ARTICLE Norwegian Archaeological Review, Vol. 32, No. 1, 1999

Norse Settlement in the Outer

NIALL SHARPLES AND MIKE PARKER PEARSON School of History and Archaeology, University of Wales, Cardiff, Wales; Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England Recent work on the Norse settlement of has focused on the settle- ments of the . In this article we present some new results from the less intensively studied Western Isles. A detailed survey of has revealed a large number of settlements on the machair plain on the west coast of the island. These settlements are closely related to the pre-existing native settlement pattern and suggest settlement continuity from the middle of the first millennium BC to the 14th century AD. In the 14th century there appears to be an abandonment of the machair plain and a movement onto the adjacent blacklands. Two of these Norse settlements have been excavated and a large amount of evidence showing the nature of the Norse settlement has been found. We take the opportunity to discuss the structural remains so far exposed and an architectural sequence is sug- gested. A number of diagnostic artefact types have been recovered and these yield accurate dates for the sequence of development. In a general discussion of the results it is argued that the settlement evidence does not support the argument for a widespread slaughter of the indigenous popula- tion when the Norse arrived on the islands. Instead, we would argue that continuity is the principal feature of the archaeological record in the later part of the first millennium AD. The principal disruption appears to coin- cide with the transfer of the islands to the Scottish crown and might repre- sent a significant reorientation of the island economy.

INTRODUCTION scholars. This work has re-emphasized the quality of the archaeological record in these In recent years archaeological exploration of northern areas and has yielded evidence of the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic the richness as well as the diversity of re- has been an area of increasing interest to sources exploited. scholars in a range of countries. Important In Britain the principal focus of research new work is underway on settlements in (excluding the urban settlements of Dublin Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes and Norway. and York) has been in the Northern Isles Much of this work has not yet been fully and Caithness. These areas have the benefit published but in recent years there has been of a considerable background of important an exemplary series of publications which research carried out in the first half of this places a considerable amount of information century. Settlements such as , in the public domain.1 Much of this new (Hamilton 1956), , work deals with the environmental and eco- (Curle 1982) and Freswick, Caithness (Curle logical basis of the settlement on the North 1939) provided invaluable evidence for the Atlantic and has seen the application of a nature of Norse settlements throughout the range of techniques unavailable to earlier North Atlantic. Recent work has involved 42 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson

Fig. 1. The location of the , showing the sites and places mentioned in the text.

re-excavation or new work on these famous 1986; Selkirk 1996), a smaller settlement at sites (e.g. Hunter 1986, Morris 1997) as well Barvas on Lewis (Armit 1996:192–193) and as extensive excavation of new sites, most a cemetery at Bhaltos on Lewis (Welander importantly Tuquoy (Owen 1994) and Poole, et al. 1987, Cowie et al. 1994, Armit Orkney (Hunter et al. 1994), The Biggins 1996:195–202, Dunwell et al. forthcoming). (Crawford 1985) and Sandwick, Shetland In the 1950s a 14 m-long house was partly (Bigelow 1985). excavated at Drimore, South Uist (Maclaren In contrast to this activity noted above, 1974). Other unambiguous material evidence fieldwork on the Western Isles (Fig. 1) has of the Norse occupation is restricted to a been extremely limited. The only recent ex- handful of burials (Crawford 1987, Fig. 31), cavations are those of the extensive settle- three chance finds of silver ring money on ment on the Udal in North Uist (Crawford Lewis and gold finger rings on North Uist Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 43

(Graham-Campbell 1976, Armit 1996:194– THE LANDSCAPE 195), a bronze pin from Bornais (South Uist) and the famous chessmen from the Uig This article presents the results of recent sands on Lewis (Taylor 1978). fieldwork on the island of South Uist, a This relative imbalance in the extent of large island in the southern Western Isles, archaeological work between the Northern and is part of a broader campaign in the and Western Isles of Scotland could be re- southern Outer Hebrides (Brannigan & lated to the historical significance of the Foster 1995, Gilbertson et al. 1996). Our Northern Isles and the importance of the fieldwork involves both survey and excava- early work on historical sites such as Orphir tion and is intended to provide a detailed and Birsay on Orkney and Jarlshof on analysis of settlement patterns from the first Shetland. However, the imbalance is visible millennium BC to the present day. In the in other periods and is more likely to be re- first stage of this fieldwork we focused on lated to the uneven practice of archaeology the Iron Age settlement patterns and this is in Scotland than to either the inherent attrac- in the process of final publication (Parker tions of the archaeological resource in the Pearson & Sharples in press). The second Northern Isles or the unimportance of the stage, underway since 1994, deals with the Western Isles in the context of the Viking Norse settlement of the island. settlement of the North Atlantic. The It is important to understand the topogra- Western Isles sit astride the sea route from phy of South Uist (see Fig. 2) as the various Norway to Dublin and it is clear that any landforms influence the settlement pattern movement down the western seaboard of the and its archaeological visibility. The island British Isles would inevitably involve con- is roughly rectangular with its long axis tact with or provisioning from the islands. oriented north to south. It can be divided Furthermore, work on the historical records into four zones, which run north–south. The suggests that the inhabitants may have had east coast is extremely rugged, with moun- an important part to play in the colonization tains reaching up to 620 m and agricultural of Iceland (Andersen 1991:137). land