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| ORKNEY-CROMARTY
TOMBS |
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| There
is evidence of funerary practices and other ritual activity
at a number of tombs. Deposits of ash and charcoal have
been found in burial chambers along with cremated human
bone, broken pottery vessels, flint tools and animal bones.
Unfortunately, excavation and recording standards in the
past have meant that, in most cases, this material was
either missed or ignored. One thing that has emerged is
the fact that fire was apparently an important part of
the funeral ritual since there is clear evidence of burning
inside several of the tomb chambers. It
is also clear that ritual activity was not confined to
the interior of the tomb. At Knowe of Craie on Rousay
a small hollow containing ash with fragments of burnt
bone, flint chips and potsherds was found just outside
the entrance. Undoubtedly similar features existed at
many if not all of the other sites but, unfortunately,
it is the sort of feature that is unlikely to survive
undisturbed and if it does, would have been all too easily
overlooked by Victorian excavators. |
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Isbister.
Skull along with a rim sherd of Unstan ware,
sea-eagle talons & a polished stone macehead
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| It
would seem that, at some of the cairns at least, the final
ritual involved filling the chambers and passages with
rubble. Many tombs were clearly infilled before they were
finally abandoned and that was probably the case with
the rest of them as well. If so, this would have disturbed
whatever cultural material they contained. It is important
to remember that the tombs were revisited and used for
several centuries before they were finally sealed, and
that the finds represent the state of the chamber at the
end of this period—either a steady accumulation
of material or the final episode in a series of episodes.
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| Human
Remains |
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Due
to the acidic soil conditions, bone is rather
poorly preserved in most Orcadian tombs. Some
chambers contained very little or none at all
while elsewhere it only survives on paved floors
or shelves. Even so, it is clear that there were
wide differences from tomb to tomb in the number
of individuals interred. There can be as few as
two or three and as many as several hundred. Analysis
of the material is hampered by the fact that most
of what has survived was recovered in Victorian
times and there is virtually no record of the
circumstances of their recovery.
In
cases where the bones have been analyzed, all
age and sex groups are represented—males
and females; adults, adolescents and children
as young as two years old. Life expectancy in
Neolithic Orkney was something on the |
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of twenty to twenty-five years—a very young population.
Life was hard and the bones show evidence of osteoarthritis
and degenerative disease of the spine, the result of carrying
heavy loads.
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| Among
the tombs that have been more thoroughly examined
there seems to be some variation in the treatment
of the deceased. While there were a number of articulated
skeletons at some sites, meaning the bodies were
intact when they were placed inside, the majority
of the remains are fragmentary and incomplete. In
some cases, special treatment was accorded to the
skulls of the deceased, which were kept separate
from the rest of the remains. The intact burials
were found in the crouched position, lying on benches
or shelves, while the rest of the bones were either
gathered into heaps or placed in the end compartments
or cells. The usual interpretation is that the latter
represented the remains of earlier burials that
were swept aside to make room for the latest arrivals.
However, it is possible that at some sites the bodies
of the deceased had been exposed somewhere else
until the flesh rotted away. The loose bones were
then collected and brought to the tomb. This process
is known as excarnation and would explain why many
of the smaller bones are missing. Of |
Burial
Platform of the Plains Indians (photo
by Edward S. Curtis) |
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course, it is also possible that relics such as these
were removed from the cairn for ritual or ceremonial purposes
long after the original burial. |
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| Animal
Remains |
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| Animal
bones have been found in 11 chambers but they are normally
not numerous nor have they been thoroughly studied except
at Isbister. They represent mainly sheep and cattle but
there is some red deer as well. From the types of bones
that survive it would appear that joints meat were brought
into the chamber, presumably as food offerings. Isbister
also produced the remains of at least 8 sea eagles, which
may have been the totem animal of that particular group,
and an abundance of fish bones. Elsewhere, the animals
are generally the same but with different species dominating
the assemblage at different sites. |
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| Artefacts |
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A
selection of bowls from the tomb at Unstan |
| Grave
goods are not exactly plentiful and consist
largely of broken pottery, including Unstan
ware, along with some flint. Since sherds
from complete vessels are very rare, either
some of them were subsequently removed or
the pots were broken elsewhere. They presumably
held food and drink but for whom remains
a mystery—possibly to sustain the
deceased in the afterlife or to propitiate
the spirits of the dead. Alternatively,
it may have been consumed by the mourners
at the deceased’s wake.
