Rescue Excavations on the Brough of Birsay 1974-82

234 Pages·1986·53.656 MB·English

by  John R. Hunter

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS ON THE BROUGH OF BIRSA Y 1974-82
J R nUNTER
ILL I : S. .' ukll1l'n! Oil th ..· Bro\lgh or !Jirsal' frum th~ SE. John !)c'",r Studios. Crown copyright rcscr\"~d
J R HUNTER
RESCUE EXCAVATIONS ON THE BROUGH
OF BIRSA Y 1974-82
CONTRIBUTIONS BY J BOND A M DONALDSON G McDONNELL
T J SELLER
ILLUSTRATION R BAYLISS MILLS A CHUDECKA J McKINLEY
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND EDINBURGH 1986
MONOGRAPH SERIES NUMBER 4
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF SCOTLAND
MONOGRAPH SERIES
PREVIOUS VOLUMES
EDITORS I BM RALSTON H K MURRA Y A N SHEPHERD Numher I
C L CURLE
Pictish and Nor;o;-finds from the
Volume editors: IBM Ralston A N Shcphnd Brough of Birsay 19H-7.t (1\182)
ISBN 0 'XU903 016
Number 2
J C MURRAY
Excav~tiuns in the 1>,kdicv,1I hurgh
of Atxniccn 1973-111 0\182)
ISBN u W3903 02 4
Number 3
1/ FAIRHURST
EXc<watiuns at Crosski.k broch.
Caitlmcss (1984)
ISBN 0 'XJJ90} OJ 2
ThiS volume is published "'ith the aid of" generous gran! fmm
the Historic Buildings and Monumcnts Directorate of
the Scol\ish Del'clopmen! Department
British LibrHY Cataloguing in Publication Data
Hunter. John R.
Rescue excal'ati()n~ un the Brough uf
Birsay 197+-82.-(Socicty of Antiquaries
uf Sl't.tland monugraph ,cries; v. 4)
I. Excavations (Arehacology)--Scotland-
Bin;ay 2. Northmen--Scotland- Birsay
3. Birsay-Antiquitics 4. Scotland-
Antiqllities
I. Title II Society of Antiquaries uf
Scotland Ill. Series
\14\.1'300:1395 DA880.BI
IS!:iN 0 ')()3903 O.t 0
Printed by Adlard & Son Limittd. Dorking
CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgements 7
List of illustrHtions 9
List of tables II
Introduction 13
1: 1 The landscape 13
1:2 History of previous investigation 17
1:3 The excavation ,2.0
-,
2 Phase I
2: I The native background 25
2:2 Excavation of Site VII 30
2:3 Excav:llion of Site VIII 46
2:4 Excavation of Site IX 54
2: 5 Discussion 60
3 Phase 2 69
3: I The first Scandinavian settlement 69
3:2 Excavation of Site VII 76
3:3 EXcllvmion ofSilc VIII 85
3:4 Excavation of Site IX 89
3: 5 Discussion 103
4 Phase 3 118
4: 1 Later Norse settlement 118
4:2 Excavation of Site VII 119
4:3 Excavation of Site VIII 136
4:4 Discussion 142
5 Phase 4 150
5: I The kclping industry 150
5:2 Excavation of Sites VIII and IX 152
5:3 Discussion 157
6 General discussion 168
Appendix 1 Radiocarbon dating 176
Appendix 2 Extracts from the notebook of Mr Jamc~ Henderson 1938-39 179
Appendix -' Find ... catalogu..: lSI
Bone/anTler lSI
Glass 181
Lead 183
Pottery 183
Shale 186
Silver IS6
Stone 187
Copper alloy and iron, including evidence of production 196
6
Page
Appendix 4 Environmental evidence 208
Animal bone material 208
Carboniscd seeds and grains 216
Charcoal 219
Appendix 5 Geophysical survey 221
Reference list 225
MICROFICHE SECTION- CONTENTS
Frames
Stratigraphy and Contexts lists A5-B8
Analysis of metalworking residues B9-C2
Finds lists of metalworking residues
Fuel ash slag C3- 11
Hearth and furnace lining C12-0 2
Clinker 03-4
Hearth bOllam 05
Smithing slag 06-9
Slag (unclassified) 0 10
Analysis of pottery D12- 14
Charcoal remains EI-IJ
The full primary arl'hi\'e pertaining 10 this sile is hous<:d ill the Nntional Monuments Record. 54. Melville Street,
Edinburgh. where it may he consulted on application.
7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These l:xcavatiuns (.;omml'llced in the summer Df 197-1 and. wilh the exception of the 1971{
season. continued annually until lYK2. Throughout the work advice and Cnct'Ufitgcmcnt was
received from many individu.lls. notahly from Christopher I> Morris of Durham University.
whose cOlllpkrncntary work on Birsay will he forthcoming. and from Mrs Cecil Curle. who first
introduced the authur 10 \he f;l,cin;tliIlIlS (If Orkney. Tlw e.~crcisC' was funded by Ih", Scottish
Development Department Ancient MOlluments Divis;()ll and It is a Iribul<.: 10 the dedication of
various members of the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments. Mr Stewart Crudcn. Dr David
Breeze. Mr Patrick Ashmore and Dr Noel Fojut thaI Ih..:;r conviction for the need \0 excavate
