Bu, Gurness and the Brochs of Orkney: Part II: Gurness

The Useful Dead: Bodies as Objects in Iron Age and Norse Atlantic Scotland

“…Human bones were deposited in a wide variety of contexts, for example in enclosure ditches at Gurness and Midhowe on Orkney (Callander & Grant, 1934;Hedges, 1987b), in the interior of Atlantic roundhouses at Scalloway in Shetland (Sharples, 1998) and Kintradwell in Sutherland (Joass, 1890), buried in or under walls at Bu and Howe on Orkney (Hedges, 1987a;Ballin Smith, 1994), and in Late Iron Age buildings surrounding the central roundhouse at Old Scatness in Shetland (Tucker et al, 2010) and Dun Vulan in the Western Isles (Parker Pearson & Sharples, 1999). Many of the Iron Age sites in this area were excavated during the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, and the human remains found at this time were often interpreted as the result of cannibalism, massacres, or sacrifice (e.g.…”

The role of cetacea in prehistoric and historic Atlantic Scotland

“…Cetacean bone has been recorded on Atlantic Scotland sites from the Mesolithic onwards. There are over 70 other sites in Scotland with cetacean bone (Hallen, 1994;Smith, 1998;Mulville, , 2000Bond, personal communication;Ceron, personal communication;Childe, 1931;Finlay, 1984Finlay, , 1991Hamilton, 1968;Hedges, 1987;Macartney, 1984;MacGregor, 1974;McCormick, 1991;Morris et al, 1995;Noddle, , 1981Noddle, , 1982Noddle, , 1987Richie 1976;Serjeantson, n.d.;Smith, 1994;Sullivan, 1997;Young & Richardson, 1960). At only 13 has it been possible to identify any bone to species and the most commonly identified element is vertebra.…”

“…As yet no tools produced from this element have been identified in the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age assemblages. Hallen, 1994;Smith, 1998;Mulville, , 2000Bond, personal communication;Ceron, personal communication;Childe, 1931;Finlay, 1984Finlay, , 1991Hamilton, 1968;Hedges, 1987;Macartney, 1984;MacGregor, 1974;McCormick, 1991;Morris et al, 1995;Noddle, , 1981Noddle, , 1982Noddle, , 1987Richie 1976;Serjeantson, n.d.;Smith, 1994;Sullivan, 1997;Young & Richardson, 1960) is a very brief summary of the types of artefacts recovered from Scottish sites. This demonstrates the large amount of cetacean bone present, the level of its utilization and the degree of tool standardization.…”

“…They are produced from a wide range of cetacean vertebrae sizes. On some sites they have been identified as basins and cups (Skara Brae (Childe, 1931)), vessels (Clickhimin (Hamilton, 1968); Gurness (Hedges, 1987); Sollas ) or lamps (Smith, 1998), whilst at others they have been interpreted as door posts (A' Cheardach Mhor (Young & Richardson, 1960)). These finds appear to be limited to the Early and Middle Iron Age and have not yet been recorded at Later Iron Age sites (Smith, 1998).…”

“…Pierced unfused vertebral epiphyses-'pot lids'-are also commonly reported from prehistoric sites. The identification of the 'pot lids' possibly derives from the identification of slate pot lids with a similar form at Skara Brae; at Gurness the cetacean epiphyses were interpreted as the lids, for vertebra vessels (Hedges, 1987). The link between the 'lids' and the cetacean vessels is as yet unproven; on the South Uist sites no cetacean vessels of a size or form on which such lids could be used have been recorded.…”