FURTHER BURIAL T BLOWSA S , DEERNESS, ORKNEY3 34 .

I. FURTHER BURIALS AT BLOWS, DEERNESS, . BY W. G. GRANT, P.S.A.SCOT. WITH POTTER E NOTETH N SO Y POUND THERE AND ON THE BRONZE AGE POTTERY OP ORKNEY AND SHETLAND BY J. GRAHAM CALLANDER, LL.D., P.S.A.ScoT., DIRECTO NATIONALE TH P RO , MUSEUM OP ANTIQUITIES.

13tOn Januarthe h of y this year MarwickDr , Directothe , Educaof r - tion, having rung up to inform me that he had received information of the discovery of an urn-burial in Deerness', we both went out at once to investigate. The discovery had been made on the farm of Blows, by the farmer Mr Aim, only a very few feet distant from the spot where, in the spring of 1929, he had come upon the cist-burial which was describe Marwicr D y db theskn i e Proceedings, vol. Ixiii., 1928-9 . 377-9pp , . In that cist it will be remembered was found a steatite urn which is now preserve e Kirkwalth n di l Antiquarian Museum importance Th . d an e significance of the present discovery is thus, it need hardly be said, very greatly enhanced by its immediate proximity to the former. Mr Aim was fortunately able to accompany us to the site, which is about 100 yards south of the former Free Church of Deerness, and nea highese rth t parvera f o ty extensive natural mound, known locally as Howan Bio. The soil at the place is only a few inches in depth, and Mr Aim had come upon the interment while howking up some of the underlying soft clayey rock for farm purposes a few days previous to our visit. On removing a flat stone he found that it was the cover-stone of an urn (fig. 1) which was about two-thirds full of incinerated bones. removed ha e e boneH d th place d san d them carefull heaa n yi p outside, s badl t seeinwa bu yn gcrackeur thae th e vert dh y wisely decideo dt repord an discover e s tth Marwickr wa t D i leav o ys t a t ei . We found that a sufficient cavity had been excavated in the soft n simplclayeur e yyth placerocd kan d therein withou enclosiny an t g stone cist. The vessel was exceedingly friable, and as it chanced to be hard frost on the day of our visit, we decided it would be better to leav t untiei groune th l d shoul de hea thawth f charre o pn I . d bones, however e noticew , d some small shard f potterys o conditionsa d an , s were unsuitable there, we put the lot in a box and brought them back with us for closer examination. 344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 8, 1933. As Dr Marwick had to go away on official work, he was unable to accompan whee ym nI wen tday w bacfe s ka late extraco t r e urnth t . spitn I f somewhaeo t elaborate plans t provei , t d ou impossibl t i t ge o et whole d retaine ha n faci t ; i s shapt it d e suppor th onl y f yb tho te encircling earth. With great care, however possibls wa t i ,disinteo et r it with so little damage, that after it had been sent to the National Museu r treatmentmfo r EdwardsM , ' skilful handse werb y e ma abl s e(a seen from the accompanying illus- tration o effect ) a complett d an e admirable reconstruction. Afte e charreth r d bones, etc., had been spread out on my garage floor I picke, t everou d y scraf o p potter e seend b an o ,t y s thawa t sent them likewis e Museuth o t e m for examination. The greater part, unfortunately decomposed ha , d dan reconstruction proved impossible. From the surviving fragments, however rouga , horiginae ideth f ao l size and shape of the vessel could b cleas e deducedwa r t i tha d t i t an , e so-calleth f o t beee dno on nd ha "incense-cup" type. It seems probable also that it had not been entire when first put into the larger urn, because, 5 Inches. curiousl neved yha enoughrm Ai r M , smale th notice f lo shardy dan s until Fig. 1. Cinerary Urn from Blows, Orkney. our first visit. Had it been placed in the urn on top of the charred bones, it is hardly credible that Mr Aim, on first looking into the larger urn, woul t havno d e observe s statt evei dit f collapsen o ei n ; frod s sizan m it t couli e t possibldno y have bee na containe r morfo r e than a relatively small proportion of the accompanying mass of bones. The function and purpose of this smaller vessel must then, unfortun- ately lefe b , t undetermined. In the course of our extraction of the larger urn, an extraordinary surpris e werew awaites e A carefull . us d y digging awa e d soiyth an l rock surrounding it, we were amazed to come upon still another inter- men distanca t a t feet 5 f e.o Underneat hcoverea d ston foune ew n a d urn-shaped cavity abou inche5 1 t s deep, abou inche2 1 t stope width , t ea and about 5 inches wide at the bottom—approximately full of dark NOTES ON THE POTTERY FOUND AT BLOWS. 345

