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Neolithic Carvings in Maes Howe P J Ashmore*

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Neolithic Carvings in Maes Howe P J Ashmore* Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 116 (1986), 57-62 Neolithic carvings in Maes Howe P J Ashmore* ABSTRACT A Neolithic date is argued for at least one of the carvings identified in the tomb in the 19th century, and more tentatively otherstomb.for the in In 1861 A W Gibb drew the runic and other carvings in Maes Howe following their discovery durin gJ Farrer' s excavation f thaso t year (Farrer 1862, 14) . plata Numbe n o e s (illu1 wa r3 ) 1 s captioned by Farrer (ibid, 40): 'The remainin consideree ar learnee s th l gNo al dy d Professorb "scribbless a s r scratches"o d an , mus consideree b t unimportant's da , although they include the lion and serpent knot. It is at the west side of the face of the smooth, massive, flagstone slab lining the north side of the south-west pier, 0-8 m above the present gravel floor. Examinatio othee th f rno carvings draw Giby nillustrateb d ban Farrey db e b o rt show1 3 o sN lighte Norsre thath l neal carving runie th t c salphabebu t (Farre quitd ran e) 1862 5 differen o N , t from the other 'scribbles' in Maes Howe. There seems no reason to suppose it Viking: it has no parallel among known Norse carving Orkneyn si . engravine Th 0-1gs i tall9m lines ;thickit 0- e m drawss 3ar m i t crabbea .I n i de handth f i s a , toobees ha ln used with considerable pressure applied sla e closth b o e(illut s 2). Gibb's drawint i f go err conveyindetain n i si d lan impression ga fluidityf no carvin e t beeTh .no ns gscratcheha d lightly, rathet bu laboriouslyt rcu onle th ys i potentiall t I . y third-millennium be engraving publishe 1862n di . There are other, lesser carvings on the same slab, but their ascription to the third millennium rather thamodera o nt n autho less i r s demonstrable thas i f simpls o ta , e carving othen so r stonee th f o s chamber (appendix 1). Meantime we may note a 72 mm tall inverted V, 43 mm across the base and delineated by two near-parallel lines between 3 and 5 mm apart, above Gibb's No 31, and a carved triangle and line overlaid by the Norse walrus on the south-eastern buttress (illus 3). Number 31 is remarkably similar to part of a carving found in 1972 at Skara Brae (illus 4) on a stone reuse buildina s da g slawala bn i l (Clark ; Clark9 eg 3.18al1976fi t g e , fi 1985 , ,20 , 245)56 , . Child previousld eha y discovered som othe5 e5 r carving Skart sa a Brae distinguishee ;h classex dsi f so decorations ranging from the lightly scratched to the pecked; most carvings were engraved. Fourteen similae possible ar ) th o 54 rt o d fy thesthirdan 2 5 e , -(number44 , 42 , , 4,17,19,22s39 2 , 35 , 31 , 26 , millennium be carvings in Maes Howe but only number 42, from cell F, presents a striking likeness (Childe 1930, 181-5), These carving e quitar s e differen naturn i t thoso t e e from Eday Manse, Pickaquo Pierowald yan l (ibid, Sharpie; p24 i s 1984, 102-5) differend an , froo carvinge to tm th n si Hol f Papmo a Westray South f whico l peckee al h,ar d rather than engraved. They are, however, "Historic Building Monumentd san s (SDD) Brando0 2 , n Street, Edinburgh 58 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1986 / V /A ///• / / Centimetres 0 5 20 I ... I i ILLUS 1 Reproduction of Farrer's No 31 printed here with the carving in true relation to vertical paralleled on a portable object from Skaill near Skara Brae (Callander 1931,97, fig 20) and on a slab found adjacent to presumably Bronze-Age cists near Stenness (Marwick 1926, 35, fig 1). Irelann I d incisio thire uses ni th dn di millennium be botlayoue guida th s h a peckef o et o t d decoration and in its own right (Eogan 1984, 186-7; Shee Twohig 1981, 106). Incised decorations similar to those in Maes Howe are known from Loughcrew Cairn J and Cairn L (Shee Twohig 1981, figs 220,228), Fourknocks L4 and R2 (ibid, fig 246) and from the kerb of a Bronze-Age cairn at Lyles Hill (ibid, fig 276) engravine .Th Stonn gKnowtt o a eA h Sit broadls i e4 y comparabl Maeo et s Howe Number 31, but at Knowth it appears to be a laying-out grid for a pecked lozenge pattern (Eogan 1984, 38-9 62)g fi , . Less similar same t th stil f ebu ,o l nature