78 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , DECEMBE , 193R8 0 II. NOTE) CERTAI(1 N SO N PREHISTORIC RELICS PROM ORKNEYD AN , (2) SKARA BRAE: ITS CULTURE AND ITS PERIOD. BY J. GRAHAM CALLANDER, P.S.A.SCOT., DIRECTOE NATIONATH P O R L MUSEUM OP ANTIQUITIES. PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM ORKNEY. For some time past the Orkney Islands have figured largely in our Proceedings, even without taking into consideratio e importanth n - ac t counts of the Skara Brae excavations. Not only have prehistoric graves, earth-houses sculpturingd an , f stonso f peculiaeo r forms been described, t relicbu f unusuao s l types have been recordeds anyono ha T o . wh e made a study of Scottish prehistoric implements and weapons, it is quite evident from the descriptions of these relics that types and varieties have been foun n Orknei d y which hav t beeeno n reported from other n opportunita d ha e country partI th f s examininf yo o sA . g some private collections durin a grecen t visi o thest t e islands, such differ- ences were more forcibly impresse dthesn I upo . e notenme sproposI e drao t w attentio certaio t n n objects that uniquee seeb mo t othero t , s which are variants of common Scottish types, and to some examples of a well-known class of relic which exhibit peculiar features. Of these, a few fro e collectiomth n long preserve n Skaili d l Hous e withouar e t localities catalogue th s a , e which once existe bees dha n s mislaidi t i t bu , more than probable that they were e neighbourdiscoveredth n i t no -f ,i hood of the house, at least on Mainland, the largest island in the Orkneys. Nearly all the others came from the same island. Flint and Chert Implements.—As the small collection of flint imple- ments from Orknee Nationath n i y l Museu s beemha n considerably augmented Corrie. durin M activitiee year . laso e J th ,r gth y tw t sb M f so and as I was able to secure a good many more during my recent visit, we have now what may be considered a fairly good representative selectio f thesno e objects. Though their number canno consideree b t d large, they give quit gooa e e dtype th ide f so a fashione used dan n d i these northern islands. The collection consists of seventy arrow-heads, nearly ninety scrapers aboud an , t thirty other objects. Ther alse ar eo completo tw e axepard f anotheran so t whole Th . e appearance th f eo collection differs greatly from that of one from Morayshire, Aberdeen- shire, Berwickshire, or Wigtownshire, the counties which have yielded CERTAIN PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM ORKNEY. 79 our greatest number of flint implements. The general form of the arrow-heads is different, the variety of implements is smaller, the quality of the flint is inferior, and its colour is unlike that found further south. There are a good many small collections of flint implements in the farmhouse e islanth f Mainlandn o do sI coul s a d r , learnfa but o s , , attention seemed to have been concentrated chiefly on the search for arrow-heads three th f eo largeso Tw .t collections whic hsaw—onI e from Appietow parise th n Sandwickf i h o , abou mileo tw t sfamoue westh f o t s stone circle, the Ring of Brodgar, and the other from a farm near the extreme north-west of the island, in the parish of Birsay—contained very few implements other than these; the first included two barbed arrow- heads, fourtee e leaf-shapeth f no d variety, seven e narrowbeinth f go , thick Orkney type referre e leaf-shape on o later t dd an , d specimen of black chert e thirTh d. collection ,Peter madM y r eb s Irvin hi n o e far Bookanmof , paris Sandwickof h , contained every piec flinof e t which he saw, and therefore may be taken as a fair selection of e differenth t witt n me Orkneytypei h e b s y tha. ma tTher e were six arrow-heads, all leaf-shaped, forty-two scrapers, two side scrapers, three pointeknivesx si d dan , tools, perhaps borers knivee th , borerd san s being poorly made. There wer sawso en , drills r so-calleo , d fabricators, neither were there arrow-heads of the hollow-based or lop-sided varieties. Of the arrow-heads in the Museum, fifty-nine are leaf-shaped (figs. 1 onld an y ) 3 eleve o t e th n f barbeo o d stemmedan Tw . 