Dig Diary – Structure Forty christened while the saga of Twelve continues…

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 (10:33 PM)

Drone view of Structure Twenty-Seven this afternoon. (📷 Tom O'Brien) — Drone view of Structure Twenty-Seven this afternoon. (📷 Tom O’Brien)

Day Nineteen
Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Today, while the sun shone, we witnessed the birth of a new building. Well, technically its official naming…

On Friday, we mentioned that part of a curving stone wall, pre-dating the construction of Structure One, had emerged beneath the buildings northern end. And today, Nick allocated it the title of Structure Forty.

More details of its construction and size will follow, with plans to remove a deposit its south and south-east to reveal more of the building.

Until then, we don’t know much about its form and how it relates to Structure One. So keep an eye on future dig diaries.

The location of Structure Forty under Structure One.

Kariane and Emma with Structure Forty last week. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

The small curving wall of Structure Forty underlying Structure One. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Also in the north end, Jenna has found a fragment of hazelnut shell in the midden underlying Structure One.

We’ve found hazelnut remains elsewhere on site – e.g. tiny pieces of burnt shells in Structure Ten in 2022 and two fragments outside Structure Twelve’s southern wall in 2022.

Jenna's hazelnut shell fragment from the midden underneath Structure One. (📷 Jo Bourne) — Jenna’s hazelnut shell fragment from the midden underneath Structure One. (📷 Jo Bourne)

Burnt hazelnut shells are a favourite dating tool for those working on Mesolithic sites, but there is no doubt there were hazelnuts growing in Orkney in the Neolithic.

Nick, Mark and supervisor Andy met this morning to look at what needs accomplished in Structure One by the end of the 2024 season. We’re half-way through the final dig now and time is running out.

We need to see how Structure One’s floors are made up and at the same time balance out the investigation of complex archaeological deposits with what we can achieve in the time remaining.

As a result we’ll probably open sondages (small but deep trenches) across the southern end of the building that will give section (side-on) views of the multiple depths of occupation deposits in Structure One.

Remaining in the southern end, Lucy and Phillip are almost finished with the sondage opened again a stone slab that defined the edge of the southern recess.

They wanted to see whether a slot had been cut into the floor to accommodate the slab. But it’s now clear there hadn’t. Instead, it has either been pushed into pre-existing midden or, more likely, midden was simply piled up against its sides.

Today’s foray into Structure Ten focuses, again, on the remaining occupation deposits. Those across the northern half of the building have now been gridded-out ready for sampling and removal. The floating hearth, south of the building’s primary hearth, is being further investigated.

Some of the UHI Archaeology Institute students at work in Trench Z today. (📷 Jo Bourne)

And on the subject of hearths, over in Trench Z, the secondary hearth in Structure Two is getting bigger.

Removing more of the deposits around the hearth has shown it is bigger than first thought. And disappearing into the trench edge!

The solution, it looks like another trench extension is on the cards, increasing its width, northwards, to allow the full extent of the hearth to be exposed.

Time for an extension. The growing hearth in Trench Z disappearing into the trench edge. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Work on the occupation levels in Structure Five continued today, while supervisor Paul cleaned around one of the six substantial post-holes against the inner walls.

Structure Five is the only excavated building on site to incorporate timber posts into its construction and we suspect they were to support the roof.

Outside the primary entrance, Michael has been excavating the paved area. The removal of some of the paving has confirmed they, like Structure Five’s walls, sit directly on the natural glacial till.

Paul cleaning one of the Structure Five post-holes this afternoon. (📷 Jo Bourne)

The cleaned-up post-hole in Structure Five. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

A stone tool (highlighted) lying within the remains of one of Structure Five's furniture features. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — A stone tool (highlighted) lying within the remains of one of Structure Five’s furniture features. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Within the remains of the furniture features that also line the inner walls, two stone tools have emerged. One, from the feature directly opposite the entrance, has been well-used, with considerable wear visible on its exposed end.

Were they used in the creation of the features? Or part of their demolition? Or perhaps even sat on the “shelves” before being dropped and forgotten about?

Trench T, from the north-east, this afternoon. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Jumping across to Trench T, our army of Willamette students spent the day being taught the basics of trowelling and cleaning around Structure Twenty-Seven. Site director Nick is more than happy with their progress.

At the building’s north end, work to remove the midden continued and we’re now down to the rubble layers left after Twenty-Seven was robbed of stone after its abandonment.

Anyone who has viewed Structure Twenty-Seven will have seen the results of the stone-robbing – the entire south-eastern wall was removed, along with most of the south-western wall and the inner north-western wall.

We had hoped the northern end might have survived the stone removal operations but it now seems to be worse than we had expected. You can’t have it all.

Structures Twelve and Twenty-Eight. — Structure Twenty-Eight (primary phase?) in relation to the primary phase of Twelve.

You wait for timber for years, and then it all arrives at once. Readers will recall we recovered multiple samples of wood across the site last year – most of it not in very good condition.

In Structure Seventeen, the team has been revealing more prehistoric timber, but again in very poor condition, often little more than smears within the deposits.

Whether this relates to the destruction of Seventeen’s roof or perhaps came from interior wooden features remains to be seen.

Now it’s over to Structure Twelve, for more on the ongoing saga of this delightful, but infuriating, building.

While Twelve continues to perplex, we’re delighted to announce that we might be glimpsing (some) light at the end of the tunnel.

At the south end, Jan continued to excavate the ash pit mentioned on Monday. The removal of the ash has, as expected, revealed more of the southern, inner wall of Structure Twenty-Eight, Twelve’s predecessor.

Structure Twenty-Eight's inner wall revealed at the south end of Structure Twelve. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

We’re now confident we can trace all of the footprint of Structure Twenty-Eight. But, as always in this area, those marvelous moments of enlightenment bring more puzzles.

In this case, it relates to the stone piers. Or an apparent lack of them!

We’ve got the walls but – if Twenty-Eight was built to the same blueprints at the other buildings on site – there seems to be nothing where there should be piers!

The investigation continues and we hope to have answers soon.

Meanwhile, Michaela has been hard at work in the south-western recess, picking her way down through assorted stone and rubble.

It is in this area that we hope she’ll have the greatest chance of encountering Structure Twenty-Eight’s floor. Fingers crossed!

Outside the north-western recess – the “slow-cooker” – Sara has been excavating around a stone feature.

And in true Structure Twelve fashion revealed 30(ish) stake-holes in the floor. She is now busily planning and recording these.

Sara's stake-holes outside Structure Twelve's north-western recess. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — Sara’s stake-holes outside Structure Twelve’s north-western recess. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

We’ve found stake-holes before, around Twelve’s two hearths and Sara’s new batch lie a short distance from another series revealed in 2023. These ran in an arc behind a straight cut across the threshold of the recess and had been inserted into the earlier ash deposits – after the recess’ role as a “slow-cooker” had ended.

All of these probably relate to cooking aids such as tripods and spits. A fitting discovery within a building used for the large-scale preparation of food.

Gunther outside Structure Twelve's north-western recess in 2023, with the cut and arc of stake-holes clearly visible. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) — Gunther outside Structure Twelve’s north-western recess in 2023, with the cut and arc of stake-holes clearly visible. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

We finish today with yet another drain. But this one slightly more substantial than the others mentioned this season.

Moving sandbags by Twelve’s robbed-out eastern wall, supervisor Jim noted a strange feature.

Closer examination revealed it to be the capping of a large drain running across the interior of the building and which pre-dates both Structure Twenty-Eight and Twelve.