Archaeology Notes

Event ID 644094

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/644094

HY21SE 41 2759 1092.

(HY 2759 1092) The Howe (NR)

OS 6"map, Orkney, 2nd ed.,(1903).

The Hillock of Howe is a burial mound in which were found a Viking black glass linen-smoother and several other objects.

J G Marwick 1928; H Shetelig 1940.

The Howe is a conspicuous mound, almost entirely turf-covered and partly composed of burnt material. It is often refered to as a broch but there is no conclusive evidence of this, although there is distinct evidence of stone con- struction.

Partial excavation 'many years ago' produced a considerable number of relics (some of which were presented to the NMAS) and a Norse glass linen-smoother, probably Viking, in the possession of J G Marwick.

A modern cairn has been erected on the highest point of the mound as a navigational mark.

Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1889 (Donations); G Petrie 1890; J Cursiter 1923; J G Marwick 1928; RCAHMS 1946, visited 8 August 1928.

National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) Accession card index; NMAS attendants' catalogue.

There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that the Howe, a grass-covered mound of burnt earth and stones, is the remains of a broch. It measures c. 40.0m. in diameter and is 4.5m. high: the modern cairn is now but a small pile of stones 0.2m. high.

The linen-smoother in the possession of J G Marwick was presented to the Stromness Museum (Accession no.119) but has since been lost.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 14 September 1964.

Excavation commenced in 1978, and still continuing until complete removal, has revealed that the site consists of an Iron Age ring-fort overlain by a broch and a later Pictish settlement on the S side of the broch. Investigation of the rampart of the fort has revealed a 1m thick faced rubble wall capped with clay, in its final form 3.5m wide and 2m high. The broch survived to a height of c.5m with wall 5.5m wide and containing an intra-mural staircase. The entrance was in the SE. This broch structure overlay a thin-walled primary broch and contemporary with which was a souterrain sealed by later floors. The broch had become a workshop with 2 kilns, charcoal oven & associated hearths. S of the broch workshop structures were revealed directly over primary outhouses. Below the broch tower is evidence of a much earlier structure.

The initial Pictish occupation made use of broch-age structures to the S, but then expanded to the W; a variety of house types was evident. A curious rectangular structure on top of the mound may well prove to belong to the Norse period.

Finds range from the Bronze Age to Norse and Medieval.

J Hedges and B Bell 1979; S Carter et al 1980.

In 1981 further excavation confirmed the presence of a possible chambered tomb, associated with a hornwork bank with an outer ditch, or overlying it. There appear to be 3 side cells off the main chamber which was entered by a passage 7m long with steps down to the main chamber.

At a later stage the centre of the tomb mound was cut away to ground level, and levelled with clay over the chambers which were re-roofed and used as a souterrain for the round house (with radial partitions) which was built over the tomb. The tomb passage was used as a drain.

Directly over all this was built the 2-phased broch, excavated in 1979-80.

Finds included a fibula, gilded bronze needle, pottery, and skeletal remains.

B Bell and D Haigh 1981.