Excavation
Date 1994
Event ID 567762
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/567762
A group of thirteen barrows, generally as described by the Commission, situated at the SW end of a prominent ridge, about 150ft OD. The largest and most southerly (A) is undoubtedly the barrow which contained the single short-cist cremation. The urn cannot be located. The other barrow specifically mentioned above is 11m to the NW (B). A cist protrudes through the top of a third (E) and large depressions are in the centres of barrows A and B, and two others, G and H.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (NKB) 18 May 1966.
Several mounds of this large Bronze Age burial cemetery were excavated during July to September 1994 as part of the Orkney Barrows Project. The aim of the excavation was to gauge the archaeological potential of mounds after several forms of damage common to such earthworks had taken place. Accordingly mounds in a range of conditions were excavated, from those that had been ploughed flat to some that were still reasonably upstanding.
A great number of burials were discovered, all of which were cremations, both as primary burials underneath the mounds, and in cists and pits around the mounds. Of the mound of which there were no surface remains (27) [at HY 2638 1536] there survived remnants of the mound material and old land surface, both of which were very disturbed. In the northernmost of the mounds (9) [at HY 2642 1541] the central burial survived intact despite extensive rabbit burrowing throughout the mound fabric, and comprised a cist containing a cremation accompanied by a pot lid. Corbelling was placed over the cist and a kerb surrounded it, after which the mound was built. A second episode of mound construction had included the insertion of a cist above and off centre to the first.
A cist containing a cremation was also found to be the first element of the other severely truncated mound (3) [at HY 2645 1528]. While the lid of this cist had been removed by the plough and a side slab displaced, the cremation remained substantially undisturbed.
A similar sequence of events to that described for mound 9 above could be traced at mound 8 [at HY 2641 1538]. A large cist was surrounded by a well-faced single-coursed kerb, and the mound built up with a succession of deposits of soil. A rectangular stone box containing burnt organic material was covered by a very much more substantial kerb which surrounded a second major episode of mound enhancement.
It was mound 7 [at HY 2640 1535] which had been the focus of the most post-mound activity. The sequence that can be ascertained so far is that a large central cist containing a cremation was located next to a pyre. A circular setting of stone slabs at the top of this mound lay directly above this primary burial. A clay platform was laid in a crescent formation around the N side of the mound, which sealed a stone box containing burnt material, and a pyre site on the W side, and the ruins of a ring cairn surrounding a pit containing a cremation on the NE side. Upon the platform another ring cairn was constructed, and it would appear that a structure was built onto one side of this cairn. This structure appeared to have been a building, inside which the area to the S which was roughly paved with slabs which overlay a cremation pyre, and an area to the N along which a long piece of stone furniture was positioned.
In between the clay platform and the mound many cists and pits with burials in were inserted. This was the latest phase of activity at this site. The cists and pits also surrounded and respected the ring cairn and building. Some of the small stone boxes were post holes rather than cists, and presumably acted as markers for the cists, as cists and pits did not intercut. Small upright stones amongst the cemetery also seem to have fulfilled this role. A path of small stone slabs led into this cist cemetery from the W.
The SW quadrants of both mounds 5 [at HY 2644 1531]and 6 [at HY 2645 1533] were excavated, and both mounds were surrounded by further burials and features. Although both had been excavated at some time in the past, and extensively damaged, in both cases the primary burials were well sealed and undisturbed. The central burial of mound 5 was covered by a deposit of pyre underneath which was a long narrow grave slab at ground level. The slab covered a long grave cut along the length of which were spread large fragments of cremated bone and lumps of cramp.
The primary burial underneath mound 6 was different. A brown stain distinct from vivid orange introduced material was the first sight of a pit cut into the ground. This pit was funnel shaped and had been excavated to contain a very large steafite urn, which in turn contained cremated bone.
As with other mounds, further features had been added around the sides of the mound. The most notable of these was a cairn covering a long shallow cut, about half way along which was a small boat-shaped arrangement of upright stones. A large pit containing cremated bones was situated centrally within this setting, and four smaller pits immediately to the S and W of this feature.
Mound 2 [at HY 2644 1525], the smaller of the southerly barrows which had been known to have been previously excavated, produced a charcoal-rich deposit of pyre material lying above the old land surface. [Numbers in text refer to plan by Downes in DES 1994.]
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
J Downes 1994c.
