Archaeology Notes

Event ID 645803

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/645803

HY53NE 19 5790 3864

See also HY53NE 18.

(HY 5792 3865) Standing Stones (NR).

OS 6" map, Orkney, 1st ed., (1882).

(HY 5789 3866) Standing Stones (NR).

OS 6" map, Orkney, 2nd ed., (1900).

A complex, excavated by Calder in 1936 and 1938, and found to consist of a Jarlshof-type round-house, which Hamilton dates to about the 6thc BC, later Iron Age dwellings and a structure of unknown date.

The round-house lay beneath the returned end of a later wall which ran 32 yds NE from HY53NE 18 , and before excavation, it appeared as a single stone ('A' on RCAHMS 1946, Plan, fig.124), rising 2'6" above the surface of a hollow scooped out of a low grass-covered mound. It measured 38' to 41' in diameter over walls 7' to 8' thick. Stratification suggested two periods of occupation, and the quantity of pottery from both layers, as well as a variety of clays, suggested that this had been a potter's workshop, although this was not its original purpose.

The sherds, mostly of coarse, straight-sided vessels, resembled in general shape the Late Bronze Age wares of Jarlshof (HU30NE 1), and Clickhimin (HU44SE 2). Two rim fragments of carinated bowls however, were characteristic of the Early Iron Age settlement of Jarlshof and of the farmstead of Clickhimin. Finds also included saddle-querns and rude stone implements.

Only 7' SE of the round-house lay a cluster of presumably later Iron Age dwellings, thinner walled and of inferior workmanship which represented two periods of occupation, the earlier being recognisable only by the remains of two hearths and portions of paved floors. Pottery and rude stone implements were scarcer than in the round-house. The pottery was thinner and of a harder texture, but the implements were much the same. This settlement probably extended further south as indicated by the grass-covering as opposed to the surrounding peat and heather, but trenching revealed no trace of actual building.

On the north the buildings extend into a hollow which is presumed to be another chamber (see RCAHMS 1946 plan). On the NE they impinge on a low mound, in the centre of which excavation revealed what may have been the remains of a roughly rectangular dry-stone building, probably the latest of the complex, which measures at least 14' by 8'6" within walls 3' thick and 18" in maximum height. Slabs set on edge occurred within the building, while others set in the edge of the mound, which is mostly debris, suggested an earlier structure.

Almost in continuation of the grassy area in which the buildings lie, there is a smaller patch which extends for about 20 yds from the SE side of HY53NE 18 with a width of about 10 yds. Stripping of the turf in the centre revealed what appeared to be building stones, but no actual remains of walling.

Finds from the excavations were donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by Major H H Hebden, Carrick House, Eday.

C S T Calder 1937; RCAHMS 1937; C S T Calder 1939; RCAHMS 1946, visited 1928; J R C Hamilton 1968.

All that can be seen of the round house is a disturbed turf-covered mound, c.9.0m in diameter, with one upright stone protruding to a height of 0.5m, but the remainder of the complex is as described and illustrated by Calder.

Surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (AA) 23 July 1970.

This complex lies 30m uphill from the chambered tomb (RCAHMS 1984, No.64) and was investigated by Calder in 1936 and 1938. There was previously little surface indication of the structures, and much apparently remains undiscovered beyond the limits of excavation. The main feature is a roundhouse 7.6m in internal diameter with short radial piers; much pottery was discovered. To the E an unexcavated hollow may represent another house of similar size. Beyond there are a partly excavated rectilinear structure, and an indeterminate area of paving. Both remain visible, but the roundhouse is overgrown and its features obscured. Visited May 1983

E W Mackie 1965; A C Renfrew 1979; finds in Tankerness House and in National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS), HD668-708; RCAMS 1984.