View from the finds hut…with a few bursts of song
Hi folks, Kev Kerr from the finds hut here with the penultimate daily blog before we (literally) wrap it up for another year.
With the team finishing off sampling, paperwork and bringing each of their areas to a natural pause, I thought I’d take the first lull in the constant stream of artefactual material to give a brief summary.
The Cairns has always been consistent in a great volume of “bulk” finds but even by this standard 2025 has been exceptional. These finds are graded differently to the “small” finds and are recorded generally rather than individually by their contexts.
Mainly consisting of bone, shell and stone, they are invaluable for insights into how different areas were used, ancient diets as well as providing evidence for resource management in the landscape.
There isn’t any time on site for cleaning, weighing or counting amounts (that’s what the long Orkney winters are for) but you can sometimes gauge things by how long it takes to fill the vehicle or by the involuntary noises of the tired diggers as they lift them!
The teams this year have indeed worked tirelessly and been a big personal help to myself so I’d like to thank everyone for that help.
An example of how great the on-site dynamics have been this season was experienced today. Most of the day was spent starting to tidy and cover the archaeology.
This can be both emotional and physically hard, but not for our team who actually burst into song a few times! I mean, it was torture to listen to but they were happy, which is more than can be said for the seagulls, who were scared away from feeding in the freshly cut field nearby.
And so to the small finds.
Those of you who follow the daily blog will already be aware of many of the more interesting finds but it’s interesting also to also look at some of the general patterns and trends that appear over a season. There tends to be short bursts of similar artefact types each season and this year was no exception.
Early on it was whetstones, when three beautiful examples came up in as many days. These stones were used mainly to sharpen blades and, over time, produce lovely square edges.
Thin strips of antler with holes drilled in them, also called bone mounts, were also being uncovered in various places within the broch. We have had a few previously and suspected them to either be a form of strapping or handle. We’ve never had two exquisite examples come up still with bone pegs still in the holes before!
Once again, we hit double figures in quernstones and rubbers and with over another dozen already earmarked for lifting next season, this cements our understanding that grinding played a significant part within life at The Cairns. It also has to be said that nearly all stones were found in a position other than a working stance, but rather upturned or on their sides.
Pottery was numerous, as it always is, but with a great range in diversity this year from intricate, finely made globular vessels to exotically decorated sherds.
The stone tools and, in particular, the grinding stones (like pestles) were of remarkable quality and definitely got under the radar of a few excavators who were swooning over how lovely some were.
Every season is rewarding in the finds hut at The Cairns but it does feel that 2025 was particularly enjoyable and rewarding and with every small find recorded and safely off site, I’ll say my final thanks to all the team (on and off site) and the visitors and sign off.
Kev Kerr
