The Border of Farming and the Cultural Markers - Nordlige Verdener

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26 Fig. 9: Bone object from Jarlshof with Beakerlike decoration. Length: 127 mm; maximum width: 38 mm. Photo: National Museums Scotland. Quandale in Orkney – which must have been exported from Shetland – has been dated (through its associated cremated bone) to 3660±50 BP (2200–1900 cal BC, GrA-19989). Several issues remain to be resolved, however. Firstly, whether the enigmatic bone object from Jarlshof with its Beaker-like geometric design (Fig. 9) formed part of the Beaker phenomenon in Shetland – and what it actually was – remain a moot point. It had been found by Childe in Midden II; as noted above, charred barley grain/s from material believed to correspond to MII was/were radiocarbon-dated to around the middle of the second millennium: see GU-12914 above, and Dockrill & Bond 2009: 50. However, the only way to resolve the question of the artefact’s date is through direct dating, and given its thinness, it would be difficult to sample without risking damage to the object. Secondly, the question of whether chamber tombs continued to be built within the 2500–1800 BC period – and whether it is to this period that the heel-shaped (and square) cairns were constructed – needs to be investigated through excavation. (Heel-shaped cairns are not unique to Shetland, with examples known from Caithness, Davidson & Henshall 1991: 41-2.) The parallelism between the concave façade of heelshaped cairns and the concave façade of the large structure at Stanydale could be taken to imply possible contemporaneity, and the presence of a possible Beaker sherd at Giant’s Grave may indicate that that monument had already been built, or was constructed around the same time as the pot’s use. The evidence from Vementry suggests that the heel-shaped cairn represents a re-shaping of a pre-existing round cairn, thereby indicating a ‘round-to-heel-shaped’ sequence. Furthermore, the Muckle Heog
27 monument (Henshall 1963) – which features the interment of unburnt bodies accompanied by steatite vessels within cists under a heel-shaped cairn – may well date to the period 2200–1800 BC, since we know from the Quandale evidence that steatite vessels were being made at this time. (As will be seen below, however, the use of steatite vessels in the Northern Isles continued after 1800 BC; see also Foster & Turner 2009 on the use of steatite.) The Muckle Heog monument is particularly interesting as it appears to represent a fusion of traditional Shetland practice (i.e. of constructing cairns for funerary monuments) with novel practices (i.e. the use of cist graves and of steatite vessels), with the practice of using cists probably being adopted from outside Shetland. Whether this site also marks the end of a shortlived period of heel-shaped cairn construction remains to be demonstrated through excavation of other sites with heel-shaped cairns. In any case, Muckle Heog – like the (probably slightly earlier) Beaker cist at Fraga – reminds us that, during the period under consideration here, the inhabitants of Shetland probably had a choice of funerary practice (i.e. interment in a passage tomb, vs. a cist). This may relate to the exercise of choice as to whether to maintain a longstanding local tradition, or to adopt new fashions from elsewhere in Scotland. Thirdly, as before, the question of whether felsite artefacts were still being manufactured at this time needs to be resolved; was it that people were simply re-using ancient objects Subsequent developments, c 1800-1500 BC Although, strictly speaking, these fall outside the scope of this paper, certain observations can usefully be offered here. Firstly, regarding settlements and ceramic typochronology, continuity in the general style of house construction (i.e. thick-walled and cellular) is suggested by the evidence from Scord of Brouster, where House 3 was constructed at this time. The radiocarbon dating of organic residue adhering to a large undecorated jar of steatitic clay from the Bunyie (Benie) Hoose, Whalsay (Calder 1961) – undertaken as part of National Museums’ Scotland radiocarbon dating programme (Sheridan 2005) – has revealed that this house was in use during the second quarter of the second millennium, although whether it was built then, or beforehand, is uncertain. Like Stanydale, it has a concave façade. The organic residue produced a date of 3360±40 BP (1740–1530 cal BC, GrA-29373: Sheridan 2005: 183) and is useful for indicating the post-Beaker trajectory of ceramic development in Shetland. Nordlige Verdener Shetlandsprojekt
Page 1 and 2: The Border of Farming and the Cultu
Page 3 and 4: The Border of Farming and the Cultu
Page 5 and 6: Contents • Foreword H. C. Gulløv
Page 7 and 8: different parts of Scandinavia and
Page 9 and 10: 7 2011; Melton 2008; 2009; Melton &
Page 11 and 12: 9 consists of just a handful of sma
Page 13 and 14: 11 Fig. 1: Possibly the earliest me
Page 15 and 16: 13 knives, found in a long ‘knoll
Page 17 and 18: 15 Fig. 4: Potsherds from Modesty.