3) d d (figsan 1 . leaf-shaped arrow-heads from Stennes e grounsar s weld a s flaked a l a , very rare occurrence in Scotland. In a collection of forty which I saw in Birsay ther s onlbarbee ewa on y d example e otherth l sal , being leaf- shaped. In smaller collections also the latter type predominated. From these figures it is very evident that the proportion of barbed stemmed an d arrow-head thoso st f leaf-shapeo Orknen a n ei y collection is very small. This is quite an interesting point, but if we examine them more closel fine yw d that amongs leaf-shapee th t d examples thera s ei distinct variety which may be considered peculiar to Orkney—at least it occurs most sparingly indeed on the mainland of Scotland. This Orkney type is distinctly narrower and thicker than the normal leaf- shaped arrow-head (fig. Som2) . f theso e e object e nearlar s s thicya k s the a e broady ar occasionall d an , y the e almosyar t triangula secn i r - tion. This type is no freak, as of the fifty-nine leaf-shaped examples e Nationath n i l Collection, twenty-three — almose th t f halo f e —ar narrow, thick variety I thin. k thae reasoth tr makinfo n g thef mo this e scarcitshape th als d r an of ,barbefo y o d examples e pooth rs wa , quality of the flint available for their manufacture. Generally it was neither suitable for splitting into thin blades nor for fine flaking. 80 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 8, 1930. Instead of being of consistent shades of yellow, brown, and red like fline th t from Aberdeenshire, muc f thaho t from Orkney shows mottled and jumbled colours, and is not of such a fine texture. 135 1 ' J4- Fig. 1. Flint Arrow-heads from Orkney. (}.) 82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 8, 1930. Althoug workine hth implemente mann gth o f yo oftes si n coarset ,i does not necessarily mean that the Orkney flint-smith was a poor crafts- man, becaus implementn eo s whic e madhar e from piece f flins o f fino t e qualit e workmanshith y p is often very goode fouTh r . leaf-shaped arrow-heads [which were found with one of the barbed variety, a scraper, knifa e wit hgrouna d edge ad ? an so-calle, d fabricato chamberee th n i r d Fig. 3. Flint Arrow-heads, calcined, from Unstan. (J-.) Fig . Flin4 . t Fabricator, cal- cined, from Unstan. (}.) cairn at Unstan, are still very fine examples, even though they are cal- cined lik othee eth r implements found with the fabricatoe mTh (fig. 3) . r (fig. 4) is. a good specimen of this type of implement, and measures 3J inches in length and f inch in breadth. A beautifully flaked flint dagger, measuring 5^ inches long, and about 2 inches e widesbroath t da t parts founwa , d while cutting peatn i s Blows Moss, South Ronaldsay 1888n i , . Scraper average th n coarsee so ear r than those "found further south (fig. 5), and it is seldom that large examples of other classes of implements occur. A knife tapering to a sharp point at each end, and curved length- wise, which was turned up by the plough in the Sourin Valley, island CERTAIN PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM ORKNEY. 83 of Rousay, is now in the National Museum (fig. 6). Formed of a flake of greyish flint, wit hpinkisa h tin placesn i tslightl s i t i , y convee th n xo 15 Fig. 5. Flint and Chert Scrapers from Orkney. (}.) back, whic carefulls hi ye edges flaketh undee e l overth ;ar dal s ra , side shows onl naturae yth l fracture knife Th e. measure | inches4 lengtn si h and 1 inch in greatest breadth. A selection of knives and pointed 84 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 8,. 1930. implements are illustrated in fig. 7. A small pointed implement from the Hill of Heddle is ground on one side of the point. Two implements of abnormal shape and size deserve to be noticed. roughla firse , 9) Th t d (figsyan flake8 . d implement wit hsharpa , beaked end, measurin f incheg3 2-y b Js inche inch 1 s foun y wa b ,st Uppea d r Brough, Harray, whil othee eth r (fig. 10) f ovao , l for dressed man d along sidee round th endse an measurin d don an , g 3T\ inche 2y ^b s inchesy b |£ inch, came from Upper Linnabreck, Birsay. Both are of dark yellow flint. In a part of the country where flint is scarce and of poor quality one hardly expects to find axes made of it, but nine examples from Orkney can be mentioned. One, a very, beautiful, well-polished example of brownish colour, measuring 10 inches 7 in length, 2T F inches in breadth, and ££ inch in thickness, was found at Folsetter, Birsay.