barrows. Square barrows are rare but they are known in large numbers from Iron Age East Yorkshire. To find out what happened here the site was excavated by undergraduates from Edinburgh University. The dig revealed 16 graves altogether, 5 of which were enclosed by square barrows and 2 by round barrows. The rest of the graves were unenclosed. The square barrows were also unusual in that they were constructed by digging four straight trenches, which were not joined at the corners. The site also contained a series of pits dating from the Neolithic and the remains of a timber lined souterrain (a.k.a. Fogou etc.). Unfortunately, the graves were very close to the surface most of the remains had been reduced to fragments by ploughing. Radiocarbon dates obtained from these bones ranged from the 1st to the 8th century CE. Given the location of the cemetery this means that the bodies belonged to Picts. Little is known about the Picts. All that remains are some unflattering references in books written by they enemies and the famous but enigmatic, Pictish Symbol Stones. There was one curious detailed revealed when the skeletons under the barrows were sexed. The remains under the largest barrow were definitely female as were two others. There were three more that were possibly female and only one that was possibly male (i.e. females outnumbered men in the high status graves by a considerable margin). Although this is only one site it does imply that one commentator, namely Bede, was right when he mentioned in one of his books that the Picts had a matrilinear system of succession.

[Current Archaeology 166, Vol. XIV/10, Dec. 1999, pp395-397]

Also in Pictland the remains of a Pictish monastery have been found at Portmahomack, on the northern shores of the Moray Firth. Excavations have uncovered the remains of several rectangular stone buildings and a number of decorated fragments of grave markers and memorial slabs. One large memorial depicts a dragon and a large group which might be the twelve apostles. It also carries an inscription in latin, strong evidence that the site is a monastic foundation. Many pieces of sculpture are well preserved, some even retain traces of paint. The earliest dated object found is an early 8th century coin. It was in 710 that the Pictish king Nechtan requested information from Northumbria about how to build churches in the Roman style. Other finds suggest that that the site was inhabited during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. In the end the monastery burned down, possibly by the Vikings or by rampaging soldiers who took part in the battle of Tarbet Ness in 1045.

[British Archaeology Oct. 1999, p5]

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