greasy matter whic s certainlhwa y human remains. Thoug cavite hth y was urn-shaped, not the slightest trace of pottery was to be seen, and I satisfiem a d thae remainth t beed ha sn interred therein withouy an t sor containinf o t whatsoevern gur . Taken together, these three burial sucn i s h close proximite th n yo moun f Howao d n o constitutBit oe m see n o archaeologicamt a e l problem of very great significance. In the first case we have a cist containin gmasa f incinerateo s d a uniqubone d an se typ f steatito e e urn; in the second, a much larger urn of baked clay containing inciner- ated bone fragmentd san smallea f o s r urn t wit bu enclosin,o hn g cist; in the third decomposed human remains placed simply in an urn-shaped cavity these Ar .e three burials utterly unrelate the o n timd i d y r o e not, by their close juxtaposition, imply common date or at least Age? If so, what Age? Professor Br0gger regards the first as dating from the concluded Bronzan e eAg s that steatite export from Shetlan Orkneo dt y was taking place eve t thaa n t distant period. Into these questions,

however, I do not propose to enter—leavin1 g them to be dealt with by my friend Dr Callander who has kindly agreed to add a description of contentss it d an n . ur e th

conclusionn I I ,wis - recoro ht re r sincery fo dm m e Ai thankr M o t s porting this interestin exceedins hi r gfo findd g an kindnes, t onlsno n y i affording me every assistance himself, but also for handing over the urn preservee b e Museuo t th n di Kirkwaln mi l along wit e associatehth d steatit alreadn eur y there. Professor Alex. Low, M.D., of Aberdeen University, who examined the bones, reports bonee : "vere Th sar y fragmentary somt bu , e piece skulf so l bones can be identified as human, they have been very thoroughly cremated and little organic matter is left." Parts of the bones were coated with a slag-like material.

E POTTERTH Y POUN BRONZE BLOWT DTH A POTTER E D EAG S AN Y OP ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. By J. GRAHAM CALLANDER, LL.D. Thvesselo etw f pottero s y e buriafounth t n Blowsa i dl , Deerness, Orkney, are hand-made. While the greater part of the larger vessel was recovered, little more than half of the base and the adjoining portions of the wall of the smaller survived. The first pot is a cinerary urn of dark-coloured ware reddened on considerabls i t I (fig. m ri 1) . e yth largef o p rto e th e outsidn th o d ean

