Excavation

Date 31 August 2010 - 23 September 2010

Event ID 881156

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/881156

HY 4375 2592 Excavation continued at the plough-damaged Early Neolithic settlement of stone and timber houses from 31 August–23 September 2010. Extensions to Trench A and further investigation of House 3 (discovered in 2008) revealed a NNW–SSE oriented rectangular stone built structure with rounded internal corners. The inner wall face is cut into the

natural glacial till. Although this building has been robbed out, 2–3 courses survive in places. House 3 measures c8 x 4m internally with central orthostatic divisions projecting from a slight pinch in the side walls, dividing the house into two unequal parts. The N is c4.4m long and the S part c3.6m long. A slightly off-centre 1m2 hearth occupies the S part of

the building. In the centre of the N part of the structure was an axial posthole that had been reworked at least three times, its last phase an elaborate square stone-lined box, containing a rounded post-pipe measuring 210 x 200mm NNW–SSE. A further large and extensively reworked posthole lies immediately to the SW and cuts through c200mm of ashy floor deposits. A series of small pits was revealed in the N end of the building. The stone threshold for this building (discovered last year) relates to the main NE-facing entrance which is built into 1.4m wide stone walls at the S end of the building. The S wall of the house is narrower than the others at 750mm and contains a 1m wide opening to the S. Trench A was extended to the S to expose this further room or building. This revealed a sub-rectangular structure, House 5, which is appended to the S of House 3. House 5 is oriented NNW–SSE and measures 4.8 x 3.2m internally. Although the western side wall has been largely robbed out,

the eastern side wall has two courses surviving and is 1m wide. The external entrance into House 5 is in this eastern wall and faces NE. The southern wall of this building is only 0.5m wide and has rounded internal corners on both sides; a central opening measuring 0.6m wide appears to open into a further room or structure beyond the southern limit of excavation. A rectangular stone-lined hearth on the same axis and measuring 1.2 x 0.8m occupies the central area. A stone polissoir, a polished stone axe, stone tools, flint and round-bottomed pottery were recovered from this structure. Although House 5 is stratigraphically later than House 3, there appears to have been a period when both buildings

were occupied. The stone-capped drain which runs along the E side of House 3 also appears to have been re-cut at a time contemporary with the construction of House 5. Several postholes were excavated outside of House 3 and their position under the robbed-out wall line provides evidence

of an earlier structure pre-dating, but on the same footprint, as House 3. This possibly mirrors the sequence of a wooden house replaced by a stone house seen in Trench C in 2009. Both House 3 and House 5 were robbed out in prehistory. Excavation also continued on House 4, immediately to the E of House 3. At least 14 postholes relating to this NNW–

SSE oriented sub-rectangular structure were excavated. The building measures c5 x 3m internally and 5.8 x 3.8m overall. Shallow linear cuts, interpreted as truncated beam slots, were excavated on the WSW and NNW sides of the structure. The postholes on the corners of House 4 were markedly larger than others in the structure and were blocked with large

boulders. An oval scoop hearth measuring c1 x 1.2m and oriented NNW–SSE occupied the northern central interior of the building. The postholes in the central area form a linear arrangement projecting into the interior, mirroring the central orthostats which project into the internal space in the

stone buildings on the site. The house is surrounded on its NNW and ENE sides by the remains of a shallow gully which leads into a sub-rectangular shallow sump at the SSE end of the building and then drains into a stone-capped gully. The entrance was not identified. Round-bottomed pottery,

charcoal, worked pumice, stone tools and a polished stone axe were recovered from sealed deposits associated with House 4. Further excavation took place in Trench B, which had initially been opened as a 10 x 2m area in 2007. This trench was extended to the W to expose the edge of the rammed stone floor, which consisted of a metalled surface of discarded stone tools and burnt stones. A large rim sherd of Unstan Ware pottery and a flint knife were recovered from this floor. At the W end of the trench three large intercutting pits, one of which cuts through the rammed stone floor, were excavated. These pits contained a small amount of flint debitage. A House 3 and 5, Trench A, The Braes of Ha’Breck small 1 x 2m test pit, Trench D, was positioned to the N of Trench B and revealed the same rammed stone surface, suggesting that this floor covers c10m2. A new 2 x 5m trench, Trench E was opened over an anomaly identified in the 2006 magnetometry survey. This revealed the edge of a substantial rock-cut feature, possibly a small domestic quarry, with a near vertical edge. Several layers of ashy midden were dumped against the rock face but the excavation of this feature was halted at 1.2m due to safety concerns. The midden deposits contained a large number of flaked stone tools, flint waste

and flat-bottomed Grooved Ware pottery with incised and applied decoration.

Archive: Orkney SMR and RCAHMS

Funder: Orkney Islands Council, ORCA, Orkney College, the Flaws

family, Orkney Archaeology Society and Andrew Appleby