Field Visit
Date 1999
Event ID 879800
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/879800
Four mounds, of which three lie within the area under investigation by this survey, were previously identified as probable Viking burials due to chance finds of Viking-period artifacts (HY64SE26) said to have been made in the area. Recent assessment has indicated that the mounds are of prehistoric date, although a disturbed boat-shaped setting was found which may be part of a Viking burial setting. The southernmost mound (HY64SE18) is 30m in diameter. It is prominently located on a natural rise, has a conical shape and lies within 10m of the coast. The surface is pitted and stony. A low grass-covered bank runs off for some 10m from the east side of the mound. A second mound (HY64SW30,'B'), 10m in diameter and lies c.45m to the northeast. The surface is uneven and stony with what may be part of a structural feature. The third mound (HY64SW18, 'A') lies to the north, is oval in shape and measures 13m by 11m. It stands to 1m high and lies 18m from the sea. Ref.: Orkney Name Book, no.2, 73; Grieg, S (1940) 'Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland: part II' 171-2; RCAHMS (1946), #188; RCAHMS (1980), #132; Hunter, JR & Dockrill, SJ (1982) 'Some Norse Sites on Sanday, PSAS, 112, 570-76; Owen, O & Dalland, M 1999 'Scar: A Viking Boat Burial on Sanday, Orkney', Tuckwell Press/Historic Scotland, 14; Bond, Dockrill, Gibson & Owen forthcoming 'The Styes of Brough, Sanday, Orkney, re-examined for Channel 4's Time Team'.
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999
