Dig Diary – another post-hole, a freshly cleaned axehead and moving midden

Day Fourteen
Thursday, July 11, 2024

Archaeological excavation, by its very nature, tends to be a slow, meticulous process. So much so that it can be weeks before the casual viewer might notice any difference.

That’s not the case over in Trench T, where Rick, Chris and Tom have continued to make incredible progress removing the midden overlying the northern end of Structure Twenty-Seven. So much so that we’re hoping we’ll shortly expose any surviving stonework relating to the building’s single entrance.

They have been able to quickly shift huge quantities in a short period of time because the midden is domestic refuse deliberately carted over to the vicinity of Trench T in prehistory and dumped. On saying that, great care is still taken to ensure that any artefacts contained within are not lost.

So far it looks like the north-western and northern end of the building did not suffer as badly from the stone robbing that saw the removal of all of the south-eastern wall and half of the southern. Hopes are now high that we will get more detail of the enigmatic building’s entrance arrangement.

Are we looking at a simple doorway, such as those seen in the piered structures? Or a more elaborate affair, perhaps incorporating an entrance passage and other features? Once we find out, we’ll let you know.

As well as revealing more of Twenty-Seven, the midden removal is to provide a safe working environment. We are cutting back the massive mound so there are no huge midden faces towering over the diggers working in the trench.

To do this a section of the revetment wall of the Iron Age ditch at the top of the trench had to be removed and this has proved very interesting.

Trench T was opened in 2013 to investigate a circular geophysical anomaly at the top of the midden mound. This turned out to be stone revetment walls defining an Early/Middle Iron Age ditch, dating from between 700BC and AD200.

The dismantled south-eastern section of the revetment wall contained material that had clearly come from Neolithic buildings elsewhere on site, but not from Structure Twenty-Seven.

Among those was a decorated stone slab that was not only incised with bands of decoration but which featured a row of cup marks cut into one edge.

Also within the wall were two examples of flaked stone bars – a typical Bronze/Iron Age stone tool. Attached to handles, these acted as the blades for prehistoric mattocks, which were probably used to dig the ditch.

Mark, who has considerable experience with these tools, explained that they are quick to make but easy to break. The two recovered today had been deliberately deposited within the revetment wall.

2023 was the year of timber at the Ness, with over 50 samples recovered across the site – mostly from Structure Twenty-Seven.

Today another suspected sample of prehistoric timber was found within a post-hole in the southern end of Structure One. It will come as no surprise that the wooden fragments are probably the remnants of the post that once stood outside, and central to, One’s southern recess.

Unlike the six substantial posts revealed in Structure Five, this post-hole is much smaller and reminiscent of those found elsewhere on site, e.g. Structure Twelve. As such, it probably related to an internal feature rather than being structural. Perhaps part of a timber “screen” across the recess?

Over in Structure Five, Paul and Sarah-Jane have been planning the channel/flue running beneath the building’s rectangular hearth.

This well-built, stone-lined channel was cut into the natural ground surface beneath Five and although its purpose is not yet clear, it has close parallels to Neolithic buildings excavated at the Braes of Ha’breck, in Wyre, and Green, in Eday.

The layout of Structure Five is very similar to the Braes of Ha’Breck building. Dating to between 3300-3000BC, it also began life as a rectangular building before having an oval extension added later.

House Five at the Braes of Ha’Breck also had a rectangular stone heath, with a basal slab above a channel that ran downslope before exiting the building via a cell in the southern end.

Our pitchstone count increased again today (now 49 and counting) when Ray found another flake in Structure Seventeen. As we said last week, pitchstone in Seventeen suggests it was being worked and used before the construction of Structure Eight around 3100BC.

In Trench Z, the UHI Archaeology Institute students have revealed more of Structure Two. What looks remarkably like a pier extending from its inner wall is, however, probably just rubble so we’ll keep watching with interest.

We’ll end today with the polished stone axe recovered from Structure Twelve on Tuesday.

It was cleaned and once free of the midden crusting its surface revealed much. The artefact clearly had many lives. As well as evidence it was reworked over time, all its faces and edges showed signs of wear.

It had clearly been used to strike something but, based on the impact marks on is surfaces, had also served as an “anvil” – a platform on which to rest and strike something, in this case presumably flint.

The axe is interesting because it was fashioned so the natural grain ran across its length. We have other axeheads created from the same material, but in which the grain runs from top face to to the bottom.

Lastly, a reminder that our exhibition tours in the Orkney Museum continue tomorrow, with Kath Page discussing red deer from 1-2pm. At the time of writing a few free tickets remain, so click here for more details or to book a place.

We’ll be back tomorrow, so see you then…