Excavations of a Medieval Cemetery at Skaill House, and a Cist in the Bay of Skaill, Sandwick, Orkney

Proc Soc Antic/ Scot, 129 (1999), 753-777 Excavation medievaa f so l cemeter t Skailya l Housed an , a cist in the Bay of Skaill, Sandwick, Orkney Heather F James* with contribution LorimeH D RobertJ y sb r& s ABSTRACT A medieval cemetery structuraland remains were discovered during drainage works Skaillat House, Sandwick, Orkney. Several skeletons were salvaged Orkneythe by Islands Archaeologist laterand excavations by GUARD revealed further cisted burials. These have been radiocarbon dated to between llth14th the Skaillof and upper centuries.the Bay cisteda half the of At burialwas salvaged been afterhad it exposed effects the coastalof by erosion. radiocarbonA date fromthe bone shows that burialthe belongs sevenththe to century StructuralAD. elementspre-dating cistthe were also eroding seenthe in cliff-face, theseand were probably prehistoric. excavationThe and publication were funded Historicby Scotland. INTRODUCTION In October 1996, while monitoring the digging of a new drainage and waste water disposal system around Skaill House, Sandwick, Orkney (NGR: HY 2346 1860), Raymond Lamb, Orkney Islands Archaeologist s e discoveralerteth wa , o t d f humao y n remains withi e drainagnth e construction trench. Assisted by Julie Gibson, Historic Scotland Field Warden, he undertook salvage excavation skeletone th f so s whic beed hha n disturbed pipe Th .e trenc expandes hwa n di orde excavato rt removd ean buriae eon l whose skul withiy lla nstona e box. recognizes wa t I d tha remaine tth s were unforesee proposale th drainag e y nth b r sfo e works werd an e potentially importan understandine th o t t Skaillf archaeologo e y th n f ,Ba a go e th f yo area ric prehistorin hi medievad can l remains, includin renownee gth d prehistoric villag Skarf eo a Brae Raymons .A d Lamb' t havs resourceoffice no eth d edi completo st excavationse eth , Historic Scotland agree mako dt e funds availabl investigatioe th r efo recordind nan furthef go r skeletons which were likel encounterede b yo t Novembern I . , Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) was asked to undertake five days' excavation at Skaill House, to incorporate Raymond Lamb's finding brino t result e d gth san publicationo st . Both documentary evidenc dated ean d stones incorporated withi buildine nth g indicate that at least part of the present house at Skaill dates to the later 17th century. There is no record of an early building here, however, and prior to these excavations there was no archaeological record * Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD), Department of Archaeology, Universit Glasgowf yo , Glasgow G1Q 28Q 754 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1999 ILLUS 1 Site location map (Based on the Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright) of a cemetery, although local people did know of discoveries of human bone at the site on previous occasions. While Skail e worth n klo House cemeter takins ywa g place, Historic Scotland also requested excavation of a cist in the Bay of Skaill (NGR: HY 2294 1876), which was falling into the sea and JAMES: SKAILL HOUSE, SANDWICK, ORKNE5 75 | Y exposing human bone. The cist had been partly excavated by Julie Gibson, in 1994, and the lower skeletoe parth f to n retaine storagen di . PART 1: THE CEMETERY AT SKAILL HOUSE SITE DESCRIPTION (ILLUS 1) The Bay of Skaill is located on the west coast of mainland Orkney. The geology of this area is Middle Old Red Sandstone. Skaill House is located about 270 m from the mean high-water mark Skaillf o y ,Ba whice i nwidnorth-westth a e opey s hth i eba o nsouth-west e th o house T . th f eo t lieLoce th s f Skaillho e lan low-lyingTh s .di , less than 1 abov5e surfacm th levela d ese ean , deposits consis wind-blowf to n sand. SALVAGE EXCAVATIO RAYMONY NB D LAMB (ILLU) S2 A drainage trenc mechanicalls hwa y excavated usin gmini-JCBa frod courtyar.e le Thi ms th swa d house ofth e aroun eassouts d dit an t h sides, throug moderha n (1950s) Gothic arch acrosd ,an sa Victorian terrace trence .Th h measure deem placesd2 n p i abou o t p .u ts 0.4 wa wid 5m d ean Raymond Lamb monitore diggine trence dsouth-westh e th th f go ho Gothie t th f o tc arch archaeologicao n d an l remains