The economy of a Norse settlement in the Outer Hebrides : excavations at mounds 2 and 2A, Bornais, South Uist

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 artifact assemblages is complemented by that provided by the ecofactual material. Large amounts of animal, fish and bird bones plus carbonized 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 colonization 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. SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology Cover 1 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Illustrations 11 Tables 20 List of Contributors 23 1 The excavations at Bornais 24 Introduction – N Sharples 24 The history of the excavations– N Sharples 24 The stratigraphic sequence in mound 2– O Davis and N Sharples 26 The stratigraphic sequence in mound 2A– K Waddington and N Sharples 29 The chronological sequence– N Sharples 31 The research focus of this volume– N Sharples 34 Acknowledgements – N Sharples 35 2 Site activities: the artefact assemblages 36 Introduction – N Sharples and R Smith 36 Manufacturing evidence – N Sharples 36 Copper alloy – R Smith and N Sharples 37 Lead – R Smith and N Sharples 40 Iron – R Smith 41 Bone waste – R Smith and N Sharples 45 Antler waste – R Smith and N Sharples 52 Organisation of comb manufacture – R Smithand N Sharples 63 Horn – R Smith and N Sharples 68 Stone tool manufacture – A Clarke 69 Flint – A Pannett 69 Pumice – R Smith and N Sharples 73 Clay mould – N Sharples 73 Slag – T Young 73 Conclusion – N Sharples 79 Vessels – N Sharples 80 The ceramic assemblage – N Sharples andK Harding 80 An experiment in the construction and use ofceramic platters – C Freer 92 Organic residues from Late Iron Age and Norsepottery – L Cramp, E Casanova and R Evershed 102 Steatite vessels – A Forster 120 Copper-alloy vessels – R Smith and N Sharples 124 Iron vessels – R Smith and N Sharples 124 Cetacean pot lids – R Smith 126 Currency and Exchange 126 Coins – G Williams 126 Weights – T Horne and R Smith 129 Balance component – T Horne and R Smith 131 Hacksilver? – T Horne 132 Personal objects – R Smithand N Sharples 132 Composite combs – N Sharples, R Smith and CRiley 134 Pins – A Rowe, R Smith and N Sharples 150 Other dress accessories – R Smith and NSharples, with A Forster 166 Utilised tine tips – N Sharples and R Smith, withH Wickstead 174 Decorated objects – N Sharples and R Smith 180 Gaming pieces – M Hall, N Sharples and R Smith 183 Musical instruments – R Smith 187 Weapons– P Parkes, R Smith and N Sharples 189 The distribution of personal objects – N Sharples 191 Tools – R Smith and N Sharples 194 Metalworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples 194 Woodworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples 194 Leatherworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples 196 Agricultural and fishing tools – R Smith and NSharples 196 Household activities – R Smith and N Sharples 201 Tools for textile production – R Smith andN Sharples with B Cartwright 219 Miscellaneous bone and antler tools – R Smithand N Sharples 235 Miscellaneous stone tools – A Clarke 244 The distribution of tools – N Sharples 248 Fittings – R Smith and N Sharples 250 Architectural features – S Evans 250 Structural fittings – R Smith and N Sharples 252 Decorative fittings – R Smith and N Sharples 258 Horse fittings – R Smith 265 Other iron fittings – R Smith and N Sharples 265 Miscellaneous objects – R Smith and N Sharples 269 The distribution of the structural fittings– N Sharples 271 3 Site activities: the biological evidence 274 Introduction – N Sharples 274 Archaeobotanical remains– J R Summers and J M Bond 274 Crops/domestic taxa 274 Chaff 277 Wild taxa 278 Comparative analysis of floors and middens 282 Statistical analysis 284 Summary 287 Charcoal – D Challinor 288 The bird