Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 141

This paper presents the results of a re-analysis of the Early Neolithic human remains recovered in 1977 at Sumburgh, Shetland. The original publication of the site (Hedges & Parry 1980) proposed excarnation as the dominant mortuary rite. However, analysis of fracture morphology in combination with patination has demonstrated that the majority of damage to the bones is due to post-depositional disturbance. Evidence of palaeopathological conditions within the assemblage includes: degenerative joint disease, healed fractures, non-specific infection, periodontal disease, enamel hypoplasia and a nutritional disorder.

This is the first of four papers that present the results of survey and excavations undertaken in the late 1990s as part of the Uig Landscape Project on Lewis in the Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar). This paper introduces the project and presents the results of the survey and excavations on the promontory enclosure of Gob Eirer, one of the earliest of the Uig sites excavated. Gob Eirer is located on a stack just off the Uig shoreline in the Camas Uig, connected to the mainland by a pebble beach. The results of the excavations are discussed in terms of the structural form, stratigraphy, material culture and environmental evidence from the site. Gob Eirer is then considered within the wider context of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age archaeology of Atlantic Scotland and broader research themes surrounding promontory enclosures.

As part of the second phase of the South West Crannog Survey, the crannog in Loch Arthur, New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, was surveyed and small-scale excavations were carried out on submerged eroding deposits. The crannog was seen to be at threat from erosion for a number of reasons, including insect infestation, aquatic plants and wave action. The eroding deposits were sampled and their ecofactual content analysed and structural timbers from various positions in the crannog mound were radiocarbon dated. The results suggest that the site is a massive packwerk mound that was constructed in the second half of the 1st millennium BC, most likely in one event. After an apparent period of abandonment, the site was reoccupied in the later medieval period.

Much recent scholarship has been critical of the concept of a Dál Riatic migration to, or colonisation of, Argyll. Scepticism of the accuracy of the early medieval accounts of this population movement, arguing that these are late amendments to early sources, coupled with an apparent lack of archaeological evidence for such a migration have led to its rejection. It is argued here, however, that this rejection has been based on too narrow a reading of historical sources and that there are several early accounts which, while differing in detail, agree on one point of substance, that the origin of Scottish Dál Riata lies in Ireland. Also the use of archaeological evidence to suggest no migration to Argyll by the Dál Riata is flawed, misunderstanding the nature of early migrations and how they might be archaeologically identified, and it is proposed that there is actually quite a lot of evidence for migration to Argyll by the Dál Riata, in the form of settlement and artefactual evidence, but that it is to be found in Ireland through the mechanism of counterstream migration, rather than in Scotland.

The hillforts of the north-east of Scotland have suffered from a lack of archaeological excavation and models have been developed and redeveloped on very little evidence. Underlining these paradigms was the assumption that the bulk of the sites in the area were prehistoric in origin. This paper presents the initial results of a programme of keyhole excavation that examined construction dates of the discrete cluster of hillforts in what, in this article, is called Strathdon. A brief precis of archaeological research in the area will be presented, together with the unenclosed sequence from the immediate environs and the contemporary historical record, before the early medieval results of the research are summarised and placed in a regional and national context. As the excavations were restricted so too is the discussion, the results established a chronological framework for the hillforts in question but did not explore function or environmental background.

The aim of this summary paper is to review the success of chemical sourcing in the study of the Scottish medieval Whiteware and Redware ceramic industries and outline the methods and protocols that the authors feel should be used to take the technique forward.

The recent discovery of three pewter tappit hen measures from the excavation of a ship sunk off Mull in 1653 has enabled us to deduce something of the origins of this eponymous Scottish measure. They are of Scots pint, chopin and half-mutchkin capacity, and they display several hitherto unrecognised features. They were made by casting two vertical halves, unlike the familiar 18th-century forms. This left a hole in the base which was then filled with a plug. On the inside of this plug the pewterer struck a mark of a hammer and his initials, whilst his touchmark was struck on the collar of the measure. There was a coarse threaded projection on the underside of the lid, probably used to hold the lid in the lather for turning and finishing. The half-mutchkin has an unusual lobed palmette thumbpiece. The method of casting and the palmette thumbpiece has now also been observed on four early 18th-century examples. These are two chopin and two Scots quart tappit hens that have been identified in private collections, and described for the first time. The tappit hen form shows strong affinities with late 16th-century pewter vessels from the north-west of France, with whom Edinburgh had strong wine-trade links. However, the name appears to originate with Alan Ramsay c 1721, who used it in his poems to describe what was probably a quart with a knobbed lid and palmette thumbpiece, as in the examples described here.