were noted reportee H . presence dth cleaf eo n sand wit darkeha r laye centimetresandf w ro fe a , s thick . Thi interprete s depta m t s2 wa a , f h o earlie n a s da r ground surface beneath the made-up ground of the Victorian terrace. Beneath the arch a drystone wall foundation was seen (not illus). It extended from immediately below the modern surface to a depth of 1.5 m. This walling had been used as a foundation for the wall on the south side of the arch. It was aligned ESE/WNW across the line of sees onlr nwa fo yvert a i trench e s yth a short bu , tt clea distance no wha n s ri wa t t directioi , t ni was headin eithet ga constructers endwa t I . mixtura f do quarrief eo beacd dan h stones. This wall was not seen elsewhere in the trench. On the south side of the house (Area C) the large paving slabs were lifted and the trench fro m housdistanc e a m7 t th 2. a waeg d betweewallf esan du o thin m I . 3 s nare2. skeletonx asi s were revealed, non cista n ei f thes. o Onl o e ytw skeleton s were lifte thess a dalreadd eha y been disturbe JCBe th .y db Skeleton 1 was found at a depth of 0.9 m below the surface. It was oriented and supine with its arms extended dow sidess nit , aligned paralle house th o et l wall wit wese heas hth it t da end layeA . brokef o r n shale-like ston sees enwa t arounimmediatelno t dbu y beneat skeletone hth ciso r associateN .o t d structure was seen. Skeleto seconA n2 d buria see firstn lwas mos the beneat As .thi of of t s lef skeletoharm the t beneatnlay h the north section face the bones would not be disturbed by further drainage works and, therefore, were not removed. This skeleto orientes nwa supind dan e with arms extended heads ;it , althoug t exposedhno , would have west e beeth n .i Skeleton 3 lay immediately to the east of Skeleton 1, at the same level, in a supine position. Skeleton 4 lay beneath Skeleton 3. Because of its depth there was no need to lift it as it was not going to be damaged furthepipe th ey trenchb r . 756 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1999 ease Skeletof th o t o Skeletot y la whern3 ncleae 5 eth n san dbrowo t gavy newa sandy earth skuls A . wa l see thin i s area wit hea s trence hit extendeth s d o enclose hs soutwa e d th enablstono o han a dt t x n di ebo e this buria exposede b o t l . Thercleaa s rbrowe wa edg th o e t nsout e santh gravn he d o sid th f eeo showing the edge of the grave-cut. The burial was oriented and supine, and the arms were crossed over the abdomen. heae consistex Th dbo thref do e flat stoneseithen coverine o o on skulr e tw d , sid faceth e thif an lgs th eo A .s t skeletogoine furtheb no o s gt rnwa t lifted disturbeno s ; wa however t i d a long-bon, s taker wa e nfo radiocarbon dating. Skeleton 6 Only the skull of Skeleton 6 was exposed to the east of Skeleton 5, just inside the extended trench. This skul s lefsitun i twa l becaus t furthee woulei b t dno r disturbe trence th d h de an coul b t dno extended further east becaus proximite th f trenc e housgardeo e a th th d f yo ho et an n wall. Th partls e ciswa yt expose pipe th en di trencease th hous te n sidhth o f eo opposit porce eth Aren hi A . aB betweep ga cise nth t slabs reveale skeletonriba e f dth so .Lamb's draie Worhalteds th wa t nn wa i k o ss a , intention that this cist should be fully excavated. EXCAVATIONS BY GUARD Following this preliminary work by Lamb and Gibson, GUARD undertook further rescue excavation t Skailsa l House wit followine hth g objectives ensuro t : e thafurthey an t r skeletons, long cists and any structures on which the pipe trench impinged were recorded adequately, and tha pipe th t e heigh adjustee b t minimizo dt e damag thoso et e lefsitu;n i tassimilat o t finde eth s and records already made by Raymond Lamb for publication; to leave as many skeletons as possible undisturbed by the work; and, finally, to investigate evidence for the date and cultural association cemeterye th f so . When GUARD'S excavation team arrive founs sitn wa d o dt e i tha pipe alreadd th t eha y bee e trencth n laid h dan backfille d betwee e moderth n n Gothi e gardecth arcd nhan wall . Therefor areao tw se whiceth h were investigate GUARy db withiy la AreaDn— — thB esd Aan remaining or eastern sector of the drainage trench.

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