A Late Iron Age farmstead in the Outer Hebrides Excavations at Mound 1, Bornais, South Uist

The settlement at Bornais consists of a complex of mounds which protrude from the relatively flat machair plain in the township of Bornais on the island of South Uist. This sandy plain has proved an attractive settlement from the Beaker period onwards; it appears to have been intensively occupied fr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sharples, Niall
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxbow Books 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: OAPEN - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 02695nma a2200325 u 4500
001 EB002060009
003 EBX01000000000000001201120
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 220825 ||| eng
020 |a 9781789258882 
100 1 |a Sharples, Niall 
245 0 0 |a A Late Iron Age farmstead in the Outer Hebrides  |h Elektronische Ressource  |b Excavations at Mound 1, Bornais, South Uist 
260 |b Oxbow Books  |c 2012 
653 |a European history 
653 |a Great Britain 
653 |a Archaeology 
653 |a Europe 
653 |a Archaeology 
653 |a History 
653 |a Social Science 
700 1 |a Sharples, Niall 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b OAPEN  |a OAPEN 
500 |a Creative Commons (cc), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode 
856 4 2 |u https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/53456  |z OAPEN Library: description of the publication 
856 4 0 |u https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/2b24e7e3-168f-45e6-8c8f-e04c74854925/external_content.pdf  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 900 
082 0 |a 300 
520 |a The settlement at Bornais consists of a complex of mounds which protrude from the relatively flat machair plain in the township of Bornais on the island of South Uist. This sandy plain has proved an attractive settlement from the Beaker period onwards; it appears to have been intensively occupied from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Norse period. Mound 1 was the original location for settlement in this part of the machair plain; pre-Viking activity of some complexity is present and it is likely that the settlement activity started in the Middle Iron Age, if not earlier. The examination of the mound 1 deposits provides an important contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age sequence in the Atlantic province. The principal contribution comprises the large quantities of mammal, fish and bird bones, carbonised plant remains and pottery, which can be accurately dated to a fairly precise and narrow period in the 1st millennium AD. These are augmented by a substantial collection of small finds which included distinctive bone artefacts. The contextual significance of the site is based on the survival of floor deposits and a burnt-down roof; the floor deposits can be compared with abandonment and adjacent midden deposits providing contrasting contextual environments that help to clarify depositional processes. The burning down of the house and the excellent preservation of the deposits within it provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine the timber superstructure of the building and the layout of the material used by the inhabitants.