Dr Simon Gilmour, director of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, discusses the post-excavation work at the ongoing University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute excavation at The Cairns, South Ronaldsay, Orkney.
The excavation at the Iron Age site at The Cairns, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, is the subject of the next talk hosted by the Orkney Archaeology Society.
A new radiocarbon date for a shell-filled pit at The Cairns Iron Age site in South Ronaldsay shows that it was in use in the fifth or sixth century AD.
The pit appears to have been used to cook shellfish and after consumption, their shells, all 18,637 of them, were put back in it.
A tiny sliver found during soil-sample processing has brought the number of ancient glass fragments from the interior of The Cairns broch to nine.
However, unlike most of the eleven examples of glass recovered across the South Ronaldsay site, this dark-green shard does not appear to be a bead fragment but may instead have come from Roman glassware.
The Cairns Excavation Site Director & University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute Lecturer Martin Carruthers talks about the multi cultural experience of Iron Age society in Orkney as the exploitative Roman Empire appeared in Britain.
As a society we are aided in our understanding of the Covid-19 emergency and the way we can address the social, economic and political effects through our use of technology…..but what of society in the Iron Age? How did they cope with emergencies that affected their way of life? Did they change their way of doing things permanently?
DNA investigations undertaken on a large collection of whale bone from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute Iron Age archaeological site of The Cairns, have afforded a glimpse into the complex relationship of Iron Age communities with whales.
Dr Antonia Thomas is a lecturer in archaeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute based in Orkney, Scotland. Antonia’s work focuses on art and archaeology in its broadest sense – from the interpretation of prehistoric art, to the intersections between contemporary art practice and the archaeological imagination.
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…
Mickey Van Lit, from Leiden University, brings The Cairns daily diary up to date…
