Eday, Green

HY 5698 2900 A gradiometer survey was undertaken over approximately 12ha covering a spread of archaeological material (including worked flint and a Neolithic polished macehead) revealed during ploughing. The gradiometer survey shows a discrete concentration of magnetically enhanced features of archaeological significance, which are suggestive of domestic occupation. It has also identified several outlying features that may be related to this possible settlement, however it is impossible to ascertain whether they are contemporary.

The resistance survey seems to have confirmed the presence of settlement, presumably Neolithic in date, in which at least one structure can tentatively be identified. This structure appears to be roughly rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 13m x 7m. This is of a similar size and form as house 1 at the Knap of Howar on Papa Westray (Ritchie, 1983). The anomalies to the south-east of this possible house are perhaps suggestive of some kind of work area and/or midden. However, an alternative hypothesis is that these anomalies represent the remains of a second structure, which has been more thoroughly disturbed and as a consequence lost any clearly definable form.

The survey has also highlighted both ridge-and-furrow and modern ploughing. Ploughing by itself does not magnetically enhance the soil, however these ploughing anomalies are visible because they have disturbed magnetically enhanced material of archaeological origin. This suggests that the site has and continues to be actively eroded by agricultural practice.

J M Moore 2006

HY 5698 2900 Resistivity survey.

J M Moore 2006

HY 5698 2900 Magnetometry survey.

J M Moore 2006

HY 56971 28987 The site is situated on farmland near the cliffs on the southern coast of Eday. Following the discovery in 2004 of an unfinished Neolithic macehead a test pit was dug by the landowner, Peter Mason, that revealed a probable hearth. In 2006 a geophysics survey carried out by Orkney College suggested extensive archaeological remains (DES 2006, 119). The trial excavation was carried out by a small team of volunteers

at the request of the landowner. The purpose of the work was to re-excavate and record the test pit, to confirm the presence of Neolithic structures and to assess the potential of the site for further research.

Between 19–31 August 2007 an area 8 x 4m was stripped of ploughsoil to expose the upper parts of the surviving archaeology, which was recorded, but not investigated further. This revealed the stone-lined hearth, stones forming part of the SE wall of an associated building c1.5m thick, and some internal features. Outside the building was a dark midden deposit and a line of contiguous stones forming a possible second structure. It was evident that the site has been damaged by ploughing.

A number of finds were recovered from the ploughsoil, all of which are consistent with this being a Neolithic settlement site. These comprised worked pebble flint including several scrapers, a wide variety of stone implements including hammerstones, pounders, choppers, grinders, polishers and some 82 ‘skaill knives', together with over 100 prehistoric potsherds.

Funder: Mr M J Miles, Ms D Coles and Mr P Mason.

HY 56971 28987 A second season of work at this Neolithic settlement site took place between 3–31 August 2008. The main aims were to obtain evidence for dating, activity at the site and material that could place the settlement within a wider context, together with an ongoing appraisal of the site, in particular the potential for environmental work.

The 2007 trench was re-opened and extended to expose an area c10 x 9m. This revealed more of Structure 1, a Neolithic building, the SE wall of which has survived up to two courses high for a distance of some 8m. It is made up of a mixture of grey and red sandstone blocks forming an inner facing two blocks wide and an outer face one block wide, the gap between being filled with a relatively clean deposit of sandy clay. In plan it has the appearance of two gentle curving lengths with an internal partition stone set on edge where the curves meet, giving the building a slight narrowing in the middle. At the S end the wall turns sharply to the W and ends at another slab set on edge that presumably indicates an entrance at the SW end of the structure. There were three breaks in the inner face of this wall that contained stone packing for presumed posts.

Only a few slabs survive of the NW wall and the whole area on the W side has been truncated by agricultural

activity, possibly a vegetable patch, on a line parallel to and approximately 6m from the modern field fence. This

activity has removed all large stones and only a few negative features have survived below the ploughsoil which directly overlies the natural boulder clay. The NE end of the building remains unexcavated.