1 Den Norske Bosetningen Pa Shetland-Orknfyene, p. 56, Oslo, 1930. 346 • PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 8, 1933. s classthawar e it feaverage e f Th nwhards th th ei o . d smaln an ,e ur l piece f stonso e tha t containi t havy sma e occurred naturall clae th y n yi from s fashionedwhicwa t hi . Betwee e shoulde e moutth nth d an h r is a slight concavity, 2£ inches broad, after which the wall contracts gradually to within 3 inches of the base where there is a gentle inward curves devoii t I f ornamentation.o d e vesseTh . l measure inche5 1 s s in height, 12 J inches in diameter externally across the mouth, 12| inches at the shoulder, and 5 inches across the base. The rim, measuring 1 inch in breadth flats i , , being bevelled projectind an , ga littl e towarde th s inside (fig. 9, No. 1). The wall shows a general thickness of f inch. Unlike usuae th l t homogeneouScottisno s i hm ri cinerar e sth wit n rese yur h th t of the wall, but has been made separately and applied to it. This is clearly evident, as several sections were detached when it arrived at the Museum, and the parts of the wall from which they had been separated were rounded on the top. At the first glance it seemed that two vessels were represented by the shards. The fragments of the second urn are of reddish ware blackened on the exterior. It is fairly hard, but the whole inner surface has weathered off. As in the larger vessel, the clay seems to contain a very small natural mixture of little bits of stone. It has measured about 4| inches across the bottom, and at the most a height of only 2f inches remains attached to the basal fragments. The angle formed by the outside of nearl basnot the obtus eis ywalso the and ltha eas mosour in t of t Bronze Age pottery, as it is only about 97|°, and the curve at the base is very short (fig. 9, No. 2). Had these fragments of pottery been found unassociated with other relics they might have been identifie parts da f so domestic pots dating from times later tha Bronze nth thes ea t Agey Bu . were found withi cinerarna containinn yur g cremated human remains they f muscineraro classee n b t ur s ypartn da a typ f o se also. Though its occurrence in an urn of this class may suggest a use similar to that of an incense-cup urn it can in no way be considered as belonging to that type of vessel, as its size and form betray no resemblance to that. This discovery is of considerable importance, as so far as I can learn, it is the first clay urn found in the Orkneys that has been clearly described. Certainl accountw yfe thera f pottere o s ear y having been found in prehistoric graves in these islands, but while the circumstances of their discovery have at times been quite well recorded, the descriptions vessele oth f lackine sar detailn gi . Their shap ornamentatiod ean r no want of it has not been stated. A clay urn, three-quarters full of bones and ashes, measuring 13 inches in height and 12 inches in diameter at the mouth, found in the centre of a short cist in a mound in the parish of Deerness, Orkney, seems THE BRONZE AGE POTTERY OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 347 havo t e bee n cinerara e rud th ef o stonye urn.On e implements which

have been found in 1 profusion in Orkney and Shetland was found in north-wese e grave moune th th f Th o . dd measureen t d about 15J feet diameten i 4d £ rfeean heightcisn e i t fee th 2 t inched 3 t ,an s long foo1 , t inche3 s broad foo1 inche4 d t an , s deep. In a mound lying to the north of the famous stone circle, the Ring of Brodgar, there was found an urn of baked clay mixed with small gravel, standing in the north-west corner of a cist.2 The urn was 5 inches same heighn i th diametern ei d an t , wit averagn ha e circumferencf o e 17 inchest feli o piece t t l bu beinn , o s g expose e airth . o t dTher s i e no mention of human remains having been discovered with it. In another cist nearer the edge of the mound a large steatite urn containing calcined bone alss oswa discovered feemoune 2 diamete6 n i tTh s . dwa r and 9 feet in height, and the central cist containing the clay urn 2 feet 9| inches long, and 1 foot 7 inches wide. The clay vessel in all probability wa cinerarsa y urn, possibly resemblin smallee gth froe mron Blows. In the National Museum are preserved the greater part of a large a typica d an l n incense-cuur n frour pm Orkney e firsTh t . exhibits 11J inches of the lower portion of the vessel, the whole of the upper part being awanting, and where broken measures 10i inches in diameter. e Nort s founth wa n ho d t I Hil f Shapinsayo l . Althoug e circumhth - stances of its discovery are unknown, from the character of the ware and as the shape of the lower part is singularly like that of the larger urn from Blows, there need be no hesitation in identifying it as a cinerar a domesti t yno urnd cincense-cue an ,pot Th . e th p n Ei C1 Museum Catalogu s enterei e d ther s havina e s o localitn it g d an y dimensions are incorrectly stated. It has been figured and recorded by Sir Daniel Wilson as having been "recovered from the foundations ancienn oa f e islant ruith f Ronaldshayn ndi o , Orkney." r JosepD 3 h Anderso s referrecomins a nha t i go dt from .4 While in Orkney in the summer of 1932 I called on the farmer at Breck, St Andrews. Amongst other antiquities which he had found farms onhi , were fragment lowee th f ro s parvera f o yt coarse pottery vessel, the wall being about 1 inch thick. He said he thought that the deposi sepulchrals wa t , althoug humao hn n remains were noticed. This had all the appearance of being a cinerary urn. Records of discoveries of Bronze Age burial pottery in Shetland more ar e numerous preserves i mucs t a i Museue f d th ho an ,n di e mw know exactly what we have to deal with. 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. vii. p. 135. 2 Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 59 and 60, and vol. x. p. 540. 3 Prehistoric Annals of , 2nd ed., vol. i. p. 424, pi. vi. fig. 78. * Scotland in Pagan Times—The Bronze and Stone Ages, p. 48, fig. 47. 348 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 19338 TH Y F .O S MA , A small cemeter cinerarf yo y urns containing cremated human remains was discovered in a. small hillock near the head of Culla Voe, Papa Stour, Shetland.1 Three large urn dark-colouref so d ware simply buriee th n di mound, standin thein go r bases d covere an ,flaa y t b dston e were first unearthed wero eTw .destroyed thire th acquiret s d ,(figbu e wa ) th 2 . y db Museum s suggeste presence wa e lasTh n smala . th ur ty f db eo l circle

