The UHI Archaeology Institute is returning to Swartigill, in Caithness, to continue excavating a fascinating Iron Age settlement.
The ORCA-led dig, in partnership with the Yarrows Heritage Trust, runs from Monday, August 18, until Friday, September 5, and will be the eighth season of work at this remarkable site, which was originally discovered when erosion in the banks of the burn revealed stonework and a remarkable concentration of prehistoric pottery.
The team has revealed a compact, but complex cluster of buildings. The earliest dates relate to fragments of Early Iron Age structures, from the 4th and mid-3rd century BC, that were incorporated into a later complex of buildings. One of the most intriguing elements of the Swartigill site is that it likely originated during the Early to Middle Iron Age, a period commonly associated with broch building in Caithness – although there is no broch evident at Swaritigill!Â
We initial identified that the partially collapsed shells of the buildings had been utilised as less formal occupation at the end of the Iron Age and in the Earlier Medieval period, in the 8th and 9th century AD, perhaps on a seasonal basis, or peripheral to the Medieval farmstead situated to the north of the burn. We uncovered some evidence of Middle Iron Age activity on the site, dating to the 2nd and 1st century BC, from midden dumps and rubble infill of older structures around the edges of the site.
We had suspicions that the main structures within this cluster were likely occupied during this Middle Iron Age period. Last season we were able to excavate deposits directly associated with the occupation of those buildings, such as ashy material that had been raked out of hearths or trampled into floor surfaces. Newly acquired radiocarbon dates from these layers place this activity between the 1st century BC, and 1st century AD.
This is a very exciting development, as it confirms that Swartigill was occupied throughout the Early and Middle Iron Age, the same period as the nearby brochs, and likely enjoyed a similar level of success and longevity to these larger settlements.
As we continue to investigate the evidence from the occupation of the site we will be able to shed more light on the lives of the people who lived there. Were the folk at Swartigill of a different social status to the broch dwellers? Were they engaging in a specialised activity that needed to be separated from the broch settlements? Or were their lives and livelihoods more or less comparable?
These are questions we are hoping to find the answers to in this season’s excavation.
Visitors are welcome to come and see our progress and join in the process of discovery. The excavation is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm. There are also opportunities available to volunteer. Visit www.yarrowsheritagetrust.co.uk or email heritage@yarrowsheritagetrust.co.uk or enquiries.orca@uhi.ac.uk from more information.