restricted to small isolated pockets. As The potential for a detailed analysis of one moves west the landscape flattens out Norse settlement patterns on the islands has and one enters a zone, known as the black- been transformed by the recognition of a lands, now covered in peat which has pro- distinctive regional type of Norse pottery vided little more than rough grazing in (Lane 1990). Various ceramic forms found recent years. Adjacent to this is an area of at the Udal, North Uist are restricted to the lochs, large and small, and rock outcrops, period from the 9th to the 11th century AD2. which is the location for most of the modern These were present in very large numbers settlements. Between these settlements and and some of the forms, most notably the the sea lies an area of shell sand known as platter, are recognizable even as small the machair, which is the most important sherds. On the basis of the Udal sequence, part of the contemporary agricultural land- Lane was able to identify Norse occupation scape. Three sea lochs penetrate the east on a number of settlements by the reanalysis coast of the island and are an important to- of old excavations. Furthermore, fieldwork pographic feature. These are exceptionally in the islands has resulted in the recovery of long and almost reach as far as the machair dateable material from eroding settlement of the west coast. These lochs provide good mounds and it is suggested that a detailed shelter for local fishing boats throughout the survey of the Norse settlement of this land- year, in contrast to the west coast, which has scape might be possible (Armit 1996, Parker only one safe summer anchorage. Pearson 1996). The machair is a thick layer of calcareous 44 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson

Fig. 2. South Uist, showing the topography, the lochs and the machair. The location of the principal excavated Norse sites and the broch at are shown. Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 45 sand deposited since the last glaciation contexts bringing artefactual material to the (Ritchie 1979, Owen et al. 1996). The surface. machair probably began to form by ca 3700 The machair topography varies along the BC and by 2000 BC an extensive machair length of the coastal plain. Areas such as plain similar to that of today was present. Hallan and Cille Pheadair, in the southern The machair of South Uist is relatively part of the island, are covered in large undu- stable today, with erosion and deposition lating dunes probably formed in relatively concentrated on the dunes that run along the recent times, whereas areas such as Bornais foreshore, but it is important to note that the and Iochdair, in the middle and northern landform is inherently unstable. Recent re- parts of the island, have an almost horizontal cords suggest massive erosion and deposi- plain extending back from the high frontal tion is possible in a very short period of dune system on the present coastline. Site time. Townships have been abandoned ow- recognition in the former areas is obviously ing to inundation by sand, and islands have difficult and distributions are difficult to in- been separated from the mainland. It is terpret but in the latter areas site recognition therefore possible that the coastline in the is high allowing for a more complete under- Viking period was significantly different in standing of the settlement pattern. location but probably not in character from In contrast to the machair, site recognition the coastline of today. in the blacklands is much more problematic. A number of characteristics make site The visible archaeological remains are recognition relatively straightforward on the largely the result of recent 18th- and 19th- century settlement with prehistoric monu- machair. Most of the settlements now sur- ments limited to isolated monuments such as vive as mounds. The size varies from signi- Neolithic chambered cairns, and brochs and ficant and impressive monuments visible wheelhouses of the Middle Iron Age. The from a considerable distance to insignificant shallow acidic nature of the soils in this rises, which are often dwarfed by the landscape discourages rabbit colonization natural variations in the machair topogra- and destroys the bones and shells which phy. These mounds were probably created make site recognition so straightforward on by both the accumulation of archaeological the machair. sediments as a result of deliberate deposi- South Uist has many features typical of tion and the erosion of the surrounding un- the other islands of the Western Isles. It is consolidated sand. Only compact and not the most fertile but it is certainly not the organically bonded archaeological deposits most infertile of these islands. Many of the will resist aeolian erosion once the turf islands are dominated by large areas of cover is broken. blanket peat or bare rock, which makes any The archaeological significance of these kind of arable agriculture impossible. The mounds can be confirmed by the surface ex- most distinctive feature of the landscape is posure of artefacts, animal bones and marine the machair. Shell sand deposits are found shells. This material is usually brought to in pockets all along the west coast of the the surface by rabbits, which are present in Western Isles and in some areas these large numbers on the machair. When the deposits are continuous but nowhere do they rabbits tunnel into an archaeological settle- compare with the extensive strip that ex- ment, they bring to the surface material from tends from the southern tip of South Uist to all the contexts penetrated by the burrow. the northwest corner of North Uist. The rela- This often includes diagnostic potsherds and tively high recognition of archaeological other artefacts. The machair is also regularly settlements in this zone makes it an impor- ploughed and this truncates archaeological tant region for landscape studies. 46 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson

THE SURVEY motifs used, but fabrics remain the same. Consequently, the identification of settle- Between 1993 and 1996 the entire machair ments is much more difficult, relying on strip along the west coast of South Uist was vessel form, which changes slightly. Only fieldworked (Parker Pearson 1996). This eight definite settlements have been identi- was designed to complement fieldwork in fied and many of these were identified the mountainous east coast by Moreland through excavation. All but one of the sites (pers. comm.) and in the blacklands around is located on or close to a mound that pro- the townships of Milton and Cill Donnain duced Middle Iron Age ceramics. It seems (Fleming forthcoming). Both of these sur- unlikely that this pattern represents a decline veys identified extensive evidence for recent in the number of settlements. It probably (15th–19th century) settlement but evidence simply represents the relative difficulty in for earlier periods is restricted to that found identifying diagnostic ceramics. at Cill Donnain (Fleming & Woolf 1992) The transition to the Norse period in- and Norse settlements have not been volves a significant change in the ceramics. located. Decoration is absent and forms are restricted The machair survey involved an area to bowls and cups with sagging bases and approximately 2 km wide and 33 km long flat rims. However, grass-marked bases are and archaeological sites, mostly settlements, distinctive and a very characteristic flat disc were located up to the summer of 1997. or platter is introduced during the Norse per- These sites range in date from the Early iod. Twenty-one settlements can be identi- Bronze Age to the post-Medieval period. To fied (Fig. 3b) and these belong to mound understand the nature of the Norse coloniza- clusters with Middle and Late Iron Age tion it is necessary to examine the historical settlements. Not all mound clusters contain context of the settlement pattern. The most clearly identifiable Norse settlements but readily identified and frequently located since many of the mounds identified by the settlements belong to the Middle Iron Age survey have not produced diagnostic pottery, (100 BC–AD 300). These are characterized another five or so may potentially date to by very distinctive and often highly decor- the Norse period, if each mound cluster had ated ceramics which have been found on a Norse component. twenty settlements (Fig. 3a). Less character- In contrast to the previous period, Late or istic plain wares indicate a possible Middle post-Medieval settlement on the machair is Iron Age date for another seven sites (not rare. Only two definite and one possible marked on Fig 3a). These settlements often settlement are known. The local pottery in- form part of mound clusters with the other cludes diagnostic decoration and fabrics, and mounds producing pottery of later date. The imported glazed wares do occur, so this dis- mound clusters are evenly spaced along the tribution is likely to represent a real depopu- machair at about 1 km intervals in a pattern lation of the machair zone. This pattern is similar to the territorial ordering of the pre- confirmed by the cartographic evidence from Clearance townships (Parker Pearson 1996). the 16th and 19th centuries (the maps by This contrasts markedly with the distribution Pont, Blau and Bold) which indicates a of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age settle- settlement pattern dominated by township ments, which are clustered in three locations settlements in the blacklands immediately on the machair plain. adjacent to the machair. Settlement in the Late Iron Age (AD 300–AD 800) ceramic machair is restricted to the two townships traditions are much less distinctive (Lane identified by the survey and a scatter of iso- 1990); there is a decline in the amount of lated structures. decoration on the vessel and the range of The survey of the machair has produced Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 47

Fig. 3. The distribution of Middle Iron Age brochs/duns and settlements and Norse settlements. Only the machair settlements are shown. Middle Iron Age settlements are known on the west coast of the islands but no Norse settlements are known in this area. some very significant patterns. The basic not always easy to date but where visibility settlement pattern appears to have remained and artefact recovery are straightforward, fairly constant from the Middle Iron Age Middle Iron Age, Late Iron Age and Norse through to the end of the Norse period. Dis- periods seem to be represented in each clus- tinct clusters of mounds are found spaced ter. The pattern suggests continuity of settle- approximately every 1 km along the ma- ment for over a millennium with continual chair. The number of mounds in each cluster rebuilding and minor locational shift around varies considerably. Some clusters have the settlement focus. These results confirm lines of many small mounds and others have the evidence from the Udal, North Uist one or two very large mounds. Mounds are (Crawford 1986) where a substantial settle- 48 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson ment was established in the Middle Iron that though Norse settlements might be Age. The location of this settlement then found in this area, particularly seasonally shifts between the north and south mounds occupied shieling sites, the main focus is on for two millennia before abandonment of the the machair. machair in the 17th century. Our evidence Our work on the island suggests that the would suggest that continuity into the post- principal discontinuity in the settlement pat- Medieval period, as seen at the Udal, is an tern of the island of South Uist did not occur unusual feature on the Uists. when the Vikings arrived on the islands but Clearly the machair cannot be looked at after the islands had been incorporated into in isolation. We have already highlighted the Scottish kingdom. The precise date of the post-Medieval settlement of the black- the abandonment of the settlements can only lands and it must be assumed that this ecolo- be established by detailed excavation and gical zone was exploited throughout the Iron this can also clarify the nature of the Viking Age and the Norse period. Indeed, if the dis- interface. tribution of chambered cairns is any indica- tion, this area may have been the focus for BORNAIS AND CILLE PHEADAIR early prehistoric settlement. However, it is assumed that the growth of blanket peat in The original focus for the project was the the second millennium BC led to the aban- central part of the island. This area, includ- donment of these areas and ultimately to the ing Cill Donnain midden and Bornais, had reorganization and intensive settlement of been the subject of intensive field survey the machair. prior to our arrival and required the collec- The Middle Iron Age pattern is again in- tion of securely dated stratigraphic material structive. Detailed analysis of the location of to further the analysis of the settlement pat- brochs indicates that, with one exception, terns. Our initial interest was in the broch