Sourcing fire ash on archaeological sites in the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland, using mineral magnetism

Church, Mike J.; Peters, C.; Batt, C. M

doi:10.1002/gea.20185

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This ash had presumably spread from the central domestic hearth, either being deliberately laid down as part of a beaten floor level or trampled over time across the domestic space, a phenomenon noted in other blackhouse excavations (Smith 1996) and 19 th /20 th -century ethnography (Fenton 1978). The archaeobotanical remains would have been carbonized in the hearth, the principal taphonomic model for carbonized plant macrofossil preservation in North Atlantic archaeology Church et al 2005Church et al , 2007.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peat/turf ash was identified in the field as patches of orangey brown clayey ash, a common color and texture associated with the burning of peat and turf in the Western Isles (Church et al 2007). This identification was confirmed by the enhanced magnetic susceptibility (c) in deposits with large proportions of ash, and the range of frequency dependent magnetic susceptibility (kfd%) indicated a significant concentration of superparamagnetic grains (Dearing 1994), a feature of peat and turf ash (Church et al 2007;Peters et al 2000. Large numbers of burnt fragments of carbonized peat/ turf were also recovered from the bulk samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The single fragment of birch roundwood (Betula sp. not pith to bark, 11 rings) and the fragment of hazel nutshell (Corylus avellana L.) could indicate the use of birch and hazel taken from areas separated from grazing sheep, such as cliffs or islands in lochs, but are more likely to be plant contaminants from the burning of peat (Church et al 2007, Dickson 1998, McClaughlin 1980. The wood was clearly not used for fuel.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small-Scale Evaluation of a Post-Medieval Blackhouse at Bereiro, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland

Nesbitt

Church

Gilmour

et al. 2013

Journal of the North Atlantic

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract -This paper presents the results of the excavation of two dry-stone structures in the abandoned blackhouse village of Bereiro, near to the township of Crowlista, Isle of Lewis. The research was undertaken as part of a wider landscape project investigating human occupation on the Uig peninsula from prehistory to the post-medieval period (the Uig Landscape Project). The excavation aimed to collect dating evidence from the site to determine the date of construction and abandonment of one of the earliest structures in the village, in an attempt to establish the longevity of the blackhouse form in the vernacular architecture of medieval Atlantic Scotland. The results of the dating program are considered alongside historical documents, which record the social history of the village within the context of the long-standing research questions regarding blackhouse villages. These questions include the development of the agricultural field systems and continuity or change in the Hebridean landscape from later-prehistory to medieval times.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small-Scale Evaluation of a Post-Medieval Blackhouse at Bereiro, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland

Nesbitt

Church

Gilmour

et al. 2013

Journal of the North Atlantic

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“…This detailed examination at the base of coastal erosion archaeological sections was successfully used to identify the first archaeological sites of Mesolithic date in the Western Isles of Scotland (Gregory et al, 2005;Church et al, 2011). A similar palynological argument for early human settlement was proposed for the 'invisible Mesolithic' of the Western Isles, where small-scale clearance episodes evident in preNeolithic pollen sequences, coupled with a rise in microscopic charcoal, led researchers to propose hunter-gatherer fire ecology accounted for these disturbances, despite the lack of any Mesolithic archaeological sites in the island chain (Bennett et al, 1990;Bohncke, 1988;Edwards, 1996;Edwards and Sugden, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vikings were not the first colonizers of the Faroe Islands

Church

Arge

Edwards

et al. 2013

Quaternary Science Reviews

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. (2013) 'The Vikings were not the rst colonizers of the Faroe Islands.', Quaternary science reviews., 77 . pp. 228-232. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.011Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Quaternary science reviews. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be re ected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A de nitive version was subsequently published in Quaternary science reviews, 77, 1 October 2014, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.011. Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. AbstractWe report on the earliest archaeological evidence from the Faroe Islands, placing human colonization in the 4 th -6 th centuries AD, at least 300-500 years earlier than previously demonstrated archaeologically. The evidence consists of an extensive wind-blown sand deposit containing patches of burnt peat ash of anthropogenic origin. Samples of carbonised barley grains from two of these ash patches produced 14 C dates of two pre-Viking phases within the 4 th -6 th and late 6 th -8 th centuries AD. A re-evaluation is required of the nature, scale and timing of the human colonization of the Faroes and the wider North Atlantic region.

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“…), moss leaf fragments, small culm nodes/bases, small rhizomes, and seeds from heath and grassland species. These plant macrofossils were likely to have been carbonized within the turfs used during the charcoal production process, because they reflect the suite of macrofossils expected when burning turf (Dickson 1998;Church et al 2007). …”

Section: Dating and Statistical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Charcoal Production During the Norse and Early Medieval Periods in Eyjafjallahreppur, Southern Iceland

et al. 2007

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Citation for published item:ghurhD wF tF nd hugmoreD eF tF nd wirsD uEeF nd willrdD eF nd gookD qF F nd veinjrnrd¡ ottirD qF nd esoughD F eF nd xewtonD eF tF nd ououxD uF @PHHUA 9ghrol prodution during the xorse nd erly medievl periods in iyjfjllhreppurD outhern selndF9D dioronFD RW @PAF ppF TSWETUPF Further information on publisher's website: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACT. Timber procurement and the use of woodlands are key issues in understanding the open landscapes of the Norse and Medieval periods in the North Atlantic islands. This paper outlines evidence for the timing and mechanisms of woodland use and deforestation in an area of southern Iceland, which is tracked through the mapping and analysis of charcoal production pits. Precise dating of the use of these charcoal production pits within a Bayesian framework is demonstrated through the combination of tephrochronology, sediment accumulation rates, and multiple radiocarbon dates on the archaeological charcoal. Two phases of charcoal production and woodland exploitation have been demonstrated, the first within the first 2 centuries of settlement (cal AD 870-1050) and the second phase over 100 yr later (cal AD 1185-1295). The implications for using charcoal as a medium for 14 C dating in Iceland and the wider North Atlantic are then explored. Archaeobotanical analysis of the charcoal sampled from the pits has indicated that birch roundwood was the dominant wood used, that the roundwood was stripped from larger shrubs/trees in late spring/early summer, and that certain sizes and ages of roundwood were harvested. Finally, the timing of the charcoal production is placed into the wider debate on deforestation across Iceland during the Norse and early Medieval periods.

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Sourcing fire ash on archaeological sites in the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland, using mineral magnetism

Cited by 31 publications

References 28 publications

Small-Scale Evaluation of a Post-Medieval Blackhouse at Bereiro, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland

Small-Scale Evaluation of a Post-Medieval Blackhouse at Bereiro, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland

The Vikings were not the first colonizers of the Faroe Islands

Charcoal Production During the Norse and Early Medieval Periods in Eyjafjallahreppur, Southern Iceland

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