Ground Survey
Date September 2011
Event ID 965676
Category Recording
Type Ground Survey
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/965676
HU 326 900 (Beorgs of Uyea) and HU 316 848 (Midfield) As part of ongoing preparations for a future research project – Neolithic Felsite Quarrying in North Roe, Shetland selected areas of North Roe were inspected during September 2011. Investigations in 2010 (DES 2010, 159) had suggested that it is possible to clearly distinguish between workshops relating to the production of axeheads and Shetland knives, and one of the aims of this year’s evaluation was to identify workshops, or clusters of workshops, which might be suitable for later detailed examination and excavation. The purpose of this future work should be to shed light on: 1) felsite quarrying technology and organization; 2) felsite blank, preform and tool technology and organization; 3) felsite exchange within North Roe/Shetland, and beyond; 4) dating the prehistoric exploitation of felsite; and 5) cosmology.
As previous years’ archaeological activity in North Roe (DES 2006–7 and 2010) had shown that felsite dykes in the central parts of the peninsula may have been prospected by prehistoric people, but appeared not to have been exploited in an organized manner, the team focused on selected locations on the Beorgs of Uyea ridge (northern North Roe) and along the elongated summit of Midfield (southern North Roe). Scrutiny of axehead and knife rough-outs and production waste, as well as the different types of felsite available in the selected areas, indicates that axeheads and Shetland knives were manufactured in both locations. However, it was also possible to characterize the two areas in terms of their potential for archaeological investigation. The Beorgs of Uyea, for example, is defined by extensive exploitation, probably over a prolonged period of time, and the deposits of quarrying waste has a clear palimpsest appearance. In contrast, the Midfield summit, or ridge, is characterized by the presence of many discrete, probably single-event, workshops and clusters of workshops.
At Midfield, it was possible to define two main areas of activity, associated with two parallel felsite dykes. Midfield 1 (western dyke) is characterized by two main quarry pits and one main large workshop, probably representing repeated exploitation (although not to a degree comparable to that seen at the Beorgs), relating to combined axehead and knife production. Midfield 2 (eastern dyke), is characterized by four or five quarry pits along a felsite outcrop, with discrete, probably single-event workshops, located on either side of the dyke. The latter dyke follows the landscape contours, and workshops defined by coarse waste from axehead production were found on the E (downslope) side of the dyke, whereas workshops defined by finer waste from knife production were found on the W (upslope) side of the dyke. The Midfield 2 quarry pits and workshops provide a potential initial focus of detailed analysis, as the understanding of these more discrete activity areas may allow areas with palimpsest character to be disentangled.
It was suggested that a first season of fieldwork should concentrate on the mapping of felsite dykes, workshops and associated features in North Roe in general, as well as more detailed mapping of the felsite dyke, quarry pits and workshops at Midfield 2. Other activities relating to the project includes spot-checking in the field of felsite dykes on Muckle Roe, Delting, as it is not certain that only the North Roe Riebeckite felsite was exploited in prehistory, and the collection of raw material samples from these dykes. Axeheads and Shetland knives in felsite in museum collections are also being listed and their find locations mapped, to allow future discussion of the dissemination of these artefacts from North Roe.
Lithic Research/ University of Bradford, University College Dublin, 2011
