Steatite import adds to the stone lamp tally
Today was a magnificent Orkney day with a good strong breeze to keep us cool and an occasional rain shower here and there. Everyone has been doing an exceptional job here at The Cairns and I cant wait to tell you about it.
Starting off outside the broch in Structure B2. Iain Healy told me about an interesting discovery of how the phases within the structure actually appear to spread past the gable ends of the building, so we’re dealing with earlier activity in this vicinity.
Meanwhile, Shelly has been expanding the size and area of the bone deposit in the structure. Robert found a really interesting stone tool and is just finished the work on the occupation deposits east of the hearth, and then there was Jan’s good luck finding multiple stone tools.
Moving into Structure K, James Moore looks to me as though he’s “loving the weather” and also excited about the work he, Gillian, Sarah and Jamie have been doing on the paving within Structure K. They’ve found a new phase of paving and multiple bits of pottery.
The broch “frontage” team has been working hard today too. Django has been recovering a bulk sample of the fill beneath the surface just beyond Structure T.
Julia found an amazing associated assemblage of bone, as well as some whale bone and a pig tusk. Craig has been doing some exemplary work revealing new paving stones, and, in Structure T, Ben and Tim have been following a drain running through the building from its southern end all the way to possibly connect with the main drain at the broch frontage.
In “the cells”, the U structures, Ole, Olivia, Bev, and Matt have been doing interesting work. They’ve continued working on the interior of U1 revealing more of the inner wall.
They also worked in the interior of Structure U4, where they found bone and pottery. Inside Structure U3 they found some shells. Ole in particular is trying to unravel the relationships between structures U1, U3, and J.
Looks like the time has come to move into the broch.
Starting in the south room, Quin has continued his work prepping the floor slabs for removal, which should be ready tomorrow, and, in the process, has also revealed a carved stone lamp made from steatite (soapstone), which means it was an import, almost certainly from Shetland! He has also been finding more seal bones.
Leila has been making a lot of progress on sampling the floors on the grid and finding multiple bones (fish and mammal), stone tools and pottery.
In the south-east Room, Amanda been excavating the yellow clay floor beneath the paving and James has been doing some incredible work finding a ton of querns and quern rubbers.
In the north-east cell, or cell A4, Scott and SJ have been determining what the deposits in the cell are and noticed some really interesting layering. They’re now working on section drawing it and will be sampling it as well.
In the north room, Thore has been excavating redeposited natural deposits to show the relationship between the well and the broch wall. While doing this work has also revealed an amazing capstone over the well.
In the central room, Jean has finished excavating and cleaning the major paving here and is now working on plan drawings.
In the broch’s west room Rick has been buzzing around helping and recording. Kaz has been taking down contexts beneath the hearth.
Travis has had some really good luck in finding stone tools and might even have discovered the natural within the west bay, near the pit that takes up a large portion of the room on its south side. I am also in this room and have had a good time working through a context that sits against the upright (orthostat) division that separates the west room from the south and central rooms.Â
Declan Fladstol
UHI MSc Archaeological Practice student
