Worked antler tops another day of finds
We were very lucky to have beautiful sunshine (and also Buddy the dog) today.
Inside the broch, Thore has been working in the north room, excavating an upper clay deposit to reveal a layer of organic and charcoal deposits and uncovered several large animal teeth and a pot boiler. Rick has been supervising volunteers and students in the broch.
Over in the north-east room Scott, SJ, and Amy have lifted the base of the hearth, which lay beneath a layer of pink clay, to better understand the relationship between the different contexts.
Amanda and Karen have also been working on two hearth areas in the south-east room, finding the west hearth to have a formalised setting. Further excavation is required to properly understand the sequencing of the west and central hearths. A tiny copper-alloy fragment was found during today’s excavations.
Graham has been working in U4, also known as “the cells”. He has excavated down through a layer of rubble to reveal a thick layer of burnt material. His finds today included more bones and shell, and a stone core, left over from tool production.
Ryan has been working in a small triangular area outside U4, possibly a ditch. He has been finding bird and animal bones, charcoal and a small piece of quartz, which will be examined for any working traces.
Outside the broch frontage area, Grace, Joanne, Lou, and Craig have been removing layers of rubble to reveal the broch exterior and a possible outer wall of the souterrain. Lou found a beautiful whetstone and Craig found a stone tool. Holly has been recording the souterrain walls.
Over in the Overburden (!) -which is “definitely not Ross’s area” (direct quote from Ross) Django, Megan and Claire have been excavating a curved outer wall, finding a large skull abutting one wall and a beautifully worked antler. Ame, who has been recording and photographing finds, says this was her favourite find of the day.
Cath, Kev, and Val have also been removing rubble and Val found some nicely butchered bone and mammal teeth.
Last but not least, Jan, Gill, Elenore, Beth, Robert, and Mila have been busy in Structure B2, grid sampling, photographing, plan drawing, removing rubble and then rinse and repeat! Gill found a large, high-quality pot sherd, Beth and Jan both found stone tools and in the corner of a range of orthostats, while Jan found a stunning spindle whorl.
Mila has been planning B2 and keeping strict records of contexts, artefacts and samples.
Sarah Gerity
UHI BA Hons Archaeology student