at they are situated by the lochs that lie be- Dun Vulan (Fig. 2) which lay on the coastal tween the machair and the peatlands and promontory to the west of the machair plain. possibly control access to the summer graz- Excavation indicated that the site had an ing in the mountains (Parker Pearson & Early Iron Age occupation between 800 and Sharples forthcoming). The one exceptional 400 BC and had then been continuously broch, Dun Vulan, lies on the west beside occupied from 200 BC to AD 800 but there the sea and dominates the only natural har- was no evidence to suggest any Viking or bour on that coast (see below). These brochs Norse occupation despite a late and post- are architecturally very different from the Medieval presence (Parker Pearson & Middle Iron Age wheelhouses, which are the Sharples forthcoming). This might seem only houses found in the machair settle- unusual given the characteristic coastal loca- ments. Wheelhouses are also occasionally tion of the settlement and the uniquely good found built into chambered cairns in the harbourage that is available at the promon- peatlands and these locations suggest tory but it confirms the general conclusions seasonal occupation associated with grazing. of the machair survey that broch locations The significance of the brochs is a subject of are unusual and that the Norse settlement some controversy but we would argue that continues the occupation of the machair they represent an indigenous elite defining plain. their status by architectural prominence and In 1993 we decided to explore the large locational isolation (Sharples & Parker mounds that dominate the machair plain of Pearson 1997). This pattern would suggest Upper Bornais (Fig. 4). Trial excavation and that the blacklands were not suitable for a detailed surface collection in 1994 suggested permanent agricultural-based settlement and that the occupation sequence is long, from Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 49

Fig. 4. A plan of the mounds at Bornais showing the excavated areas. 50 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson the Middle Iron Age through the Norse lar buildings arranged around a yard, open- period, and that the stratigraphic, artefactual ing to the south. and structural preservation was excellent. In contrast, the settlement at Cille Phea- These settlement mounds would clearly pro- dair (Fig. 6) appears to be much smaller. vide valuable evidence for the nature of the The overall extent of the layers exposed in Norse settlement on the island. Excavation the coastal section indicates a settlement of the three Bornais mounds has continued mound 40 m long and excavation indicates every summer since 1994 and, in the past that the edge of the settlement mound is less two years, funding from Historic Scotland than 35 m to the east of the sea cliff. The and the University of Wales, Cardiff has overall width is difficult to estimate with enabled a substantial investigation of the certainty given the erosion of the western mounds. edge but the structural evidence suggests In 1996 the opportunity arose to excavate that very little has been lost and this coin- a contemporary site in the southern part of cides with the views of local informants South Uist at Cille Pheadair. The coastline who have only recently noticed the remains in this area is beset with severe erosion by on the coastal section. The excavation sug- the winter storms. Recently discovered in gests that the occupation was dominated by the middle of a 6-m high sand face exposed a single house with associated ancillary on the dune front were the remains of build- structures, forming a farmstead which was ings and occupation layers associated with a replaced three times over a period of four bone comb of Norse date. This site was centuries. The other principal contrast between the clearly threatened by erosion, and funding two settlements is the presence of an under- from Historic Scotland was made available lying Late Iron Age settlement at Bornais for substantial excavation. The machair sur- that is absent at Cille Pheadair. The latter vey of this township indicates a more dis- site is underlain by sterile windblown sand. persed pattern of mounds, in contrasts to the However, this relationship is more complex nucleated pattern found at Bornais, and it than it first appears. The Cille Pheadair com- therefore seemed to be a likely spot for plex lies only 500 m south–southwest of two comparative excavation. Iron Age mounds (sites 63 and 64). Two The two settlements chosen for excava- settlements (sites 88 and 81) have been re- tion have proved to be fundamentally differ- ported 50 m to the north and 200 m to the ent and will provide a useful contrast when south of the excavated site (RCAHMS), but a detailed analysis of the material culture these are undated and have since been and economic information is completed. destroyed by the sea. Geophysical examination (Fig. 5) has shown Both settlements support the evidence that the Bornais settlement is extensive. from the field survey that the Norse settle- Buildings are visible over an area of ca. ment pattern is very similar to that of the 0.8 ha which includes two substantial settle- preceding Late Iron Age. Sites are located ment mounds (2 and 3 in Fig. 5). Further- either on top of existing settlements or more, excavation has revealed Norse houses immediately adjacent to them. It conforms and activity on top of the earlier deposits in to a pattern of localized movement around a the adjacent settlement mound (mound 1) to settlement core which seems to have been the south. The main settlement area seems established by the second century BC. to be divided into five discrete clusters of buildings, which may represent independent THE STRUCTURES farms. The two clearest clusters (Figs 5, 2B and 2C) appear to consist of three rectangu- The excavations at Bornais have until re- Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 51