has now been proved. Thanks mllst also go to other members of tilL' l)ep;lTImcnL notahly 10 the
sill' custodial staff. furmerly Mr Joe rvl;uclw~ ;md 1;lucrly ,'vIr (iordon Spe.-nce. for the.-ir patience
and inte.-rcSL and to the m,lintenance squ;l(1 led by Mr J Dre.-wr for their hard work in providing
e.-quipment and sheltef. During the exclvation and writing up stimulus came from m;l1lY quarll.!rs
and is especially acknuwledged from Professor Rosemary Cramp. Dr Raymond Lamb. Dr Anna
Ritchie and Ms Beverley Smith Christupher 0 Morris and Dr Anna Ritchie kindly made their
contributions to "fJ/1' PrehiSTOry of Orkney (Renfrew IY~5) av,lilable In mlvancc of publication.
An excavation of this type requires the support of a number of spel:ialists in ,I range of
diverse fields and it would be impossible to name all thuse md]\'iduals who p:lrticip:lted. or
indeed assisted indin:l:tly in the success of the project. The author is particu];lrly grateful 10 the
following: Mrs Alison Donaldson and Ms Julie Bond (seeds and charcoal). Dr Timothy $l.:ller
(animal bones). Dr Roger Jacobi (flint). Mr Gerry McDonnell and Mr Robert Keyzor
(metalworking rem.uns). Dr Bob Otlet and Dr rvlike Stenhouse (radiocarbon dating). Mr and
Mrs Frederick Beltys (surveying). Or Roger \V,dker :lI1d Mr John G.1Ier (geophysics). Miss
Marion Archibold (nulllisll1<ltics). Mr Jim Spriggs and Mr Chri~ Caple (coT1sl.:rvation). Mr Jen:my
Evans (pottery) and the staff of the Environmental Archaeology Unit. University of York (fish.
bird :lnd mollusc rl.:l1Iain:-.) Analytic;ll work carried out at Br:ldford was hy kind courtesy of Mr
Arnold Aspinall. Mr Stanky W:lrrell :uld PTilfessor Gordon Brown. ComplJler softw:lrl' for d.na
processing W;IS compiled by Mr Brencbn Grimley. with hardware facilitil.'s kindly matk available
by Mr John Ilaigh. Illustrations 111 this volume are by Mr Ralph Bayliss-Mills. Ms Anna
Chudccka and Ms Jacqueline McKinley, The conjectural reconstruction was produced hy Mr
Dick Raines. Neither the excavation nor the report would have been possible without the
support of the Undergraduate School of Archaeological Sciences or the Postgradu:tle School of
Physics. Univcrsity of Bradford. the technical initiative of tvlr Roger Dwyer and Mr Dennis Ivcs
in the Physics workshop and tilL' tirl.:iess dforts of the University Photographic Unit. Assist,uu:e
was also received frum ~'lr Trevor Cowie. National Museulll of Antiquities of Scotland. Mr
David Sanderson and Mr Mike Heyworth. The author would like to record his thanks to thl.!se
and to the Ill;my otlwr individu:lb who COlllrilmh:d in I:tlull1ks., dirk-rent wa~'s tu the production
of this repon. The po:-:.t-exe:lvation dfort rests heaVIly on the work ,md resilielll'l' of Ms
Jacqueline McKinley. Research Assi~tan1. to wh!lrn a particular debt of gratitude.- is acknow-
ledged. Y:llu;tble :Htvice :l1ld comment on the typescript was gi,'cn hy Christopher D Morris and
the author is indebtell for his expertise and patience.
Sinee 197-1. some 10U different volunteer~ fru111 a range of Institutions .l11d backgrounds have
assisted in the excavations. All tolerated various extremes nf climate as well as curious tid;11
working hours. The work was always carried out with enthu\lasm and it ii. a tribute to the site
staff. Lyle Browning. Sarah Dobson. Gavin Edwards. Norman Emery. John Gater. Brendan
8
Grimley. Stephanie Large. Jacqueline McKinley and Jennifer Pearson thalthe work was carried
out efficiently and successfully. Particular thanks must go 10 the Assistant Director. Mr Stephen
Dockrill. whose dedication and technical competence both on site and in the laboratory did
much 10 ensure smooth and profitable progress. It is a tribute to his efforts as much as to those
of the author that Ihis report now appears.
The excavations could not have taken place without the kind permission of the landowners.
Mr David Wallace (Site VII) and Mr William Moar (Sites VIII and IX). and the author is
particularly grateful for their support. Finally a special debt of gratitude is owed 10 Ihe people of
l3irsay. whose quiet peace and tranquility was annually shal1ered by the presence of excavation
teams. Their interest in the site. their patience and their hospiwlity were deeply appreciated by
all those concerned with the project.