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| While
the amount of pottery varies from tomb to
tomb, Unstan Ware is typical of stalled cairns
and other tombs of the Orkney-Cromarty tradition.
The most distinctive shape is a shallow, round-based
bowl with a fairly high collared rim. The
rim is often decorated with patterns of slanting
lines or triangles made by incision or stab-and-drag.
The largest collections come from Unstan itself,
from Isbister and from Taversoe Tuick and
include many plain bowls and jars with simple
rims. The latter are more functional and not
as well made as the decorated vessels. They
probably represent everyday ware while the
finer vessels were reserved for ritual purposes.
The pottery found at Isbister contained some
forms not found elsewhere and may be later
than that found elsewhere.
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Other
small finds include stone axes, fine flint knives
and leaf-shaped arrowheads. These items were probably
deliberately placed in the tomb but it is difficult
to be sure with some of the other material, mostly
everyday flint implements—blades, scrapers,
etc.—that might have been accidentally introduced
(midden material?). Personal objects—bone
pins, shell necklaces and that sort of thing—are
extremely rare for the period that the tomb was
in use. However, they have been found in the passageway
or in the fill associated with the blocking of
the tomb. It is difficult to say whether their
inclusion was accidental or not. What is certain
is that much if not all of it tends to be associated
with Grooved Ware and is therefore later.
(Right)
Flint Knife from Midhowe |
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| MAES
HOWE TOMBS |
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| Human
Remains |
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| As
is the case with the stalled cairns, there is a real discrepancy
in the amount of human remains recovered from Maes Howe
tombs. A few have none at all while most of the rest have
no more than a couple of dozen—perhaps the result
of soil conditions and later disturbance. Quanterness,
on the other hand, contained the bones of not less than
157 individuals. Some 20% of the main chamber is still
unexcavated along with 5 of the 6 cells, which would suggest
that the actual total was considerably larger—perhaps
something on the order of 400. The bones were in very
poor condition and complete skeletons are rare but two
have been found in pits dug into the floor of the chamber
during the earliest phase of use. There was clear evidence
of fire after which the floor of the chamber and at least
one of the cells was covered by a ‘bonespread’
some 30 cm. deep made up of bones mixed with earth and
stones. This bonespread accumulated over the course of
many generations and there was evidence of burning throughout.
Only in the uppermost levels could body parts be identified
and it was here that the only complete skeleton was found.
The ages of the individuals ranged from 8 months to about
50 years with slightly more males than females. As is
the case with the earlier tombs, many bones were missing
from the assemblage but in this case there are surprisingly
few skull fragments. This suggested to Colin Renfrew,
the excavator, Quanterness, that excarnation was practiced.
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| Animal
Remains |
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far as animal remains are concerned, they are found mixed
with the human remains at Quanterness—but only in
the chamber and not in the cells. The bones mainly belong
to sheep with a some cattle and deer and are consistent
with joints of meat being placed in the tomb as food offerings.
The most significant find from the other sites is the
collection of 24 dog skulls found at Cuween Hill. |
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| Artefacts |
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Bone
Pin from Quoyness |
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four tombs have produced anything in the way of artefacts
and the material from Cuween Hill and Eday Manse has disappeared.
At Quanterness there were sherds from at least 34 pots,
all of it Grooved Ware—typically flat-bottomed jars
and bowls with fairly straight sides. Only a few of them
had been decorated but the patterns are standard—incised
geometric patterns that include chevrons and triangles.
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| The
other small finds are pretty nondescript, consisting mainly
of utilitarian objects of stone and bone—flint and
ground stone tools along with some bone pins. There is
the odd exception, however, such as the spiked stone objects
from Quoyness and the stone ball (now missing) reported
to have been found at Cuween Hill.
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Stone
Objects from Quoyness |
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| Art |
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Eday
Manse. Decorated Stone |
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| Decorated
stones have been found at three sites. Simple pecked designs
have been found on a number of places on the walls of
Holm of Papa Westray South. The most complex motif looks
like pairs of eyes but there are circles and small cupmarks
as well. At Eday Manse, the designs, which appear on a
single stone, are more elaborate and much more carefully
executed. They are curvilinear rather than geometric and
include spirals along with concentric arcs and circles.
There are three decorated stones from Pierowall where
the main motif is linked spirals—very reminiscent
of designs found in the Boyne Valley tombs of Ireland
and the passage graves of Brittany.
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Pierowall
Quarry . Decorated Stone |
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Newgrange
(Ireland). Decorated Stone |
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