Excavations at Cill Donnain : a Bronze Age settlement and Iron Age wheelhouse in South Uist

The SEARCH (Sheffield Environmental and Archaeological Research Campaign in the Hebrides) project began in 1987 and covers the Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The aim of the project is to investigate how human societies adapted in the long-term to the isolated environment of the Outer Hebrides. The first major excavation on South Uist discovered that what was thought to be a shell midden at Cill Donnain was in fact a wheelhouse, a type of dwelling used in the period c.300 BC - AD 500; under which lay the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. This settlement was partly investigated by Marik Zvelebil in 1991 and then later by Mike Parker Pearson and Kate MacDonald in 2003. The site itself is situated at the foot of a high steep-sided dune on the eastern edge of a large sand valley, close to the western shore of Loch Cill Donnain. The archaeological report of the excavation at the Cill Donnain wheelhouse shows that, in comparison with contemporary neighbouring settlements, it was unlikely that each was an independent unit and that they were linked by social and economic inter-dependency. The wheelhouse thus provides striking new evidence that contributes to developing theories about the social, material and economic life in the period. This volume presents the extensive archaeological evidence found at the site, including pottery, faunal remains and a variety of bone and metal tools, illustrating that the Cill Donnain landscape is rich in archaeological sites of all periods from the Beaker to the post-Medieval. Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Contents 4 List of Figures 7 List of Tables 12 Acknowledgements 13 Contributors 14 Preface 15 Chapter 1: Introduction 16 The geology and soils 16 The SEARCH project 19 The site setting 20 Conclusion 24 Chapter 2: The excavations 25 Introduction 25 The 1989 excavations 25 The 1990 excavations 29 The 1991 excavations 31 The stratigraphic sequence 32 The 1992 reconstruction project 34 The 2003 evaluation of the Cordoned Urn settlement 34 Postexcavation analysis of records and finds from the 1989–1991 excavations 36 Student reminiscences 39 Chapter 3: Early–Middle Bronze Age (phase 1):a Cordoned Urn settlement 42 Introduction 42 The extent of the settlement mound – coring in 2003 42 The 1991 excavations: the northwest trench 44 Recording of the sand quarry in 2003 46 Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating 48 Pottery 50 Bone and stone tools 50 The faunal remains 52 Discussion 52 Chapter 4: Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age occupation(phase 2): eighth–early sixth centuries BC 55 Introduction 55 Windblown sand 55 Ploughing 55 Pit 142 55 Other deposits 56 Conclusion 58 Chapter 5: Before construction of the wheelhouse(phase 3) 60 Introduction 60 The sand layer 60 Gully 191 61 Possible hearths 63 Other deposits 64 The human skull fragment 66 Chapter 6: Construction and initial use ofthe wheelhouse (phases 4 and 5) 72 Introduction 72 The construction of the wheelhouse (phase 4) 72 The hearth 81 Cut features within the house 82 The house floor (phase 5) 83 Accumulation of deposits outside the wall of the wheelhouse (phase 5) 85 The stone structure in the southern trench 87 Chapter 7: Modification and abandonment of thewheelhouse (phases 6–8) 92 Introduction 92 Modifications to the wheelhouse interior (phase 6) 92 Accumulation of deposits outside the wall of the wheelhouse (phase 6) 93 Abandonment of the wheelhouse (phase 7) 93 The small, stonewalled structure and reuse of the wheelhouse (phase 8) 95 Chapter 8: The midden overlying the wheelhouse(phase 9) 103 Introduction 103 The earliest midden layers 103 Upper layers of the midden 109 The southern excavation trench 116 The top of the stratigraphic sequence (phase 10) 116 Chapter 9: The pottery 121 Introduction 121 The manufacture of the Cill Donnain III pottery 121 Chronology of and parallels for the Cill Donnain III assemblage 128 The stratigraphic phases and their ceramic associations 132 The fragmentation of the pottery assemblage 134 Conclusion 134 Ceramic artefacts 143 Chapter 10: The metal finds and industrial debris 144 The copperalloyartefacts 144 The lead object 146 The iron objects 147 Bronzecasting clay refractories 148 The crucible 149 The metalworking slag 150 Fuel ash slag 