Orkney Smr Note

Date 2005

Event ID 614203

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Orkney Smr Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/614203

Excavations at Mine Howe in 2005 were aimed at further elucidating the nature and range of activities that took place subsequent to the construction of the underground chamber and its surrounding ditch. The Iron Age metalworking area (Trench E), which lies outwith the ditch that surrounds the underground structure, was further investigated. Excavation concentrated on the round structure uncovered at the end of the 2002 season with preliminary investigation of the floor levels in 2003 and 2004. Throughout its history, it appears to have been primarily a smithy for the production of both ferrous and non-ferrous metalwork. In the primary phase of use a large central hearth was surrounded by evidence for various associated activities including small smithing furnaces, anvils etc. A very rich assemblage of associated metalworking debris has been recovered. Archaeomagnetic dating of the central hearth provided a date of 100BC-110AD. In addition to the burial discovered within the floor deposits of the smithy in 2004 a second burial was discovered just outwith the smithy. This burial was of an adult male lying on his side in a semi crouched position in a shallow pit. Analysis of his bones showed that he was the victim of a violent end -

On the last day of excavation in 2005 at the Iron Age ritual and industrial site of Mine Howe, Tankerness, Orkney, the lifting of a small flagstone revealed the top of a human skull. With extra funding provided by Orkney Islands Council and Historic Scotland, over the next few days a complete skeleton was revealed, dating to around 100BC-100AD (dated by associated archaeomagnetic results from within the workshop). It proved to be that of a 25-35 year old male, buried in a shallow grave barely large enough to contain his body. In fact his right toes were bent back and protruded out of the side of the pit and some of his toe bones were found behind his back. The skull was badly crushed by large stone slabs that were used to cover the burial.

After excavation the remains were sent for analysis to human bone specialist Vicki Ewens of the Archaeology Department of Bradford University. The recent report from this analysis has revealed that the man was around 5 ft 5 inches tall, probably right-handed and used his upper arm muscles a lot, which, together with the state of his back bones, implied a lifestyle that included heavy lifting and carrying weight on his back. His dental hygiene was also not good and his teeth implied a diet high in carbohydrates, starches and sugars. However it was the cause of death that came as a surprise. This individual had met a violent end with a number of traumatic wounds noted on the bones.

On the left shoulder blade was a diamond shape puncture wound. The radiating fractures extending from this wound indicate that it was created by a high velocity blow, perhaps caused by a spear or arrow.

Cut marks were clustered on the left side of the body, on his ribs, shoulder, hand and arm. These seem to have been delivered by a sharp, metal weapon, probably a short sword or long dagger, wielded with some force. It was these cuts that probably resulted in the man’s death, as their position of the marks on the bones implied damage to his thorax, left lung and left kidney.

From the evidence it seems likely that the final moments in this person’s life were as follows. The concentration of injuries to the man’s left side indicates an attack to the defensive side of his body, suggesting that the victim was armed when the attack happened. It seems likely that the projectile injury was the first wound, inflicted from some distance behind, perhaps to slow him down. The spear or arrow may have pinned the shoulder bone, damaging muscles, but did not penetrate deeply enough to be fatal. But this wound would have been disabling, and as the victim fell or retreated, his attacker, standing beside or slightly behind him, slashed at the victim while he raised his left arm in a final attempt to fend off the blows. The man died almost certainly soon after the attack. A last deathblow may have been inflicted elsewhere on the victim, perhaps on his head, though the skull bones were too damaged to allow detection.

The victim was then dumped in a shallow grave. We cannot know whether the man was murdered at Mine Howe, or killed elsewhere and brought to the site, perhaps as a sacrifice or offering to the gods of the underworld.

Finding a burial at Mine Howe did not come as a complete surprise. Isolated finds of disarticulated human bone had been found in several contexts, which appeared to conform to the body of evidence for the apparent informal disposal of human remains during the Iron Age. However two formal burials have also been discovered. In 2003 the burial of a human neonate was found in the upper fills of a stone lined pit that had been inserted in the uppermost fills of the ditch surrounding the mound that contains the underground chamber. This burial dates to the late Iron Age c 3rd-5th centuries AD. In 2004 the carefully laid out remains of a young woman were found beneath the floor of the Iron Age workshop. She too had had a hard life and carried out a lot of heavy lifting or work with a bent back and perhaps used her front teeth to clamp something, however she had been buried with grave goods consisting of two toe rings and an antler object on her chest. This latter burial is roughly contemporary with, but in stark contrast, to the unceremonious nature of the male burial, whose grave lay just outside the workshop.

Further isotope analysis on these burials is presently being undertaken at Bradford University in order to shed more light on these individuals, in terms of diet, provenance etc.

Increasingly, research in both Scotland and Scandinavia is showing a recurrent association not only between metalworking and burials e.g. Knowe of Skea, Westray. but also in close relation to subterranean sites, both natural, as in caves, rock shelters, e.g. High Pasture Cave in Skye, and man made like Mine Howe. The significance of these relationships may be reflected in later mythology. In Celtic mythology Goibniu has powers relating to the creation of implements of life and death, and knowledge of smithing The Norse god Loki is also both blacksmith, and associated with life and death. The transformations relating to both metalworking and the cycle of life and death may be the common denominator - Scottish Archaeological News.

Information from Orkney SMR