Under the covers and ‘baffling the boffins’
It’s been yet another highly productive day on site – although the exposed archaeology continues to perplex!
Most of the protective covers over the suspected Bronze Age building were removed this morning giving the majority of the 2025 dig team their first proper look at the structural remains. While the covers were coming off, the UHI Archaeology Institute students and volunteers excavated the top of the newly exposed southern wall.
It’s fairly safe to say that this is a puzzling site. We’ve mentioned before the inner wall that becomes an outer one. Are we looking at the modification and shortening of an earlier building? In addition there’s a distinct lack of pottery and no sign, yet, of anything that could be considered a hearth or fireplace.
Today, it also became clear that a section of the southern wall is completely missing. Does this represent and entrance? Or are we looking at something else. Later episodes of stone robbing perhaps?
The exposed archaeology in the Bronze Age building after the removal of the covers. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Work around the curved western end this afternoon led to some more head scratching and various theories mooted. Do we have a Bronze Age ring cairn that was placed on top of an earlier structure? Time will tell.
Closer view of Xan’s Skaill knife. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
In the meantime the finds have started emerging, including more flint and a particularly fine example of a Skaill knife recovered by Xan at the eastern end of the structure.
The day ended with an excursion to the eroding settlement site on the east side of the Bay of Stove.
This huge Neolithic settlement was first recorded in 1980 and a survey and test excavation in 1992 not only confirmed structural remains, pottery, ash and bone dumps eroding from the cliff face but a second area of occupation approximately 80 metres away. Ceramics from the eroding section were earlier than those encountered at the second site, which was interpreted as settlement moving inland.
There are no secure dates for the two areas but a macehead found on the beach in 1934 is thought to date from the latter half of the third millennium cal BC.
In 2007, survey work ahead of commercial activity revealed surface finds to the east, including pottery and flint. This, together with evidence of more prehistoric settlement, may relate to the two confirmed Stove sites.
The forecast tomorrow looks pretty grim, with rain for most of the morning and early afternoon. This will make conditions on site muddy and therefore slippy. And with the archaeology now exposed we must be careful to protect it and our diggers.
But fingers crossed we do get some time in the trench once it dries up a bit.