150 Chapter 11: The stone tools 154 Introduction 154 The coarse stone tools 154 The flint tools 156 The pumice 158 The slate 159 Chapter 12: Bone, ivory and antler tools and ornaments 160 Discussion 160 Catalogue of the worked bone, ivory and antler 162 Chapter 13: The faunal remains 170 Introduction 170 Excavation methods and fish bone 170 Laboratory methods 170 Overview 171 Preservation 172 Species representation 172 Element representation 176 Ageing 177 Sex 180 Pathology 180 Butchery and boneworking 182 Biometry 182 Discussion 183 Conclusion 188 Chapter 14: The carbonized plant remains 189 Introduction 189 Methodology 189 Results from the 1989 material 190 Results from the 1991 material 190 Plant husbandry, land use and subsistence 191 Conclusion 192 Chapter 15: Marine mollusca 193 Introduction 193 Methodology 193 Results from the 1989 excavations 193 Results from the 1990 and 1991 excavations 193 Discussion 198 Chapter 16: Radiocarbon dating 201 Introduction 201 Methods 201 Results 201 Stable isotopes 201 Methodological approach 202 The samples 202 The sequence 202 The chronology of Cill Donnain III 204 Chapter 17: Conclusion: Cill Donnain’sprehistoric landscape 205 The evolution of settlement on Cill Donnain’smachair 205 Occupation and activity at Cill Donnain inthe Iron Age 214 The Cill Donnain III wheelhouse in thecontext of the Hebridean Iron Age 223 Conclusion 229 Appendix Context list and phasing for the 1989, 1990and 1991 excavations at Cill Donnain III 231 Bibliography 235 Index 244 "The SEARCH (Sheffield Environmental and Archaeological Research Campaign in the Hebrides) project began in 1987 and covers the Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The aim of the project is to investigate how human societies adapted in the long-term to the isolated environment of the Outer Hebrides. The first major excavation on South Uist discovered that what was thought to be a shell midden at Cill Donnain was in fact a wheelhouse, a type of dwelling used in the period c. 300 BC-AD 500, under which lay the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. This settlement was partly investigated by Marek Zvelebil in 1991 and then later by Mike Parker Pearson and Kate MacDonald in 2003. The site itself is situated at the foot of a high steep-sided dune on the eastern edge of a large sand valley, close to the western shore of Loch Cill Donnain. The archaeological report of the excavation at the Cill Donnain wheelhouse shows that, in comparison with contemporary neighbouring settlements, it was unlikely that each was an independent unit and that they were linked by social and economic inter-dependency. The wheelhouse thus provides striking new evidence that contributes to developing theories about the social, material and economic life in the period. This volume presents the extensive archaeological evidence found at the site, including pottery, faunal remains and a variety of bone and metal tools, illustrating that the Cill Donnain landscape is rich in archaeological sites of all periods from the Beaker to the post-Medieval"--From publisher's website. Introduction / Mike Parker Pearson and Helen Smith The excavations / Marek Zvelebil and Mike Parker Pearson Early-Middle Bronze Age (phase 1) : a Cordoned Urn settlement / Mike Parker Pearson with Kate MacDonald Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age occupation (phase 2) : eighth-early sixth centuries BC / Mike Parker Pearson Before construction of the wheelhouse (phase 3) / Mike Parker Pearson Construction and initial use of the wheelhouse (phases 4 and 5) / Mike Parker Pearson and Marek Zvelebil Modification and abandonment of the wheelhouse (phases 6-8) / Mike Parker Pearson and Marek Zvelebil The midden overlying the wheelhouse (phase 9) / Mike Parker Pearson The pottery / Chris Cumberpatch The metal finds and industrial debris The stone tools / Mike Parker Pearson Bone, ivory and antler tools and ornaments / Mike Parker Pearson, with species identification by John Hamshaw-Thomas and Kim Vickers The faunal remains / Kim Vickers with Saleem ul Haq and John Hamshaw-Thomas The carbonised plant remains / Pam Grinter and Soultana-Maria Valamoti Marine mollusca / Sean Bell and Karen Godden Radiocarbon dating / Peter Marshall and Gordon Cook Conclusion: Cill Donnain's prehistoric landscape Appendix: Context list and phasing for the 1989, 1990 and 1991 excavations at Cill Donnain III.