The Cairns: Day 20 – the final day
The University of the Highlands and Islands research dig at The Cairns has now come to an end for this year. With the site safely covered up, it is time for site director Martin Carruthers to sum up…
Category: Iron Age
The Cairns 2019: Day 19
Mickey Van Lit, from Leiden University, brings The Cairns daily diary up to date…
Extracting DNA from The Cairns and Minehowe whalebone collections
This week, Brenna Frasier from Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia and Vicki Szabo from Western Carolina University joined Dr Ingrid Mainland and Martin Carruthers at the UHI Archaeology Institute to examine the collection of whalebone artefacts recovered from The Cairns and Minehowe excavations, Orkney.
Orkney’s oldest wooden bowl unveiled
A remarkable, perfectly preserved, wooden bowl unearthed from a two-thousand-year-old well has been revealed during conservation work being undertaken on the artefact this week, and an extraordinary story of ancient repair of the bowl suggests it was a valued object during the Iron Age.
UHI student Ross Drummond and The Cairns or #absolutecairnage
University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute MSc student, Ross Drummond talks about his time at The Cairns dig.
Two thousand year old wooden bowl discovered in underground chamber beneath broch site.
Archaeologists from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute were astonished last week when they unearthed a 2,000-year-old wooden bowl from an underground chamber beneath The Cairns broch, South Ronaldsay, in Orkney.
The structures at The Cairns
However before the daily dig diary begins, perhaps it might be an idea to talk you through some of the structures that have been discovered at the site, to help you locate the finds that Martin and his team discover over the next few weeks of excavation.
Here is everything you have ever wanted to know about The Cairns, but were too afraid to ask. Well, almost…
Making metal – casting society at The Cairns
New radiocarbon dates from The Cairns archaeological excavation shed light on the possible structure of society in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD in Orkney.
Martin Carruthers, site director, talks about the latest research findings from the site.
Researching the origins of The Cairns broch
The Cairns is one of the leading research excavations in Orkney. The work carried out at the site, both during the excavation and post-excavation phases, will over time build a more complete picture of life in the Iron Age in the North Atlantic region.
Site director and Programme Leader for MSc Archaeological Practice, Martin Carruthers, takes up the story…
Iron Age leisure time at The Cairns
The Cairns site in South Ronaldsay, Orkney, has its fair share of spectacular pieces, such as the carved whalebone vessel, but it is the small finds that provide a glimpse into the ordinary everyday existence of people during the Iron Age.