VIKING UNST PROJECT: FIELD SEASON 2008 - Nabo

Greenland and Iceland that a number of the sites contain smithies (Vésteinsson 2000: 169).However, further work on the samples collected from the Upper House at Underhoull isrequired to investigate this further.It can be concluded following the initial assessment of the ferrous and non-ferrous objectsthat the assemblages are almost identical in the variety and type of objects recorded, withnothing to distinguish between the items from Hamar and Underhoull. The two fragmentsof hammerscale from Underhoull may provide information of metal working being carriedout on or near the site, but further work is needed to clarify this.In addition to metal objects, a significant quantity of ‘slag-like’ material was recoveredfrom the Upper House, Underhoull. The majority of the material has been identified as fuelash slag, a silica-rich non-diagnostic slag (McDonnell 2000; McDonnell et al. 2007); thelargest quantities being recovered from context [093] from the Upper House, Underhoull,located outside of the structure. A preliminary assessment demonstrated that the materialwas a light, silica-rich cinder fuel ash slag, similar to material found on sites such asWasperton, Warwickshire (McDonnell pers.comm) as well as the slag recovered from Pool(McDonnell & Berg 2007: 455). The similarity in the material from the site and the contextin which it was recovered suggests that it was formed through a single one-off event priorto deposition. However, the precise materials that were burnt to form this material, or theprocesses that were carried out to produce this quantity of the material are unclear. Furtherresearch on this material is essential. Firstly, all other major deposits of this material derivefrom the English Iron Age. Secondly, these examples are deposited in secondary/tertiarydeposits, such as pits and ditches, hence the primary and secondary context at Underhoull issignificant.It has been suggested that the reason that the material is found at all relates to the context ofdeposition: the slag is relatively friable and would break easily if trampled. The significantquantity recovered from Underhoull indicates that it was either deposited towards theperiphery of the site, away from the general movement areas around the settlement, it wasdeposited immediately prior to the abandonment of the site, or that it was deposited as asingle event and subsequently undisturbed. The excavation of context [093] during the2008 season suggested that the material had been burnt in situ, contained by a low stoneboundary (context [119]). Further investigation of the slag will hopefully determine theprocesses that created these distinctive deposits at Underhoull.The Hamar and Underhoull metal and slag-like material assemblage provides an excellentopportunity to investigate aspects of Viking period pyrotechnology. Archaeometallurgicalanalysis of the iron artefacts would provide comparative data for the analysis of the Poolartefacts (McDonnell & Berg 2007) and Viking iron from Iceland and Scandinavia.Analysis of the slag-like material from Underhoull is essential to determine possible causesof the formation of this material.Silver ringA silver ring SF1871 was recovered from Area B at Underhoull, context [130]. It is plain indesign with a plano-convex cross section and approximately 4mm broad. The ring is rather47