Excavation

Date 26 October 2010 - 10 November 2010

Event ID 629951

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/629951

ND 4580 8339 Two phases of excavation on the newly discovered mound at Banks established that it represents the remains of a Neolithic chambered tomb. The area was recently disturbed during development work but the heart of the monument was largely intact. The tomb consists of a linear central chamber, aligned E–W and c5m long, leading to five burial cells sealed by large waterworn capstones. The original ridge-like mound would have been more extensive, perhaps up to 80m long, 20m wide and 2.5m high, but has recently been removed and truncated to the level of the capstones. The central area is partly subterranean and the stone walls, containing a variety of quarried and waterworn material, were constructed in a quarried area into bedrock. The entrance passage is to the N. There are two larger cells at the W and E end of the central chamber, a single cell to the N and two cells to the S. The SW cell has an upper shelf opposite the entrance. The tomb was waterlogged and standing water partly filled the cells.

The N and E cells were partly excavated during Phase 1 (26 October–10 November 2010) and were found to contain human bones that formed closing deposits. These had been placed upon a layer of slabs, which is presumed to seal the lower unexcavated burial deposits. Six fragments of bone, predominantly cranium, were found in each cell, and a whole cranium had been placed in the E cell as if in a final gesture. The remains of the upper chamber backfill deposits were excavated during Phase 2 and it appears that the monument was closed in stages. Further deposits of cranium and long bone were found within the SE cell above the slab layer. Otter spraints were found at the level of this slab layer throughout the entrance passage, chamber and within the SE cell suggesting that the tomb had been left open at this stage for some time.

The main focus in Phase 2 (21 March–7 April 2011) was the full excavation of the W cell, which had been disturbed by a JCB, exposing the internal deposits. The capstone had been removed and internal walls damaged. The cell entranceway, which consisted of two large upright waterworn blocks set into sockets in the bedrock and the backfill and burial deposits in this area had been disturbed. The burial horizon in the W end of the cell, amounting to about two thirds of the original material survived in situ. Two side walls (NE and SW) were constructed above a thin clay floor layer which sealed the bedrock. Above the floor were several layers of disarticulated human bone within soft semi-waterlogged silts. The evidence indicates that there were several phases of use within the cell, with distinct concentrations of bones, two divided by a substantial c0.45m thick layer of waterborne silt. Otter spraint was present from the earliest phases of use and was found throughout the bone horizons. Although analysis is at an early stage, over 2000 human bones were recovered from the tomb with the minimum number of individuals currently placed at 15. This number will probably dramatically increase with the excavation of the chamber and remaining cells.

Archive: ORCA

Funder: Orkney Islands Council, Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership (HLF) and ORCA

ORCA, 2011