Dig Diary – north-western corner reveals the full extent of Structure Twenty-Seven’s wall

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 (9:24 PM)

Still going! Chris and Tom clear the midden from around Structure Twenty-Seven’s newly exposed north-western corner. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Day Twelve
Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Lets begin this evening over in Trench T, where the valiant efforts of Chris, Ben, Ray and Tom – who were joined today by Ceiridwen – have been rewarded.

For the past few days we’ve seen a major operation to move mountains of midden from the baulk over Structure Twenty-Seven’s northern end. And today the team were rewarded by the first glimpse of the building’s north-western corner.

Drone view showing the extent of Structure Twenty-Seven's north-western wall. (📷 Tom O'Brien) — Drone view showing the extent of Structure Twenty-Seven’s north-western wall. (📷 Tom O’Brien)

Twenty-Seven's exquisite south-western. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — Twenty-Seven’s exquisite south-western corner. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

By the end of the day the entire corner had been exposed as well as another six metres of the beautiful north-western wall. As expected, the newly uncovered corner is as remarkable as its south-western counterpart.

First encountered in 2015, Structure Twenty-Seven lies at the southern end of Trench T.

It was built directly on the natural boulder clay and subsequently buried under a massive mound of ash, midden and refuse.

The building is approximately 17 metres long (we’ll get a more accurate figure when the full extent is measured) by 11 metres wide, with walls over two metres thick. Its internal space was defined by enormous stone slabs – looking for all the world like recumbent standing stones – set horizontally along the interior walls.

Large, rectangular slabs were inserted in the gap between these prone orthostats and the wall, cladding the internal faces.

After it went out of use, Structure Twenty-Seven fell victim to major episodes of stone robbing that saw most of its south-eastern and south-western walls removed.

We had long hoped that more of the north-western wall had survived, and, in 2022, our prayers were answered. As the overlying midden and rubble layers were removed the stunning quality of the surviving wall’s stonework shone through. It was, quite simply, exquisite.

The finest masonry uncovered on site to date, the wall was formed by regular courses of perfectly fitted stone, the precision of their placement unsurpassed. On top of that, the Neolithic builders had also incorporated a deliberate, but very subtle, curve into its length.

Structure Twenty-Seven's north-western corner. (📷 Jo Bourne)

Now we have the full extent of the surviving north-western wall, excavation around it can continue and we’re all looking forward to seeing the results!

The polished stone axe from Structure Twelve's north-eastern corner. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — The polished stone axe from Structure Twelve’s north-eastern corner. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

We do love a good polished stone axe on site, although we’ve not seen one in a while. That was remedied in Structure Twelve this afternoon, where a fine, if chunky, example was recovered from the building’s north-eastern corner.

Sue has been excavating a “dump” of material overlying the wall of Structure Twenty-Eight, one of Twelve’s predecessors. This material lay close to the site of an orthostatic stone box, excavated in previous seasons.

The box, which was probably used for cooking, was formed by four stone slabs, set vertically on edge, which rested on a larger horizontal slab, and surrounded by hammerstones.

The axe was found around 30cm from the box and was followed shortly by another multi-hollowed cobble tool.

Structure Twelve supervisor Jim and Sue with the polished stone axe. (📷 Paul Durdin)

Structure Twelve's polished stone axe. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Staying in Twelve, supervisor Jim is now confident that the curved wall running across the northern end represents a modification to Structure Twenty-Eight – inserted later in its life to reduce it in size. Just like Structure One…

Emma and Kariane beside the rubble underlying Structure One's north end. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — Emma and Kariane beside the rubble underlying Structure One’s north end. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

And talking of Structure One, excavation of the midden underlying the building’s north end has revealed structural remains, confirming that, contrary to our originals thoughts, One was indeed raised on top of an earlier building.

Meanwhile, in the south end, Phillip recovered a small sherd of what appears to be early pottery – again strongly suggesting activity underlying One.

The sherd of suspected early pottery found by Phillip in Structure One. (📷 Andy Boyar)

Lucy and Phillip excavating in Structure One's southern end. (📷 Andy Boyar)

Phillip and his pot sherd. (📷 Andy Boyar)

Jackson excavation the animal bone outside Structure Ten. (📷 Jo Bourne)

Outside Structure Ten, Jackson and Rowan continued excavating a layer of animal remains relating to the building’s final decommissioning feast. In the process of recording and recovering the cattle bone, they found a Skaill knife and a small decorated stone.

The flat stone has been carefully incised with a band of geometric decoration, not unlike the fragment found in Structure One last year.

The decorated stone found among cattle remains outside Structure Ten today. The incised bands are at the right-hand size of the stone. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — The decorated stone found among cattle remains outside Structure Ten today. The incised bands are just visible at the right-hand size of the stone. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

A close-up of the incised bands on the decorated stone outside Structure Ten. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Meanwhile, the remains of Structure Two began to appear in Trench Z today, revealed by the seven UHI Archaeology Institute students taking part in their excavation field school.

Structure Two first emerged in 2005 and is being re-excavated this season to clarify its position in the site’s timeline.

Structure Two emerging in Trench Z. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Seeking shade in Trench J. (📷 Jeanne Rose)

Seeking shade in Trench J. (📷 Huw Williams)

We’ll end today in Structure Five, where the fine, stone base of the building’s rectangular hearth was fully exposed. Visitors to the site this afternoon would have witnessed a rather strange sight – a line of diggers holding a large plastic sheet aloft at the end of Trench J.

Planning Structure Five's hearth. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — Planning Structure Five’s hearth. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Why? Because, although we complain about poor weather, today’s bright sunshine was too harsh to create a good 3d model of the feature. When it comes to site photography, stark, sharp shadows are not helpful, so volunteers were drafted in to provide shade from the afternoon sun.

Fortunately it worked and Trench J supervisor Paul’s model is available here.

We’ll leave it there for now. It’s been another busy day so a hot shower and maybe even a snooze is called for.

The forecast for tomorrow is not great but we’re remaining optimistic and hoping for the best. If not I’m sure there’s paperwork that needs to be dealt with.