5 inches. Inches

Fig. 2. Cinerary Urn from Culla Voe, Shetland. Fig . Cinerar.3 fron ymUr Culla Voe, Shetland. of stones set on edge, 2 feet in diameter, peeping through the surface. The fourth urn (fig. 3) found in the same hill contained a solid mass of burnt bone hardened san d clay. This vesse presentes lwa Museue th o dt m Barron. Reve G . th .D y b , D.D. also owh , describe discoveriee dth e th o st Society r BarroD . reasod ha n o believt n e that other urnbeed ha sn found in the same knoll. The two urns which have been preserved are almost identical in form and in the character of the ware. The lowe re f bodlight-brow o parth s yf i o t n e uppecolourth t r bu ,par s i t black. In each case the body of the vessel is of inverted conical shape, with a pronounced shoulder above which is a short concave everted brim. There is no ornamentation on the vessels. In both of them Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxix. p. 46. 1 E BRONZTH POTTERE EAG ORKNEF YO SHETLANDD YAN . 349 considerabla missings i m t ri ther e e completbu ,a par th s e i f to e vertical sectio f eacno h measuresurviving) 3 . No figd e firs, (fign 9 an .s Th ur t2 . 18 inche f inchen heigh4 i s d san t e acrosdiamete th e based th s an , r at the mouth and shoulder has been about 13 inches and 15 inches respectively. This vessel has an incrustation of soot under the shoulder. othee n (figTh ) measureur r3 . s 17J inche heighn inchei 5 s d an st across basee th mouts it , shoulded han r having been respectively about 13J inches and 15| inche diametern si . Two cinerary urns from Shet- land were presented to the Museu n 1866.me i forme On 1 d of yellow clay •with a pink tinge s beeha n restored s comi d - an , e th f o p to e th r fo plet t bu e t I . 6) . No d fig , (fig9 an m . ri 4 . is of truncated oval form and measures 14 inches in height, llf inches across the mouth, | e widesinche12 th t a st part, inche5 d an s acros bottome sth . The whole exterio decorates ri d with twenty-three or twenty- four horizontal rows of vertical finger-nail impressions encirc- ling the vessel. It was found ia n"fair y knowe t Housea " - gord, Weisdale. The second was inchas. found in a field at Flemington in the same parish, in a hole in Fig. 4. Cinerary Urn from Housegord, Shetland. the ground under two slate s fulf bonesstoneso wa l t I ,. presumably burnt e urnTh ,. whics i h of a dirty brown colour, wants the base (fig. 5 and fig. 9, No. 7), but what remains measures 8f inches in height. It is shaped like two truncated cones placed mouth to mouth, the upper part above the shoulder being much shorter tha vindee nth r part t measureI . inches9 s in diamete e mout th d 10 t £a an hr e shoulderincheth t e spaca s Th .e between the rim and the widest part bears an incised horizontal zigzag line. a moun n I t Quarffa d , Shetland t leasa , cistx si t s were discovered from which fragments of three urns of steatite and one of clay (fig. 6 and fig. 9, No. 4) were recovered and purchased by the Museum.2 The

