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This book explores the economic evidence for the settlement at
Bornais on South Uist. It reports in detail on the large
assemblages of material found during the excavations at mounds 2
and 2A. There is important evidence for craft activity, such as
bone and antler working and this includes the only comb making
workshop from a rural settlement in Britain. A large proportion of
the copper alloy, bone and antler assemblages comprise pieces of
personal adornment and provide important information on the dress
and thereby social relations within the settlement occupation.
There is a large assemblage of iron tools and fittings, which
provides important information on the activities taking place at
the settlement. The information derived from the artefact
assemblages is complemented by that provided by the ecofactual
material. Large amounts of animal, fish and bird bones plus
carbonised plant remains provide detailed information on
agricultural practices, and the processing, preparation and
consumption of foodstuffs. It is clear that the Norse inhabitants
of the settlement had access to a much richer variety of resources
than had been exploited before the Viking colonisation of the
region. The settlement also had a significantly wider range of
connections; material culture indicates contacts to the south with
the Irish Sea ports and Bristol, and to the north with Shetland and
the Viking homelands of Norway. The evidence produced by these
excavations is exceptional and provides an unparalleled opportunity
to explore medieval life in the Scandinavian kingdoms of Western
Britain.
South Uist is a small island in the soutern half of the Outer
Hebrides. In the middle of the island lies the township of Bornais.
This covers a particularly flat area of land which means that the
three prominent mounds can be seen all the more clearly. These
mounds have been identified as being from the Viking period, with
evidence of pre-Viking habitation at the site coming from Iron Age
sherds. The excavation of the Bornais settlement is a long-term
project, which has been going since 1994. This first published
volume of the results of the excavation focuses on Mound 3, but
includes a discussion of the topographic and geophysical survey of
all the mounds. There is also considerable analysis of the
environmental remains and radiocarbon dating.
The settlement at Bornais in the Western Isles of Scotland is one
of the largest rural settlements known from the Norse period in
Britain. It spans the period from the fifth to the fifteenth
century AD when the Atlantic seaboard was subject to drastic
changes. The islands were systematically ravaged by Viking raiders
and then colonised by Norse settlers. In the following centuries
the islanders were central to the emergence of the Kingdom of Man
and the Isles, played a crucial role in the development of the
Lordship of the Isles and were finally assimilated into the Kingdom
of Scotland. This volume explores the stratigraphic sequence
uncovered by the excavation of Bornais mounds 2 and 2A. The
excavation of mound 2 revealed a sequence of high status buildings
that span the Norse occupation of the settlement. One of these
houses, constructed at the end of the eleventh century AD, was a
well preserved bow-walled longhouse and the careful excavation and
detailed recording of the floor layers has revealed a wealth of
finds that provides invaluable insight into the activities taking
place in this building. The final house in this sequence is very
different in form and use, and clearly indicates the increasing
Scottish influence on the region at the beginning of the thirteenth
century. The excavation of mound 2A provides an insight into the
less prestigious areas of the settlement and contributes a
significant amount of evidence on the settlement economy. The area
was initially cultivated before it became a settlement local and
throughout its life a focus on agricultural activities, such as
grain drying and processing, appears to have been important. In the
thirteenth century the mound was occupied by a craftsman who
produced composite combs, gaming pieces and simple tools. The
evidence presented in this volume makes a major contribution to the
understanding of Norse Scotland and the colonisation of the North
Atlantic in a period of dramatic transformations.
The settlement at Bornais consists of a complex of mounds which
protrude from the relatively flat machair plain in the township of
Bornais on the island of South Uist. This sandy plain has proved an
attractive settlement from the Beaker period onwards; it appears to
have been intensively occupied from the Late Bronze Age to the end
of the Norse period. Mound 1 was the original location for
settlement in this part of the machair plain; pre-Viking activity
of some complexity is present and it is likely that the settlement
activity started in the Middle Iron Age, if not earlier. The
examination of the mound 1 deposits provides an important
contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age sequence in the
Atlantic province. The principal contribution comprises the large
quantities of mammal, fish and bird bones, carbonised plant remains
and pottery, which can be accurately dated to a fairly precise and
narrow period in the 1st millennium AD. These are augmented by a
substantial collection of small finds which included distinctive
bone artefacts. The contextual significance of the site is based on
the survival of floor deposits and a burnt-down roof; the floor
deposits can be compared with abandonment and adjacent midden
deposits providing contrasting contextual environments that help to
clarify depositional processes. The burning down of the house and
the excellent preservation of the deposits within it provide an
unparalleled opportunity to examine the timber superstructure of
the building and the layout of the material used by the
inhabitants.
In this fully illustrated study, Niall Sharples examine the complex
social relationships of the Wessex region of southern England in
the first millennium BC. He considers the nature of the landscape
and manner of its organization, the methods that bring people
together into large communities, the role of the individual, and
how the region relates to other regions of Britain and Europe.
These thematic concerns cover a detailed analysis of the
significance of hillforts, the development of coinage and other
exchange processes, the character of houses, and the nature of
burial practices. Sharples offers an exciting new picture of a
period and a region which has considerable importance for British
archaeology, and he also provides all archaeologists interested in
prehistory with a model of how later prehistoric society can be
interpreted.
These fifteen papers came out of the eighth annual meeting of the
Iron Age Research Student Seminar (IARSS) and are loosely grouped
into three topics: settlement studies, deposition and material
culture, and experimental archaeology. Most of the studies are
re-examinings of well known data sets, such as hillforts, small
enclosures and bone assemblages, both human and animal. They are
mainly focused on the British Iron Age - one of the most
heterogeneous and regionally distinctive periods in British
prehistory. Material culture is highly variable, as are settlement
patterns, and even chronology is of an entirely local character,
being reliant on typological sequences from each region's specific
archaeological record. The book ends with the recounting of a trip
to the Iron Age village at St. Fagan's, Cardiff - a practical foray
into the Iron Age day-to-day.
This volume is derived, in concept, from a conference held in
honour of John Evans by the School of History and Archaeology and
The Prehistoric Society at Cardiff University in March 2006. It
brings together papers that address themes and landscapes on a
variety of levels. They cover geographical, methodological and
thematic areas that were of interest to, and had been studied by,
John Evans. The volume is divided into five sections, which echo
themes of importance in British prehistory. They include papers on
aspects of environmental archaeology, experiments and philosophy;
new research on the nature of woodland on the chalklands of
southern England; coasts and islands; people, process and social
order, and snails and shells - a strong part of John Evans' career.
This volume presents a range of papers examining people's
interaction with the landscape in all its forms. The papers provide
a diverse but cohesive picture of how archaeological landscapes are
viewed within current research frameworks and approaches, while
also paying tribute to the innovative and inspirational work of one
of the leading protagonists of environmental archaeology and the
holistic approach to landscape interpretation.
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