bone – J Best 291 Taphonomy 291 Anatomical representation 292 Domestic birds 292 Age 292 Season 293 Fish preparation and consumption –C Ingrem 294 Herring 294 Saithe, cod, hake and other gadoid fish 297 Cetacean bone – S Evans 299 Methodology 299 Species by mound and block 301 Skeletal elements 304 Bone as fuel 306 Small species and meat utility 307 Worked bone 308 Animal bone – C Ingrem and A Powell 310 Taphonomy 310 Anatomical representation of major terrestrialspecies 315 Spatial analysis 325 Conclusion 333 Human bone – A Davies-Barrett 336 Conclusion – N Sharples 338 4 Resource exploitation: the bioarchaeologicalevidence 340 Introduction – N Sharples 340 Fish – S Evans and C Ingrem 343 Herring 343 Saithe, cod, hake and other gadoid fish 346 Conclusion 348 Sea mammals – S Evans and C Ingrem 348 Procurement of cetaceans 348 Late Iron Age 348 Norse period 350 Shellfish – M Law 351 Results 351 Conclusions 358 Crab – J Light 358 Result 358 Conclusion 359 Land snails –N Thew and M Law 359 Methods 359 Results 359 Discussion 361 Birds – J Best 366 Seabirds 368 Shore birds 368 The machair 369 Moorland 369 Small vertebrate fauna – A Powell 369 Discussion 371 Animal management – C Ingrem 373 Age and sex 373 Size 381 Conclusion 384 Animal management and marineresource use: the stable isotope evidence– J R Jones, R Madgwick and J Mulville 384 Materials and methods 385 Results and discussion 385 Comparisons with other Norse sites 388 Conclusions 390 A sequential multi-isotopic analysisof Norse cattle teeth – J Griffithand J Mulville 390 Barley 404 Oat 405 Flax 407 Large legumes 408 Wild taxa on the machair 408 Rye 408 Hay 409 Wild and gathered taxa 409 Trees – D Challinor 409 Conclusion – N Sharples 411 5 Resource exploitation: inorganic materials 412 Introduction – N Sharples 412 The stone – N Sharples 412 The flint – A Pannett and N Sharples 413 Slate – N Sharples 414 The geological sources of the whetstones– G Gaunt 416 Other imported stones – N Sharples 418 Steatite sources – A Forster and R Jones 419 The ceramics – N Sharples 423 An imported cooking pot – M Redknapwith D Brown 424 The iron knives and structural iron– P Forward 424 The blades 425 The structural iron 426 Provenance of the ferrous metalwork 426 The copper alloys – M Davis (based ondissertation by K Hopkins) 430 Glass analysis – J R N Peake andI C Freestone 433 Methods 433 Results 433 Discussion 436 Conclusion 438 Conclusion – N Sharples 438 6 Discussion 440 Introduction – N Sharples 440 The exploitation of the landscape– N Sharples 441 The machair 441 Coastal exploitation 443 Exploiting the sea 444 Moorland settlement 445 Settlement rhythms and taskscapes– N Sharples 447 Landscape orientation 448 Change through time in the agriculturaleconomy – N Sharples 451 Late Iron Age 451 Early Norse period 451 Middle Norse period 452 Late Norse period 453 Archaeobotanical remains– J R Summers and J M Bond 453 The arable economy at Bornais in its regionalsetting 454 Trade and exchange 455 The long-term trajectory of arable cultivation inthe Bornais area 456 Animal bone – J Mulville 458 Birds – J Best 461 Fish – C Ingrem 462 Material modifications – N Sharples 464 Stone 464 Wood, bone and antler 466 Ceramics, metals and glass 468 The wider context – N Sharples 471 Cille Pheadair and Bornais 472 The Northern Isles 479 Conclusion – N Sharples 484 Viking colonisation 484 1266 and all that 486 The end of the settlement 489 7 Bibliography 492 Appendix 1: Artefact catalogue – R Smith andN Sharples, with A Clarke, A Forster, M Halland G Williams 518 BONE, ANTLER AND HORN 518 COPPER ALLOY 589 IRON 597 LEAD 625 SILVER 629 CERAMICS 630 GLASS 630 STONE 632 PUMICE 640 Appendix 2: A list of the illustrated ceramics– K Harding and N Sharples 642 Index 648 Back Cover 666 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.