1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., 325. p vol . . vi . 2 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxxiv. p. 340. 350 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 8, 1933. largest cist measured 4 feet by 2£ feet by 2 feet, and yielded a human skull and the base of an urn of steatite. This seems to have been a typical Bronz shore eAg t cist containin unburiin ga t skeleton place croucha n di - ing position. The largest of the remaining cists measured 2J feet by \\ foot by 2 feet. One of these contained the clay urn which was full of f truncateo ashess i t I . d oval shap beard ean ornamentation o sn e Th . upper part is darkened with soot but the lower is of reddish colour. It measures 9 inches in height. 9J inches in diameter at the mouth, 9f inches

inches L_l_? inches

Fig . Cinerar.5 fron ymUr Flemington, Shetland. Fig. 6. Cinerary Urn from Quarff, Shetland. bulgee th 4 d Jt a an ,inche bevelled flas i s an tp acrosli de basee th sTh . inwards. -The greater a nicpar f eo t urn, very simila e n lastshapi rth ,o et from Nisetter, Shetland, is also in the Museum (fig. 7 and fig. 9, No. 5). There is no information about its discovery, but it may be taken as a cinerary urn. Formed of dark-coloured steatitic clay it measures 8£ inche n heighi s d 3|an tinche s acros e e basediameterth s Th . s d shouldean p e li unobtainabl ar re os th gonei f p li . e s mosea th f o t The mouth would be aboxit 8J inches in diameter. It is a specially interesting vessel becaus e fractureth e d parts reveal how t leasta , , e uppeth r s parfashionedwa t . Aftee loweth r r portioe th f o n wald beeha ln p edgs thinneformeto wa ee d roundedth dan d d an , two separate strips of clay, had been superimposed to complete THE BRONZE AGE POTTERY OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 351 e uppeth r portion I hav. e already drawn attentiof o y o thit n wa s making certain vessels.1 In fig. 8 are shown three methods of building e wallupth f Scottiso s h prehistoric vessel y addinb s g strip f clayo s ; s seea food-vesseNoi n 1 n.i l from Kilspindie, East a Lothian n i 2 . No ; cinerar fron yur m Longniddre th yn i vessea samn i 3 el . countyNo d an ; from Skara Brae, Orkneye Th . method adopted in the Nisetter urn resembles that shown in No. 2. The last example in the Museum was found in Fair Isle, in the centre of a small mound only 8 feet in diameter and 2£ feet in height, buried in the soil and covered closely with a flat stone.2 It contained a quantity of greyish powder resembling bone Inches. ash. A small steatite urn which is also in the Museum was found a Fig. 7. Cinerary Urn from Nisetter, Shetland. little to one side of it. The pottery vessel which is unornaniented and forme f daro d k steatitic clas beeyha n badly restoredappearw no t i ss ,a a vesse s a inche1 1 l heighn si t wit ovan ha l mouth measuring 17| inches and 13J inches in cross diameters. Probably it mord ha e resemble fron ur m e Quarfdth f before s broken a flawa n tt e i wesO spac.th to t e immediately adjoining the mound ten or twelve cavities were discovered excavated in the ground, each being covered wit a hfla t ston d conan e- tainin a smal" g l quantit f whito y e substance resembling bone ash." Two discoverie f beakeso r pottery have also been recorded from Shetland smale On .l piece was found in Unst, and last summer Professor Bryce discovered three small fragmenta n i s short cis t Fragaa t , Scatness.3 In the space of a few square yards at Blows, in Orkney, we have seen that burnt human bones were found in a f clay o d osseou o an , tw sn i remain d steatita cavitan n i n s yur e Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. Ixiv. p. 194, fig. 2. 2 Ibid., . 530volp . ..xi 1 3 Antea,. 34 . p 352 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 8, 1933. covered with a flat stone. It is significant to note that in Fair Isle an almost identical set of phenomena was observed, the only differences being that one clay urn and not two were found at the latter place and there were ten or twelve cavities instead of one containing human bones. When these records are brought together and compared, they throw a new light on the prehistoric burial customs of Orkney and Shetland. So far as they go it would seem that in these islands the Bronze Age inhabitant t closelno d ydi s follow their contemporarie n othei s r parts of Scotlan e shapeth n f dtheii o s r sepulchral pottery.

