The last full day of excavation
On our final full day of excavation this season, work carried on apace in the broch as we received lots of visitors on another beautiful sunny day of work.
In the south-east room, Aspen excavated the fill of a small stone-setting relating to the hearth on its east side. It was probably a socket to hold a wooden post supporting a bar across the hearth, from which, the occupants hung vessels or skewered meat. Given the number of tiny copper alloy fragments we’ve recovered from these hearth deposits it may well be that the vessels hanging over the fire were bronze ones and little spalls occasionally chipped off them and fell into the fire.
Meanwhile, Amanda also tackled a stone-setting on the south side of the hearth – a larger one that is stone-lined, with two definite large fragments of re-used quern and possibly a third (difficult to tell until it is recovered) all set on their edges. At the base of the feature, Amanda found a beautiful stone tool – a cobble grinder – that she was very pleased with!
Even I found time to pitch-in in the south-east room and excavate a grid square from the earthen clay floor. I could see how much depth and complexity probably still lies in store for us in this space.
Amanda and the stone tool she excavated today. (📷 Martin Carruthers)
Emma and Ceiridwen did their last full day of digging in the south room and continued to find lots of animal bones but also a very intriguing concentration of metalworking slag up against one of the uprights defining the western edge of the room.
After cleaning the oven/kiln feature in the central room , Travis went back to excavating occupation deposits in the west room, near the big hearth mound. He also had plenty of time to help others across the site to 3d record their finds using our GPS equipment – “zapping-in” the finds.
Scott put the final touches for this season on excavating and recording the early features in the north-east room before systematically going around occupation deposits in the broch taking tube samples for DNA.
In the north room, Thore continued to excavate occupation deposits, recovering pottery fragments in the process. Importantly, he also found the natural glacial till underneath the deposits, near the entrance to the underground well.
This is more brilliant news because we have now identified areas of natural in every zone of the broch interior, except the south and south-east rooms, meaning we can complete the full excavation of the broch interior next year in our final season on site.
Work also continued outside the broch.
Ole spent his day recording the Structure U chamber and cupboard and also managing to reveal more of the building’s slab floor. Nearby, Ron and Deborah were working just to the south of the cells area revealing even more wall faces and…cupboards set in them. It seems like the season for cupboards!
At the front exterior zone of the broch, Holly investigated the entrance of Structure T, one of the broch-period village buildings immediately outside the broch and she was able to reveal its entrance as it opens out in front of the broch near its entrance.
Dani excavated an area over the top of the Structure O wall and she recovered animal bones, including horse and cattle.
It’s remarkably changed in this “frontage” area this season and the feeling of space around the front of the broch and the entrance to Structure T is very evocative.Â
So, the final stages of excavation have taken place and tomorrow and Friday will be reserved for covering up the site and packing up.
We’ll keep you informed of our progress in putting the site to bed again for the penultimate time.
Martin Carruthers
Site director