A grey sandstone slab c0.57 x 0.32m was found lying flat on the ground in the probable entrance. It has several

pecked motifs on its upper face and had clearly originated from a larger panel of artwork. The stone was not earthfast and was lying in a thin silty layer which is believed to have been formed after the building had been abandoned and lost its roof. The entrance, being at the lowest point of the building, served as a natural drain. It is possible that the stone fell into position from above, but it appeared to have been deliberately placed along with another plain slab. If this is the case, it was probably a deliberate act of closure, as there is no wear on the stone and the peck marks are fresh.

Inside the building there was evidence for a series of hearths and dark occupation deposits up to 0.18m deep. A small sample of these was excavated and found to be rich in charcoal and fragmentary burnt bone. Finds from within the building included some small flakes of polished granite similar to the unfinished polished macehead found in 2004, worked flint and utilised pumice stone.

In the truncated area to the W there was one posthole and a few shallow scoops, at least one of which probably

pre-dates the building. They all contained groups of cultural material, some of which appeared to have been deliberately placed. Other depressions may indicate the position of absent structural stones. To the E of the building is Structure 2, a line of flat contiguous slabs two courses high running through the trench for some 2.5m, probably the base of a wall up to 0.3m wide. Both structures were built directly on top of the boulder clay, and it is clear that the entire site was cleared of topsoil prior to construction. There is a gully running down the contours between the building and the wall and this seems to have been dug through the natural to provide drainage for the site. The gully is stone-lined for much of its length with some flat slabs along the bottom and contains many small stones. It appears to have functioned as a land drain rather than a ditch or culvert. It was filled with a midden deposit rich in cultural material, including various coarse stone tools, potsherds, worked flint and utilised pumice. The bulk of the pottery was similar to the Grooved Ware recovered in 2007, but towards the base of the gully were a few sherds of what may be round-bottomed pot.

Other finds of note recovered from the ploughsoil include a miniature polished stone axe, a polished flint knife, a probable reworked flake from a polished axe, a sandstone cobble with several incised lines on one face and another sandstone cobble with a single cup mark.

Archive: To be arranged

Funder: BEVARS, Peter Mason and Chris Squires

Mick Miles (BEVARS), 2008

HY 56971 28987 A third season of work at this Neolithic settlement site took place 2–31 August 2009. The main

aims were to sample the occupation layers in Structure 1, a Neolithic building, to examine further the area beyond the building and to expose more of Structure 2 to determine its nature and extent.

The 2008 trench was re-opened and the NE, SW and SE sides outside of Structure 1 were excavated down to natural boulder clay. This revealed a further five pits in addition to the four noted in 2008. Four of these contained cultural material of which three showed evidence of structured deposition.

Within Structure 1, the area NW of the hearth in the SE room was also excavated down to the natural. The occupation deposits here were taken down in layers and bulk sampled within a 0.5m square grid. These residues and additional soil samples are currently awaiting analysis.

There was a shallow runnel cut into the natural running SW from the hearth down towards and out through the

probable entrance of the building. The fire-cracked stones in the SW end of the hearth were removed, revealing what appeared to be a V-shaped arrangement of stones forming a channel that ran under the hearth and into the runnel. No further work was possible on this feature.

A small sandstone saddle quern was found placed face down in a scoop under the hearth in the NW room of the building together with a quartzite rubbing stone. They were found beneath damaged and displaced stones, apparently from the hearth, and it is not clear whether they were placed here prior to the use of the hearth or later as a possible act of closure. They do not show any evidence of having been in contact with heat.

The trench was extended to the E and an area of c25m2 was stripped of ploughsoil. It now appears that Structure 2 is probably another building, but smaller than Structure 1, although its full extent remains to be seen.

Part of a polished stone axe was found in the ploughsoil. It had been broken and the blade end fashioned so that it could be stood with the blade upright. A fragment of a polished granite macehead was also recovered from the ploughsoil. Other finds from the site included a range of coarse stone tools, a small quantity of pot sherds similar to the largely undecorated Grooved Ware found in previous seasons, and a large quantity of worked and un-worked flint.