Page 19 and 20: 17 settlement was not recorded in d
Page 21 and 22: 19 Among the many outstanding quest
Page 23 and 24: 21 Fig. 7: Undecorated, uncarinated
Page 25 and 26: 23 Fig. 8: Top: cushion macehead, S
Page 27: 25 carbon dates suggest that House
Page 31 and 32: 29 Fig. 10: Notional sequence of fu
Page 33 and 34: 31 it is anticipated that the resea
Page 35 and 36: 33 zons. Papers Presented at the Se
Page 37 and 38: 35 RCAHMS (Royal Commission on the
Page 39 and 40: 37 Pinhoulland - a multi period sit
Page 41 and 42: 39 general which could be interpret
Page 43 and 44: 41 Fig. 3: Map of the area around P
Page 45 and 46: 43 Most of the house structures are
Page 47 and 48: 45 Photo Ditlev L. Mahler. Jarlshof
Page 49 and 50: 47 ± 1 15 14 1 16 18 13 17 12 7 9
Page 51 and 52: ± 49 14 15 16 13 18 14 15 16 17 13
Page 53 and 54: 51 Bennett, K. D. et al. 1992: Holo
Page 55 and 56: 53 Sacred Work: Cultivating the soi
Page 57 and 58: 55 Photographs by the author. Fig 4
Page 59 and 60: 57 Fig. 7: Shetland spade from the
Page 61 and 62: 59 The significance of agrarian too
Page 63 and 64: 61 Lamb, R. & Rees, S. 1981: Ard Cu
Page 65 and 66: 63 like that of Schneiderman-Fox &
Page 67 and 68: 65 Fig. 3: Shetland knife workshop
Page 69 and 70: 67 a list of rituals to be carried
Page 71 and 72: 69 (hollow-edged), profile category
Page 73 and 74: 71 35 30 TN - far from Bømlo 25 20
Page 75 and 76: Cambrian flint Southern Scottish ch
Page 77 and 78: 75 flint and some Arran pitchstone,
Page 79 and 80:
77 [http://www.sair.org.uk/sair17/i
Page 81 and 82:
79 Axes from islands: the role of s
Page 83 and 84:
81 material but there were a couple
Page 85 and 86:
83 A centre of island life, axe pro
Page 87 and 88:
85 dal 1998: 61). It is clear that
Page 89 and 90:
87 as larger ones were being produc
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89 the tool pre-forms or rough-outs
Page 93 and 94:
91 During September 2011, following
Page 95 and 96:
93 Fig. 11: Knive workshop at easte
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95 support a symbolic interpretatio
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97 farming: an extended broad spect
Page 101 and 102:
99 Ritchie, P.R. 1992: Stone axehea
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101 Age societies reached this poin
Page 105 and 106:
103 F. Kaul Photo. Culture. In Sout
Page 107 and 108:
105 monumental passage tombs, a sma
Page 109 and 110:
107 F. Kaul Photo. Fig. 6: Dæmpe g
Page 111 and 112:
109 Fig. 7: Plan drawing of the mul
Page 113 and 114:
111 Fig. 11: Tulach an t-Sionnaich,
Page 115 and 116:
113 Among the remarkably few horned
Page 117 and 118:
115 Fig. 14: Plan drawing of the Ne
Page 119 and 120:
117 just before the time when the C
Page 121 and 122:
119 Bibliography Andersen, S.H. & J
Page 123 and 124:
121 Madsen, A.P., 1896: Gravhøje o
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123 Norway - the first remains of f
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125 Fig. 4: The northernmost house
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127 Børsheim 2005: 115, 116 fig. 4
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129 scarce in Norway, and they are
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131 Bibliography Arntzen, J. 2010 a
Page 135 and 136:
133 Introduction As introduced else
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135 Generally we speak of six diffe
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137 earlier. In this respect the co
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139 coming up the British West coas
Page 143 and 144:
141 Grønnow, B. 2004: Saqqaqkultur
Page 145 and 146:
143 The heel shaped cain on the isl
Page 147 and 148:
The Border of Farming and the Cultu
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