Westray, Tafts
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible), Settlement (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Westray, Tafts
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible), Settlement (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Canmore ID 2812
Site Number HY44SE 11
NGR HY 4965 4173
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/2812
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Westray
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY44SE 11 4963 4171.
A S-facing exposure produced a variety of domestic midden finds, including a bird beak and other bird bone, pot-boiler fragments, animal bone including one fragment with butchery markings, whale and cod bone, and limpet and periwinkle shell. The bird and butchered bone were deposited in Tankerness House Museum (THM 1990.100). No structural features were apparent. The finds, while not diagnostic, are typical of Early Iron Age settlement remains, this with the size of the mound strongly suggests a probable large broch site.
D Lynn and B Bell 1990.
Field Visit (June 1981)
Tafts HY 4963 4171 HY44SE
The abandoned farm of Tafts stands upon a prominent mound rising some 2m above the general level of the sandy links; two small exposures caused by rabbits show limpet-shells and animal-bone midden material.
RCAHMS 1983, visited June 1981.
(OR 873).
Field Visit (1998)
A large grass-covered mound lies adjacent to the coast edge. It measures 40m in diameter and stands up to 6m high. Here and there stones protrude thriugh the turf, but it is difficult to discern if these are associated with the buried remains or are the remnants of later agricultural features. The seaward side of the mound has been truncated by coastal erosion but the regeneration of the turf in this area obscures any exposures. Previously, midden material material including animal and bird bone and shell were noted in section. The scale of this mound suggests that it may cover a substantial structure such as a broch or a multi-period settlement.
Moore and Wilson, 1998
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey
Publication Account (2002)
HY44 10 TAFTS
HY/49634171
Possible broch on Westray inside a severely eroded mound. Sherds of Iron Age type found in 1990 support the identification [1].
Source: 1. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1990, 45.
E W MacKie 2002
