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Archaeology Notes

Event ID 646682

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/646682

HY74NE 1 centred 760 470

See also HY74NE 3 and HY74NE 5.

'A broch on Toftness, Sanday is said to be the provenance of several bone borers and a piece of pumice on which they had been sharpened, which were exhibited to Society of Antiquaries of Scotland by J W Cursiter in 1885. No other reference to this broch has been found, but Dr Wood in describing what to him appeared to have been a well-peopled settlement (Information from letter by Dr Wood to OS) states The greater part of the Ness has been enclosed with a chain of forts, which were connected by a stone wall.

One of the forts on the wall was examined a few years ago. It measured, inside 16' in length and 6 in width, the walls were 8' in height and from 4' to 5' in thickness; at the height of 6' from the foundation, the stones inside, were laid so as the upper stone overlapped the one immediately beneath, thus contracting the opening above, which was roofed over with large flat stones. All the stones in this building were large flat stones from the beach. The wall was regular and firmly built. There was no clay or cement of any kind. A deer's horn was found in the building and several fragments of bones(Letter from Dr Wood).

In the enclosed area the ground has been covered with buildings of various sizes:- circles of stones set on edge, with, frequently, an upright central stone, are still to be seen, - and numerous graves lined with flat stone, and also surrounded by small circles of stones.

Several of these graves have been opened, some of them contain human bones, - others contain only ashes, in many of them deer's horns have been found. Sand blow has almost obliterated the site (Letter from Dr Wood).

RCAHMS describe 'earth-houses' said to have been opened in the area, but by 1928 they were covered by sand. According to local report the majority consisted of rectangular cavities about 3' in depth, over 5' in width and a little more in length, and constructed cist-wise of large slabs and covered with a flat stone. Bone implements were recovered from some of them.

These might be Dr Wood's 'graves'. A human bicuspid tooth 'found in one of the sepulchral tumuli at Toftness, 1818' and probably from Dr Wood's collection, was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by David Balfour of Balfour and Trenabie in 1863.

Large, possibly prehistoric mounds are recorded by Wainwright near Geo of Toftsness (HY 761 474).

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1865 (Donations); Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1885 (Exhibits); RCAHMS 1946, visited 1928.

Scheduled as Tofts Ness, cairns and enclosures.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 2 October 1991.

People and Organisations

References