carvine th s i , t Knowtga a hn o Sit 6 e1 corbel directly over Stone 12 (ibid, 132, fig 68.4). It is of interest in this context because it comes from mouna d whic bees hha n dated fro mlayea f charcoao r make-us it n i l 2449±6o pt 71078M be(B ) (ibid, 125, 194). Further abroad, triangles and chevrons of the kind found in Maes Howe are not ASHMORE: NEOLITHIC CARVINGS IN MAES HOWE 59 ILLU S2 1985 photograp f carvinho 31o gN , scale 1:2-6. Crown Copyright recorded from Neolithic tomb Iberian si t broadlbu , y similar motifs occu Petin o r d t an Mon , C8 t Crec'h FrancQuilln i b eeK5 (Shee Twohig 1981, figs 126,160 frod Dehoe )man L Guernsen si y (ibid, 204). These latter comparisons, which ignore differences in carving technique, are most useful in remindin thas gu t withi broae nth d spectru Europeaf mo n megalithi t simplcar e motif boune sar n do occasion to recur without the need for a direct connection; the Irish comparanda by way of contrast show that carvings lik wideepare a Farrer'f ar o t 1 r3 milieo sN u than Orkney. In isolation Farrer's No 31 does not provide a conclusive link between the builders or users of Maes Howe and those of Skara Brae. It could have been made shortly before Macs Howe was built (it seems unlikely that this massive slab has been reused from an earlier structure), conceivably by a ASHMORE: NEOLITHIC CARVING MAEN SI S HOWE 61 Centimetre0 s I Inches ILLUS 4 Reproduced from Clarke 1976, fig 9, a carving built into a wall at Skara Brae. Crown Copyright quarryman unassociated with the builders except through trade or exchange. However, careful examination of the stones of the tomb at and below eyelevel shows that neither it nor any other possibly Neolithic carving is partially concealed by a stone and thus none can be shown to be earlier tha e buildinge otheth nth n r O hand. e non-runith , c carvings sho pattero wn f occurrencno e demanding that they were planned tomb e part nonth d f so an , e span stoneso stw . Thuse nonb n eca show latee b o rnt than quarryin stonee th f go s composin tombe gth . A possibility exists that Macs Howe Number 31 could have been engraved by someone other tha normae nth l tome userth f bso durin mais git n perio subsequentlr do Neolithice th n yi . Although the tomb was designed to be closed, the combination of door jambs at which the passage widens inward wit blockinha g stone pivoting fro mspeciaa l nich littlea e furthe passage th p u r e suggests that people shut it from inside, presumably during rituals, not that it was closed up during its users' absence. Ther therefory ema e have bee physicao nn l barrie casuao rt hostilr lo e entry. However, we need not take the evidence of the carving in isolation. Henshall's argument that Macs Howe-type cairns relate culturall Rinyo yt Skard oan a Brae (1963,132-4) remains valid dan indeed recent scrutiny of Childe's Quoyness notebook (preserved in the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments) suggests thaGroovee th t d ware pottery excavationfouns hi n di t thasa t related tomb was considerably more abundant than published sources have hitherto suggested t seemI . s from this most likely that any Neolithic carvings made by a member of the same cultural group as occupied Skara Brae would have been made during the building or primary use of the tomb. The assignment of this long-known carving to a user or builder of the tomb strengthens our view of Macs Howe's date. Skara Brae appears to have been occupied from about 2500 to 2000 be (Clarke | SOCIET 2 6 Y OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1986 1976, 27), the date from Knowth Site 16 is comparable, and a similar date has been supposed for the buildin Maef go s Howe (Renfrew 1979,108-10, figs 54,55). APPENDIX 1 SOME OF THE BETTER FORMED SCRATCHINGS AND CARVINGS ADDITIONAL TO THOSE (NOS 1-32) DRAWN Neolithice b y BYma GIB7 1863 ) N BI d 1an (Number6 3 , 34 , s33 partiae Th l circl3 othe3 d ean r scratching norte th hn south-westere s o facth f eo n buttress, 0- abov8m e the modern gravel floor (illus 2). chevroe Th n4 referre3 thin i so d t article norte th n hsouth-westere o , facth f eo n buttress 1- abov0m e the floor. mason'A 5 s3 mar 1865,0-5f ko abov6m floo e 0-1d eth soutsouth-westerre an 5 m th f ho n buttress edge.
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