Surprise in Sanday – Loth Road Archaeology Dig Update

The team from the University of the Highlands and Islands and UCLan are progressing well with the excavations in Sanday – one of the northern isles of Orkney – and have unearthed a few surprises.

Professor Colin Richards takes up the story of the enigma that is the Loth Road site……

The excavations at Loth Road began two weeks ago when we began work on what was hoped to be a late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age ‘double’ house. This forms part of a new project (Northern Exposure) looking at the transition from the Neolithic into the Early Bronze Age periods. The site was previously identified as a possible Bronze Age house when the area was surveyed in advance of a new road to the ferry terminal. So this made it a good candidate to begin the project.

However, sometimes things do not turn out as expected. Rather than being a domestic building a very unusual structure of probable Early Bronze Age date is being unearthed. Indeed, it resembles a ring-cairn in many ways in having a substantial curb formed by upright stones and an inner facing of thinner uprights. The outer curb incorporates beautiful red sandstone uprights. Cup-marked stones (both structural and on smaller stones) are also present at the site, which is unique for an Orcadian Early Bronze Age site.

We are currently still high in the mound/building which unfortunately seems quite damaged on its eastern side. There are also several confusing elements to the site, first, two ‘standing stones are set within the structure. Second, a pair of upright stones (orthostats) resemble the ‘stalled’ architecture of Early Neolithic buildings and third, we have found a number of flints including scrapers and knives. Hammerstones, and cobble tools are numerous. Could it be that an Early Neolithic building (house or chambered cairn) has been modified at a later date into a burial monument?

There has been much excitement over the discovery of so many cup-marked stones. Apart from those present at the Ness of Brodgar this is a scarce form of prehistoric rock art in Orkney, although panels are known from Shetland. Since Sanday is a northern isle in the Orkney archipelago could it be that in the second millennium BC we are seeing a convergence between the two island groups?

Another similar monument appears to be positioned alongside the ‘ring cairn’. Inside this a number of large stone boxes have been unearthed and much discussion surrounds their identification as burial cists.

Within the next few days we will be examining these and the question will be resolved. Very rarely have we encountered such confusing buildings and the architecture of the initial ‘ring cairn’ is very curious. Undoubtedly, over the next couple of weeks all will be revealed but at present, as the students working on the site find amusing, our interpretations change from day to day!