Fig. 5. The gradiometer survey of mounds 2 and 3 at Bornais. The roughly square enclosure was an animal pen constructed in the late 19th century. Norse buildings are indicated by high readings or high readings surrounding low readings. They appear to be concentrated in five discrete rectangular or square foci (2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B) but other isolated structures are observable, notably just outside the enclosure at X. cently involved only small-scale sampling to the Bornais township on the blacklands characterize the structure and sequence of immediately to the east of the Norse settle- each of the mounds and to obtain samples ments which has produced local late Medi- for analysis of the economy. The excavation eval wares and imports dating from the 16th of Cille Pheadair has been more intensive to the 19th century (Marshall & Parker Pear- and has revealed a sequence of structures son 1996). built one on top of the other. Both settle- Fifteen buildings (7 at Bornais and 8 Cille ments have yielded material dating back to Pheadair) have been exposed during the ex- at least the 10th century and, as neither site cavations of these settlements and the more has yet been totally excavated, a 9th century substantial and complete houses are illu- occupation for both settlements seems strated in Fig. 7. Two groups of three build- likely. Both settlements appear to have been ings appear to be recognizable: an early abandoned before the end of the 14th cen- group of large houses dates from the 10th to tury. Excavation in 1996 located the site of the 12th centuries AD (Figs 7D and 7E, one 52 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson

Fig. 6. The final phase of Cille Pheadair demonstrating the relationship between the principal house and the ancillary structure to the southwest. A similar relationship existed in the preceding phase where an east–west oriented house (Fig. 7C) had a path leading to an ancillary structure to the northwest. house is only partially excavated and not the building tradition is changing to one of illustrated) and a later group of small houses above-ground construction and certainly the dating from the 12th to 14th centuries AD recent forms of traditional architecture give (Fig. 7A, 7B and 7C). The earlier structures no indication of subterranean building have not been excavated completely or even (Symonds 1997). However, this sequence exposed but they do bear similarities to Dri- should be viewed with caution. The later more (Fig. 7F), the only published settle- structures could have been truncated by rob- ment from the Western Isles (Maclaren bing and cultivation, and recent building 1974), and to the phase IX structure at the traditions were adapted to the very different Udal, North Uist (Crawford 1974, Fig 3). environment of the shallow soils of the All of these buildings are sunken floored, blacklands where subterranean houses would dug down into the sand, and their principal be impossible. structural feature is a stone revetment wall The evidence from Cille Pheadair does defining the interior of the house. The height not suggest any significant difference in of this wall is the principal evidence for the depth. All the houses are sunk approxi- depth to which the structure was sunk but mately 0.5 m into the sand. The last house subsequent erosion or deliberate robbing can was surrounded by a gully, presumably to give a misleading impression of where the collect water from the eaves of the roof. The old ground surface was. At Bornais the two original ground surface has not survived but earlier structures have walls surviving up to the position of the soakaway gives some in- 1.3 m and 0.8 m high. In contrast the latest dication of the width of the wall, at about structure on mound 3 has a wall standing 1 m. only 0.25 m high. This might suggest that The houses have either one or two en- Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 53

Fig. 7. Norse houses on the Western Isles. Houses A, C and D are from Cille Pheadair. Houses B and E from Bornais and house F from Drimore. The houses are oriented roughly east–west or north–south with north at the top of the page. 54 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson trances, which are normally asymmetrically and the location of the hearth directly in positioned so as to enter the middle of the front of the doorway would have discour- north or eastern end depending on the orien- aged animals from entering these buildings. tation of the house. The exception is the The principal difference between the early Cille Pheadair house (Fig. 7D) which earlier and later structures appears to be one has an entrance into the south end (though of size and shape. The later buildings are this was altered in a later modification to the smaller and have 908 corners. The size is structure). Two earlier houses also have en- partly related to the presence of extensions trances in their end walls but in the Cille to the end of the earlier houses. Buildings of Pheadair house this leads into an annex and a similar size to these extensions are found this is also likely in the Bornais mound 1 in the later period but these are separate house (not illustrated). This feature is also structures with access directly into the open visible in the phase IX structure at the Udal air. At Cille Pheadair a path leads from the (Crawford 1974, Fig 3). Entrance widths are entrance of the latest house to an associated fairly standard but lengths vary. outhouse (Fig. 6). The function of these out- The internal features of these houses are houses is as yet unclear and there appears to relatively restricted, the principal feature be considerable modification and variety, being the hearth. These can vary consider- which suggests that they were not restricted ably. The most carefully made are the two to any particular task. Whatever was hearths in the latest buildings. The Bornais happening, it seems clear that the outhouse mound 3 structure has a sub-rectangular was detached from the house during the hearth completely enclosed by a kerb of 12th century. small upright slabs (Fig. 7B). It dominates the northern part of the interior, lying di- THE DATE rectly in front of the entrance. A circular un- defined patch of ash in the centre of the Analysis of the economic and artefactual southern half of the interior may be a second material is still in its infancy and it is not hearth. The Cille Pheadair house (Fig. 7A) our intention to anticipate the results in this has a much larger hearth, only partially article. However, we take the opportunity to kerbed, which covers the central area of the illustrate some of the more interesting finds house. The middle house at Cille Pheadair and to discuss those that have chronological (Fig. 7C) has an extensive concentration of significance. ash layers in the western half of the building The most important finds for discussion but this was not kerbed. The hearths of the of the chronology of the settlements are lower buildings have yet to be fully ex- three coins: a very worn Canute penny of plored. quatrefoil type ca. 1017–23 from the York There is no