Crannogs as cultural soil artifacts? Loch of Isbister, Orkney, Mainland (original) (raw)

An Iron Age crannog in south-west Scotland : underwater survey and excavation at Loch

2012

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.

An Iron Age crannog in south-west Scotland: underwater survey and excavation at Loch Arthur

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.

Islets through Time: The Definition, Dating and Distribution of Scottish Crannogs

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 1998

Scottish crannogs or lake dwellings are considered to be structurally varied sites with an extremely wide distribution, used from the neolithic up until at least the 17th century AD. As a result assumptions about the dating and form of individual sites are considered impossible without excavation. This paper demonstrates that the current classifications lack utility and that the long chronology view is misleading. It is suggested that there is a far more subtle spectrum of identifiably distinct monuments which can be arranged into types, and that these types have, on the basis of the current radiocarbon evidence, a chronological significance.

Neolithic Crannogs in the Outer Hebrides (and Beyond?): Synthesis, Survey, and Dating

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2023

In this paper we present a three-stranded investigation of all ‘archaeological islands’ (including crannogs) across Scotland, with a particular focus on the Outer Hebrides. The first strand is a synthesis and critical review of the archaeological record relating to 582 ‘archaeological island’ sites. This research enabled us to characterise the nature of any previous work (including dating evidence) undertaken on each, and thus to establish the first ever open access, holistic, accurate dataset of these sites. The second strand is new underwater survey carried out at 30 archaeological islands across the southern Outer Hebrides. This enabled us to acquire further information about and dating evidence for these sites; notably, this included new evidence for Neolithic occupation on three, increasing the total of known Neolithic islets in the region to 11. The third strand involved a thorough re-assessment of a wide body of archaeological literature relating to early excavations and finds. This research identified potential Neolithic material culture on a further 15 archaeological islands across the rest of Scotland. We conclude by discussing the potentially very significant implications of this early material, considering the possibility that crannogs could have been constructed in the Neolithic beyond the Outer Hebrides.

Crannogs and Later Prehistoric Settlement in Western Scotland

The focus of this research is on the later prehistoric period, from the earliest constructional origins of western Scotland crannogs in the late Bronze Age through to their apparent emergence as status dwellings in the Early Historic period after the mid first millennium AD. The aim is to investigate the ways in which crannogs functioned as settlements, both on a practical, economic as well as a symbolic and socio-cultural level. Throughout, the primary concern is with contextualisation, considering crannogs within their correct chronological and cultural context through the critical analysis of dating evidence as well as the identification of the relevant ritual and symbolic themes- i.e. the Iron Age veneration of water. It is argued in this book that the stereotypical view of a crannog that has largely been derived from the results of work carried out on Irish crannogs has been misleading in the case of the Scottish sites, tending towards a view of crannogs as high-status strongholds, often as royal seats. Though crannogs were certainly a significant feature of the Early Historic period in Scotland, there is as yet no evidence of direct connections to royalty in this period and, based on the currently available evidence, the characterisation of crannogs as high status sites is misguided in the context of their late Bronze and Iron Age origins.

Underwater Excavation at Ederline Crannog, Loch Awe, Argyll, Scotland

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2005

A trial excavation was carried out on the near-submerged crannog at Ederline Boathouse, Loch Awe, in July 2004. A trench measuring 3 × 5 m was opened on the northern side, in c.3 m of water. Around 1 m of organic deposits was encountered, along with structural timbers and animal bones. Despite a previous 4th century BC radiocarbon determination from a structural timber, a sherd of E ware from a sealed context gives an Early Historic date for the deposits excavated in 2004. The results from this first intrusive investigation of a Loch Awe crannog demonstrate that these sites are complex and long-lived.© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society