Funder: BEVARS

Mick Miles – BEVARS

HY 56971 28987 A sixth season of work at this Neolithic settlement site took place 21 July – 1 September 2012. The main aims were to carry out further work on the interior of Structure 1, an Early Neolithic building, and to complete the excavation of the hearths and associated cut features in the floor of the building; to investigate its relationship with the adjacent Structure 3 with which it appears conjoined; to further investigate the interior of Structure 2.

In Structure 1 most of the remaining features were excavated down to the natural boulder clay. Final work on the SW hearth confirmed the interpretation from 2011 (DES 2012, 131–132) that it had been constructed in and around a sub-circular bowl-shaped pit between 0.75-0.80m across. Firmly set in the base of this pit were the two stones of the V-shaped channel running under the hearth. When lifted they were found to consist of one single sandstone slab that had been split laterally before being set in place.

Further scoops and runnels were also noted inside Structure 1. One of these runnels came out of Structure 3 and ran down through Structure 1 to where it joined other runnels, some of which still had stone covers. This runnel was truncated from above by a large shallow pit that contained several flat sandstone flags. Originally interpreted as flooring it is now known that this pit cut down through the demolition material overlying much of Structure 1, and it is now thought to be a probable paved pathway leading out from a narrow doorway in Structure 3.

That Structure 3 was in use after Structure 1 was demolished is now clear. The presence of stone holes seen lying on the projected line of Structure 1 has been noted within Structure 3 and this would seem to indicate that Structure 3 was probably constructed later. What is not clear however is whether the two buildings were ever contemporaneous with each other or whether Structure 3 replaced the earlier building. The presence of the covered runnel leading from one to the other would suggest that this might be the case, but further work next year will seek to answer this question.

One other feature of note was a posthole in Structure 1 close to the possible doorway to Structure 3. Measuring c0.5m in diameter this was adjacent to a similarly sized shallow pit noted in 2011 that had contained a deliberately placed hammerstone on a platform at the centre of its base. The posthole however was at 0.35m, much deeper than the pit and judging from the positioning of the packing stones had contained a circular c0.25m diameter post. It is not clear whether the post had rotted in situ or been removed or cut down. The posthole was then covered by a sandstone flag that eventually collapsed into a void below. Finds from this feature included an orange quartzite polisher and several sherds of unabraded pottery.

In Structure 2 the excavation of the pit in the entrance was completed. The three slabs in the pit were removed revealing only boulder clay. The surface of the clay was found to be covered by finger marks which led us to excavate a little further, however nothing further was found and the finger marks would appear to have derived from people dragging wet clay up from the base to line the sides of the pit before the slabs and linear cairn were placed in it. It is difficult to assign function to this feature. The placement of the slabs in a pit could be interpreted as a paved entrance to Structure 2, however the presence of a cairn on top of the paving would suggest otherwise, unless the two events were separated in time.

The excavation of the interior of Structure 2 was begun. The floor is bumpy, not flat and would not have functioned as a usable surface in a working building. This would concur with previous observations that the structure was too flimsy to have been a building and is more likely to have been an enclosure. Within the structure at least three cut features have been noted thus far, one of which, a pit, has been excavated, but which contained nothing of significance. A linear cut feature has been noted which runs under the large sandstone slab at the centre of Structure 2, but this remains to be excavated.

The soils within Structure 2 were slightly lighter and sandier than the midden deposits outside, but these have also proved to be rich in artefacts. These include the usual range of coarse stone tools, flints and pottery that have previously been associated with the site and include the most significant find of the season, a red sandstone roughly triangular polissoir up to 0.40m long. Both sides are deeply bowled and each has two deep parallel grooves ground into their surfaces. Although further research is required, it very much resembles the type of polissoir normally associated with the polishing of stone axes. If so it would add to the repertoire of stone working carried out on this site.

Whilst almost all the material from the site can be demonstrated to be available locally, some other finds recovered this season are clearly exotic. These include more pieces of unworked Arran pitchstone and three flakes of greenstone tuff, with evidence of polished surfaces and probably removed from polished stone axeheads. Visually these are all convincing matches for stone from the Group V1, Langdale series, but this will need to be confirmed by testing.

Archive: BEVARS (currently)

Funder: BEVARS

Mick Miles, BEVARS

2012