evidence of raised platforms mint of Ulfgrim; an unworn, but cut in half, along the inside walls of the buildings and silver, short-cross penny of King John no evidence of timber partitions. Thin char- (1199–1216) and a coin of Olaf Kyrre. The coal-rich floors are found in all of the houses first two are from Cille Pheadair, the latter and detailed analyses of the contents of from Bornais. The King John coin came these layers together with phosphate and from above the floor of a secondary struc- magnetic susceptibility patterning give some ture built into the last house at Cille Phea- indication of the activities that took place in- dair. This is the latest occupation layer and side the house. However, it is already clear the coin therefore suggests the settlement that animals were not regularly overwintered was abandoned in the early 13th century. in these buildings. Access along narrow pas- The Canute coin comes from layers lying on sages, often with threshold slabs and steps, top of the early house (Fig. 7D) and indi- Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 55 cates that the abandonment of this house dates to the early 13th century. There is probably precedes the middle of the 11th nothing from any of the Bornais mounds century3. The coin from Bornais is unfortu- that would suggest they continued to be oc- nately from a disturbed area on mound 1 so cupied after the 14th century and we suggest it provides no detailed TAQ or TPQ. Never- that abandonment could have been as early theless, it does suggest activity in the late as the mid-13th century, which would be 11th century on this mound. very similar to the date suggested by the The chronology of Bornais mound 2 is Cille Pheadair coin. based on two combs and two pins (Fig. 8). The earliest comb (Fig. 8A) is similar to DISCUSSION Ambrosiani’s B1 type (1981:63) which she would date to the 10th to 11th centuries. The fieldwork on South Uist can contribute They are classed as short F2 by Dunlevy a considerable amount to the study of Norse (1988:364–365) who would broaden the date colonization of the North Atlantic. It is now range to incorporate the late 9th and 12th clear that large numbers of well-preserved centuries. This comb was found with a bone settlements are identifiable on the Western pin (Fig. 8E) which can be compared to an Isles (contra Crawford 1974:7). The relative example from the Library site at Trondheim, ease of identification indeed makes this re- which is dated to the 11th century (Graham- gion one of the few areas in Britain where it Campbell 1980:59–60, n 210). These finds is possible to discuss Norse settlement pat- come from the final floor layer of the large terns. The results of the geophysical survey house (Fig. 7E). Another comb (Fig. 8C) undertaken at Bornais also suggest that non- was found in the same trench but came from invasive research might produce results of deposits immediately below the turf line considerable significance. Buildings are after the house had been completely infilled. identifiable and settlement plans may be re- This comb has close parallels with combs coverable on sites with a limited amount of from Jarlshof, Shetland (Hamilton 1956:179, overburden. Fig. 82) and Freswick, Caithness (Batey Large quantities of artefacts have been 1987) and is classified as class H by Dun- recovered along with substantial amounts of levy (1988:369) who dates this type to the environmental material: large mammal 13th or 14th century. From roughly the same bones, fish and carbonized plant remains. context as this comb came a bronze stick These are all in the process of being ana- pin (Fig. 8G). This is a class 9 club-headed lysed and should, along with work on the pin (O’Rahilly 1973:56–58) which is one of soil chemistry of the settlement, provide the most frequent classes at Dublin and considerable information about midden for- Waterford (Scully 1997:439). They are mation and activity within the buildings. dated from the late 11th century to the 13th It is already clear from the survey evi- century on both sites. dence and the preliminary results of the The most important find from Bornais excavation that our understanding of the mound 3 is a fine copper-alloy buckle (Fig. Viking colonization of the islands and sub- 8D) which came from the final fill layers sequent recolonization, by the Gaels of above the floor of the house. In the London Scotland, can be enhanced by a critical classification this would be described as oval understanding of the archaeological record. framed with ornate outside edge and plate The impact of the Viking incursions on the (Egan and Pritchard 1991, 76). These native inhabitants in the Northern and buckles date from the late 12th to the late Western Isles has been a subject of some 14th century but the closest parallel to Bor- controversy in the past two decades (fully nais (Egan & Pritchard 1991: 313, Fig 46,) summarized by Morris 1996). Iain Crawford 56 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson

Fig. 8. A selection of artefacts from the recent excavations; all with the exception of B came from the excavations at Bornais. Comb A came from the floor levels of house E (Fig. 7) in mound 2, as did bone pin E. Comb C came from the final fill layers on top of this house, as did bronze pin G. Bronze buckle D came from a layer sealing house B in mound 3. Bronze pin F is an unstratified find from mound 1. Bone pin H came from midden layers in mound 2 and bone pin heads I and J came from the fill of a Norse house in mound 1. Comb B came from Cille Pheadair and lay in the primary levels of the room lying to the north of house D (Fig. 7). Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 57 has used the archaeological evidence from trients and this also thickens the soils and the Western Isles as conclusive proof that increases soil stability. Cataclysmic deflation the event ‘took place in the 9th century and is likely quickly to follow agricultural mis- it was sudden and totally obliterative in management and this can lead to the inunda- terms of local material culture’ (Crawford tion of large areas of fields and settlements 1981:267). His argument, whilst making with metres of sand, within a matter of days. reference to the place-name evidence, is Animal pasturing, middening and rotation largely based on the sequence at the Udal, are crucial for sustainable agriculture. The North Uist and, as Morris (1996, 76) per- symbolic importance of the midden is tinently points out, the evidence from one demonstrated by the creation of the very dis- site is never going to provide anything other tinctive tell-like settlement mounds. These than a simplistic picture of what must have are created by the accumulation of large been a very complex event. quantities of rubbish which could be used to Our view of this event has been greatly stabilize the sand. This landscape is inten- influenced by the evidence of the machair sively settled largely because the rest of the survey. There seems to be little evidence for island is so infertile. It only became fully any significant disruption to the settlement exploited in the Early to Middle Iron Age pattern when the Norse artefacts appear. The and it is likely that it would require con- mounds that have Norse material are inti- siderable specialist knowledge to exploit. mately associated with those producing evi- Understanding of the motivation behind dence of Late Iron Age occupation. This the early Viking raids is important but diffi- settlement continuity is very difficult to cult; were they primarily interested in booty understand if one believes that the indigen- or were they looking for land to settle and ous population fled or was massacred. Parti- exploit? Andersen (1991:133) claims that cularly as the landscape occupied is very ‘The original raiders fairly soon and perhaps different from that of their homeland and in the course of a few decades more or less the settlements have no easy access to the changed the sword for the plough or the sea. Movement up and down the west coast spade and became farmers’. In contrast, of Scotland is likely to have been through Crawford (1987:126–127) highlights the ab- the Minch to the east of South Uist, as this sence of agricultural equipment in the graves is considerably more sheltered than the in the Western Isles compared with those in Atlantic seaboard. Furthermore, it is the east the Northern Isles. She suggests that these coast of South Uist that has the sheltered an- graves indicate a Norse population of petty chorage, not the west coast where the settle- chiefs heavily involved in trading and raid- ments are found. ing in Ireland. However, neither position The machair has been described as ‘easily really fits this evidence from the Western tillable, self-draining and quite fertile’ Isles. If we assume that raiding (and its pro- (Andersen 1991, 134) and the value of this visioning) to the south was the main motiva- landform can be supported by reference to tion, then the abandonment of the settlement the high rental values of the machair island would be understandable. But this would not of Sanday in Orkney (Hunter et al. explain the immediate reoccupation by in- 1994:273–274). However, the management coming who should be either of this landscape is not straightforward or sailing on or returning home. Crawford simple (Owen et al. 1996:129–130). Soil fer- (1974:11) emphasizes that the Udal se- tility is inherently poor owing to the lack of quence demonstrates the building of a rec- essential nutrients and the soils are very thin tangular building on to a cellular building and poorly developed. Fertility depends on without any period of abandonment in be- manuring in order to add in the essential nu- tween and the South Uist survey is clear evi- 58 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson dence for general continuity. Conversely, if However, Crawford fails to consider why the land seizure was the primary motivation, the population, indigenous or alien, should then it seems illogical to evict the inhabi- choose to construct a new building and tants who have the knowledge necessary to abandon old buildings. This cannot simply productively exploit the landscape. be related to the stability of the existing It has been argued that the presence of a building. Any examination of the anthropo- new and distinctive architectural tradition of logical literature suggests that a whole series rectangular houses and the adoption of dif- of social factors are likely to dictate how a ferent traditions of material culture must in- building is created, used and abandoned dicate new populations, but this is a vast (Sveinbjarnardottir 1992). over simplification. As Ritchie (1974) has We suggest that the inhabitants of these pointed out, rectangular buildings are known communities continued an ancient tradition from the Atlantic fringes of Scotland in the of building but according to new rules of Late Iron Age and examples dating to the style because they decided that it would 3rd or 4th century AD are now known from benefit them to do so. The attractions of be- Dun Vulan (Parker Pearson & Sharples coming a Viking may have been consider- forthcoming). Furthermore, Crawford able. This is not to argue that the Viking (1974:12) initially argued that the bulk of invasion was a peaceful event. Power was the material culture changed very slightly. usurped by an incoming population and this Only in later papers (i.e. Crawford 1981) is likely to have led to the death of many has he chosen to stress the changes in mate- people. But it seems logical to assume that rial culture. the bulk of the indigenous population sur- Interestingly, the features that are sup- vived the coming of the Vikings and adapted posed to be so telling as signs of Norse colo- their way of life to the new social and politi- nization are not quite as diagnostic as one cal regime. As Armit has suggested might first expect. The houses, though (1996:203), the main disruption may have superficially Norse, are distinctively Hebri- been in the upper levels of the hierarchy dean in their subterranean construction and with a Scandinavian overlordship eradicat- single-skinned form. This is a prevailing ing the Pictish aristocracy. This might also characteristic of machair settlement and re- help to explain the puzzling absence of presents an adaptation to the sand environ- Norse settlement on the broch sites of the ment. The presence of a distinctive Norse Western Isles. ceramic tradition at a relatively early date is The other striking feature of the survey also important. The forms are different from was the abandonment of the machair as the the Late Iron Age forms but the decision to location for settlement before or during the use ceramics is unusual. Other areas settled 14th century. However, we do not intend to by the Vikings have no tradition of ceramic suggest that this disruption is the result of a use and the forms created on the Western recolonization of the islands by Gaels from Isles seem only to be characteristic of this southwest Scotland, although this has some- area. The Hebrides