| Title: |
Excavation of a Bronze Age wicker container, Gearraidh na h'Aibhne, Isle of Lewis
|
| Issue: |
Excavation of a Bronze Age wicker container, Gearraidh na h'Aibhne, Isle of Lewis |
| Series: |
Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports
|
| Volume: |
19
|
| Number of Pages: |
20 |
| Downloads: |
|
| Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
| Publication Type: |
MonographSeriesChapter
|
| Abstract: |
An archaeological excavation was carried out at Gearraidh na h'Aibhne near Calanais on the Isle of Lewis by Northamptonshire Archaeology. The site, initially interpreted as a cist potentially containing a bog body, was identified during annual peat cutting. Excavation demonstrated that the feature was in fact an oval pit containing a quantity of hazel branches, capped with a number of flat slabs of Lewisian Gneiss. Several similar stones had been placed in the base of the feature, overlying more hazel branches. The observation of several branches placed vertically at the edges of the cut suggests that the wood remains may have originally constituted a wicker structure or basket. Further evidence of anthropogenic activity was identified in the form of bent and/or twisted hazel rods and cut marks on a larger piece of wood. Growth-ring analysis of the hazel pieces identified two distinct age clusters: a large group of pieces between five and seven years old and a smaller group between ten and 13 years old, indicating the hazel branches had been deliberately selected for size. Analysis of preserved botanical macrofossil remains indicated that heather type stems and Sphagnum moss might have been incorporated or deposited into the structure. Two radiocarbon dates of 1080--830 BC (SUERC-2086) and 1000--830 BC (SUERC-2087) at 2-sigma probability were obtained from two discrete samples of hazel, suggesting the structure was constructed and deposited during the Late Bronze Age. |
| Year of Publication: |
2006
|
| ISBN: |
0 903903 88 1 |
| Subjects / Periods: |
| Radiocarbon (Auto Detected Subject) |
| Bronze Age (Auto Detected Temporal) |
| Wood Growthring Analysis (Auto Detected Subject) |
| 1080830 Bc Suerc2086 (Auto Detected Temporal) |
| Sphagnum (Auto Detected Subject) |
|
|
PIT
(Monument Type England)
|
| Late Bronze Age (Auto Detected Temporal) |
| Hazel (Auto Detected Subject) |
| Bog Body (Auto Detected Subject) |
| Hazel Pieces (Auto Detected Subject) |
| Basket (Auto Detected Subject) |
|
| Note: |
[OS NB 2333 3068]
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| Source: |
BIAB
(DigitalBorn)
|
| Created Date: |
04 Jan 2009 |
