Today was the final day of a truly extraordinary excavation at Spurness.
Although it ended as it began, with heavy rain, this diminishes in the face of the most remarkable and unexpected of discoveries. Initially, our research questions driving the Sanday fieldwork, which began in 2018, revolved around how different was settlement – in terms of house architecture and daily practices – after the late Neolithic Orcadian villages such as Skara Brae, Pool and the Bay of Stove were abandoned between 2800-2400 BC.
In this we have been successful. Under the supervision of John, we have uncovered, and excavated, a Bronze Age building probably dating to 2400-2000 BC.
But this structure was built into an enormous Early Neolithic stone building over 20 metres in length. Just to provide perspective, houses of the same period (c 3600-3300BC), such as the Knap of Howar, Papa Westray (c.3300BC), or Stonehall Meadow, on the Orkney Mainland, have just a single pair of opposed stone uprights (orthostats) forming two different compartments.
In contrast, the appropriately named “Hall of Spurness” has five sets of opposed orthostats creating six compartments (actually seven as there is another divided by a massive upright stone, examined by Dan yesterday, at the end of the building). This scale of architecture is unknown beyond the Ness of Brodgar in the World Heritage area and is more reminiscent of the Rousay’s massive stalled cairns. But this was clearly a building for the living, as the hearth and quern discovered on Wednesday testifies.
Perhaps the most fascinating and exciting discoveries were made on Wednesday.
These were the rows of small cupboards or “ambries” in the inner wall-face and, in close proximity, polished stone objects built into the wall. One of these has been removed and, after careful examination, can be clearly identified as a adze of a form unseen in Orkney before (curiously it strongly resembles a Polynesian adze, where we also conduct fieldwork in much nicer weather!).
Adzes were made for woodworking and it had clearly seen extensive work as the cutting edge is chipped and blunted. While a wonderful discovery, it raises the question of why was such a beautiful artefact built into the wall – the very fabric of the structure. One answer may lie in the significance, or potency, attached to such objects, which may have considered to have great power.
From ethnographic contexts we know that sometimes they were named and even present and incorporated in family genealogies. Could this potency of the adze be infused into the hall itself by inserting it in the fabric of the walls? If something along these lines is occurring, what does that tell us about the nature of this structure? Can we think about buildings at this time being animated – even living things?Â
Another polished object remains in the wall and will be examined next year. And this brings us to the best news, the farmer, Adam Towrie, has kindly allowed us to cover the site in such a way that it can be easily removed thereby enabling the team to return to Sanday for another season of excavation in 2027.
Despite the dreadful weather, this has been a hugely enjoyable and exciting excavation.
Unexpected discoveries like this are few and far between, especially when you think that, in scale, this is comparable to the amazing buildings discovered at the Ness of Brodgar.
Our team of students have been fantastic. They have worked in wind and rain without complaint and removed tons of rubble from the interior of the hall.
The people of Sanday have been hugely supportive and have visited the excavation in large numbers. Besides which they have baked delicious cakes for us, which has helped deal with the atrocious weather conditions.
Next year we will come earlier in the summer in the hope it will be warm and sunny! Archaeological excavation is always exciting work as you really never now what will be found. Uncovering the Neolithic “Hall of Spurness” is such a good example – and this will continue next year…