stands out in Scotland as times been suggested by place-name the region with the most vigorous and inven- scholars to explain the striking absence of tive ceramic tradition and it is the continuity Norse influence on spoken and written of this tradition that should be emphasized. Gaelic in the islands (summarized in Barnes We have not yet investigated the earliest 1983:77–78). The basic territorial organiza- Viking Age levels of the late 8th–early 9th tion of the island continues across the period century and cannot confirm whether with townships on the blacklands having Crawford’s claim for a discontinuity at the adjacent Norse precursors on the machair. Udal on North Uist is present at Bornais. Massive disruption of settlement patterns Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides 59 seems to be a general feature of the Medie- were any more or less Norse than the islands val settlement of many areas, though not at of Lewis and Harris. the same time. Iceland has enormous The aim of this article is to present some numbers of abandoned farmsteads (Svein- of the information that has been collected by bjarnardottir 1992) and both Vinland and recent archaeological work in the Western Greenland are abandoned. Isles. This region has been unjustly neglec- A wide range of explanations for large- ted in Norse studies and it is our hope that scale abandonment can be found in the ar- this work will encourage other colleagues to chaeological literature. The most common visit and study the material from the area. ones include disease, soil exhaustion and cli- The material has a lot to contribute to our matic instability. In the Hebrides it is un- understanding of the nature of Viking colo- likely that soil exhaustion is a relevant nization of the Atlantic fringe, and to the criterion. We have already argued that the Medieval settlement of Scotland. machair is permanently exhausted and always required manuring and rotation. Dis- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ease might be a factor, as might climatic deterioration. The fortuitous combination of We express our thanks to the students of wind, rain or drought could create condi- Sheffield and Cardiff and the supervisory tions that would destabilize the machair and staff on the Cille Pheadair and Bornais pro- in this situation evacuation to the adjacent jects, notably Mark Brennand, Jerry Bond, solid ground to the east would be advisable. Mary Davis, Mike Hamilton, Chris Swanson, Jane Webster and James Ward. However it is also possible that social or Mike Hamilton carried out the geophysical political reasons could lead to a movement survey of Bornais and Tim Young produced away from the machair without the necessity the illustration published as Fig. 5. The of an invasion. Bornais excavation is carried out by kind The incorporation of the Outer Hebrides permission from the Bornais grazing com- into the Gaelic polity known as the Lordship mittee and the Cille Pheadair excavation of the Isles may have created social and eco- from the Cille Pheadair Grazing Committee nomic changes of considerable significance. and Alasdair MacIntyre. Both projects have One could, for instance, envisage increasing also been made possible thanks to the per- specialization within the islands as a result mission of South Uist Estates and Scottish of closer exchange relations. Cattle produc- Natural Heritage. We also thank Neil tion in South Uist might involve closer con- Macmillan and the committee and members trol of the grazing land of the western half of the Comann Eachdrach Ubhist a Deas of the island and a reduced emphasis on the (South Uist Historical Society), James and arable land of the machair. Only further ex- Callum MacDonald, Uist Builders Con- cavation of the Late or post-Medieval settle- struction, Laing Motors, J. J. MacDonald ment in the blacklands will make these Builders, Kathy Bruce, Mary Kate Morrison, speculations credible interpretations. Gill Maclain and the many other people This settlement disruption might go some who have helped to make the project a suc- way towards explaining why the Uists have cess. Bornais was funded in 1994 by the a much more limited number of Norse University of Sheffield but now both exca- place-names. Whatever the cause of the dis- vations are being funded by Historic ruption it would have increased the likeli- Scotland, the University of Wales Cardiff hood that settlement names would be lost or and the University of Sheffield. The first replaced by Gaelic names. The pattern can- part of the machair survey was funded by not be used to suggest that these islands Historic Scotland. The coins were conserved 60 Niall Sharples and Mike Parker Pearson by M. Davis and identified by E. Besly and and the North Atlantic. Edinburgh University G. William. C. Batey commented on the Press, Edinburgh. other artefacts. J. G. Evans, A. Lane and J. Bigelow, G. F. 1985. Sandwick, Unst and Late Hines helped with the correction of an early Norse Shetland economy. In Smith, B. (ed.), draft of the manuscript. The illustrations Shetland Archaeology, 95–127. The Shetland were executed by I. Dennis. Times Ltd., Lerwick. Brannigan, K. & Foster, P. 1995. Barra: Archae- ological Research on Ben Tangaval. Sheffield NOTES Academic Press, Sheffield. Cowie, T. G., Bruce, M. & Kerr, N. 1994. 1 The most important collections of papers are in Appendix: the discovery of a child burial of Acta Archaeologia 61, edited by Bigelow, probable Viking-Age date on Kneep Headland, Morris & Rackham (1992), Norse and Later Lewis 1991: interim report. In Batey et al., Settlement and Subsistence in the North 165–72. Atlantic, edited by Morris & Rackham (1992) Crawford, B. E. 1985. The Biggins, Papa Stour and The Viking Age in Caithness, Orkney and — a multi-disciplinary investigation. In Smith, the North Atlantic, edited by Batey, Jesch & B. (ed.), Shetland Archaeology, 128–158. The Morris (1995). Shetland Times Ltd., Lerwick. 2 Analysis of the assemblages from Bornais and Crawford, B. E. 1987 . Lille Pheadair suggests than Lane may have Leicester University Press, Leicester. underestimated the date range of these ceramics Crawford, I. A. 1974. Norseman and Gael, Scot. and that they are in use through to the 12th and Archaeological Forum 6, 1–15. possibly 13th centuries AD. Crawford, I. A. 1981. War or peace — Viking 3 Further excavation in 1998 indicates this coin colonization in the Northern and Western Isles gave a misleading date. Glazed pottery from of Scotland reviewed. 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