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South Ronaldsay, Liddel, South
Burnt Mound (Prehistoric)
Site Name South Ronaldsay, Liddel, South
Classification Burnt Mound (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Liddle 1; Isbister
Canmore ID 9555
Site Number ND48SE 2
NGR ND 4646 8411
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9555
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish South Ronaldsay
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
ND48SE 2 4646 8411
See also ND48SE 5.
There is a burnt mound a little over a quarter of a mile S of Isbister.
RCAHMS 1946, visited 1929
A burnt mound at ND 4646 8411 measuring about 22.0m in diameter and 1.8m high. The north half has been reduced by quarrying and traces of a stone structure have been visible for some time (R Simison, Liddell Farm); in 1972 an excavation was begun by A C Renfrew (Archaeology Dept, Southampton University) in the north half which has exposed several upright slabs of an unidentifiable structure. The excavation is to be continued in the summer of this year.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (IMT) 26 April 1973
Liddle burnt mound is situated about 400m NE of Liddle farmhouse on the side of a shallow, poorly drained valley with a small stream at the bottom. On the opposite side, and formerly not noted, are the remains of another burnt mound [Liddle II (ND48SE 5)], which was thought to be a cemetery because of the 'headstones' poking out of it (structural orthostats); these were removed to cultivate the land early in this century.
Most Orcadian burnt mounds have been destroyed; Liddle I had in fact been half quarried away for road metalling by the present landowner R Simison, before he found a building which he brought to the attention of Prof. C Renfrew and J W Hedges. Liddle I offered an opportunity for greatly increasing understanding of this class of monument. The site is in two parts - the mound and the structure.
The majority of the burnt mound lies to the SW of the structure up to a height of nearly 2m. Prior to quarrying there would have been more to the E. The two deposits would have formed a declivity leading SE from the structure. Would have been the largest recorded in Orkney.
Consisted mainly of fire-affected local stones, ash and carbon. No charcoal in evidence, but the main fuel was peat. Made up of hundreds of small deposits with the occasional intrusion of cramp. Finds restricted to small sherds of coarse pottery and crude stone implements. Once surrounded building except for the N. Encroachment resisted at one time by the construction of a secondary wall to form a pathway around the building which was eventually covered over.
The building was roughly oval in plan measuring internally 6.5m by 4m at most. The fill had been disturbed but consisted mainly of unburned rubble at least 0.30m deep. This covered a thin grey silty layer and in turn was covered by a light brown/yellow soil which contained burnt stone. The whole was covered by brown soil and the burnt mound material.
The primary wall c1.2m broad up to a height of 0.45m was preserved in the E although it had been levelled in the S for an extension. The floor was flagged and had an extra layer in the N part where it had begun to sink into the peat. The extremely large trough and the gully set in the floor were also of flag. The hearth had been disturbed by quarrying. Another entrance had been built in the S end from the original in the NE and there were seven compartments from the building. There was a flag pathway over the covering mound leading from the secondary entrance. The mound also covered the remains of a secondary wall and circumambient walkway.
J W Hedges (NOSAS), Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 1974-5.
Field Visit (26 April 1973)
A burnt mound at ND 4646 8411 measuring about 22.0m in diameter and 1.8m high. The north half has been reduced by quarrying and traces of a stone structure have been visible for some time (R Simison, Liddell Farm); in 1972 an excavation was begun by A C Renfrew (Archaeology Dept, Southampton University) in the north half which has exposed several upright slabs of an unidentifiable structure. The excavation is to be continued in the summer of this year.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (IMT) 26 April 1973
Publication Account (1996)
This was formerly a very large burnt mound, about 2m high, which had accumulated round an oval building on a slope above a small burn. The basal courses of the shelter survive to a height of almost a metre, the floor is paved and round the walls is a series of compartments formed by upright slabs, but the major feature is the sunken trough, massively built with thick stone slabs forming the sides and bo ttom of a watertight box, 1.6m by 1.0m and 0.6m deep. When this trough was first excavated, it was half-full of burnt stones left from the last cooking. The eastern part of the shelter had been disturbed by recent quarrying for road-metal, but sufficient remained of the hearth to show that it had been set in an alcove in the wall and that the fuel used was peat. The position of the hearth suggests that the building was not roofed, for even if the alcove were itself roofed by lintels or corbelling, the danger of settin g the rafters alight would be considerable; given the steam that must have been produced by the trough, an enclosed building would have been unbea rable to work in, steam and smoke combining to make it impossible either to see or to breathe.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Orkney’, (1996).
Orkney Smr Note
The dating of Liddel, a burnt mound in Orkney, suggests a range in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (J W Hedges 1975). The plan of the building at Liddel resembles other domestic site plans in the Northern Isles, particularly Calder's prehistoric houses in Shetland. Some of the domestic pottery from he burnt mound sites, Liddel and Beaquoy (J W Hedges 1975) appeared to be gritted with burnt stone. This indicates local manufacture and suggest that pottery was produced, at least for domestic purposes on the lines of a cottage industry. Ard shares were found at Liddel: and bones of sheep or goat, fragments of a quern and the presence of cereal
pollen in the records from Liddel all connect the sites to agricultural activities. The pollen evidence from the burnt mound sites suggests an open landscape dominated by heath and small shrubs with indications of cereal production. [R4]
Liddel burnt mound which now stands 2m high was entered via a pathway over the mound and is similar in many respects to early houses. It is oval, thick walled and is dominated by a centrally set watertight trough which has a capacity of 1,000 litres. When found, it was half full of fractured and fire reddened stones. Objects found include hammer-stones, a share from an ard, some possible sling stones, a chipped roundel that may have been served as a pot lid and a few sherds of undecorated bucket shaped pottery vessels. It seems that the trough was used for cooking by a method of heating stones to boil water. [R5]
Information from Orkney SMR [n.d.]