Fig . Section9 . Bronzf so Pottere eAg y from Orkne Shetlandd yan . (^.) n OrkneI y many short cists containing incinerated human bones alone have been unearthed d in an ,other s there were steatite urns with burnt and unburnt remains. From their size these cists might have been assigned to the Bronze Age, but the discovery of a large number of those structures containing burn t e alsbone on oa d ashe d an s an s large stone urn, in the mound covering the ruins of the broch of Okstrow, ,1 indicated a later date. Again we have to deplore a vague account s statei stone n Th o havt .deur e been bowl-shaped, and .if we are to understand from this description that it was of flattened semi-globular form, we might assign these graves to the time of the Vikings, who made steatite vessels of that form. The objects found in this building consisted generally of typical broch 1 Archceologica Scotica, vol. v. p. 76, fig. 4. THE BRONZE AGE POTTERY OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 358 relics dating to the early centuries of the Christian era or even earlier, t amonbu g frea the s e mwa ring-heade f bronzo typa n f dpi eo e occa- sionally found in Viking graves in Scotland, and more commonly in Norway,1 so that the probability of these graves being those of Vikings is strengthened e positioTh . n whicni h they were found shows that e burialth d beeha sn made long aftee broc th d beer ha hn deserted, when it had become a ruin. But we have seen that cinerary urns of clay have been found in the same burial mounds as urns of steatite, not of Viking type, near the Ring of Brodgar, in Orkney, at Quarff, in Shetland, and in Fair Isle, and there is the new record from Blows. On this evidence we may be justified in assigning the large steatite burial e shorth urnd t cistan s s containing cremated remains e Bronzth o t , e Age of these Islands. Regarding the forms of the clay urns, the large example from Blows classee b y froo dma tw mwit e Cullhth a Voe, Shetlandfron ur m e Th . e formeth e samr th plac s e ha concave thougp eli h perhaps less pro- nounced. Thifora s i sm that doe t see no s mhavo t e bee t witn me h o the Scottish mainland. In the large collection of cinerary urns in the National Museum the vessel which in form most closely resembles the decorated example from Housegord, and the plain ones from Quarff, and Nisetter in Shetland, is one from Slackend, Aberdeenshire, though if the mouldings were removed from many of our cordoned type we woul t muc dge e sam hth e shape. Another featur notee b o thas dt ei t e Orkneth f d Shetlano an y onl o tw y d urns bear ornamentatione th , one from Housegord and the one from Flemington on the same estate. e mentioneThb ey lattema t di r resemble forn i s m soute somth f heo country vessels. It should be recalled that Professor Br0gger assigned the steatite

urns to the Bronze Age.2 Rygh1 , Norske Oldsager, p. 80, fig. No. 682. 2 Den Norske Bosetningen Pa Shetland-Orkntfyene, p. 56.

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