Sheridan (eds) Sheridan and Hunter ANCIENT ANCIENT ANCIENT LIVES Ancient Lives provides new perspectives on object, people and place in early Scotland and beyond. The 19 papers cover topics ranging from the Neolithic to the Medieval period, and from modern museum practice to ancient craft skills. The material culture of ancient lives is centre stage – how it was created and used, how it was rediscovered and thought about, and how it is displayed. Dedicated to Professor David V Clarke, former Keeper of Archaeology in National Museums Scotland, on his 70th birthday, the book comprises three sections which reflect some of his many interests. “Presenting the past” offers perspectives on current museum LIVES practice, especially in relation to archaeological displays. “Ancient lives and multiple lives” looks at antiquarian approaches to the Scottish past and the work of a Scottish antiquary abroad, while “Pieces of the past” offers a series of authoritative case-studies on Scottish artefacts, as well as papers on the iconic site of Skara Brae and on the impact of the Roman world on Scotland. With subjects ranging from Gordon Childe to the Govan Stones ANCIENT LIVES and from gaming pieces to Grooved Ware, this scholarly and OBJECT, PEOPLE AND PLACE IN EARLY SCOTLAND. accessible volume provides a show-case of new information and new perspectives on material culture linked, but not limited to, Scotland. ESSAYS FOR DAVID V CLARKE ON HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY Sidestone edited by ISidestoneSBN 978-90-8890-375-5 Press ISBN: 978-90-8890-375-5 Fraser Hunter and Alison Sheridan 9 789088 903755 This is a digital offprint from: Hunter, F. & A. Sheridan (eds) 2016: Ancient Lives. Ojects, people and place in early Scotland. Essays for David V Clarke on his 70th birthday. Leiden: Sidestone Press. Sidestone Press * A new generation of Publishing This is a free offprint, read the entire book at the Sidestone e-library! You can find the full version of this book at the Sidestone Press website. Almost all of our publications are fully accessible for free. For access to more free books visit: www.sidestone.com/library Download Full PDF Visit Sidestone.com to download most of our e-books. For a minimal fee you will receive a fully functional PDF and by doing so, you help to keep our library running. www.sidestone.com/library ANCIENT LIVES OBJECT, PEOPLE AND PLACE IN EARLY SCOTLAND. ESSAYS FOR DAVID V CLARKE ON HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY edited by Fraser Hunter and Alison Sheridan © 2016 individual authors Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden www.sidestone.com ISBN 978-90-8890-375-5 Lay-out & cover design: Sidestone Press Cover picture: House 1: Skara Brae, by Philip Hughes © and reproduced by courtesy of Philip Hughes Also available as: e-book (PDF): ISBN 978-90-8890-376-2 Contents Contributors 9 Introduction: ‘If I can put it like that…’ 15 Alison Sheridan and Fraser Hunter SECTION 1 – PRESENTING THE PAST 29 Museums and their collections 31 Mark Jones Presenting someone else’s past: the Caithness Broch Centre 59 Andrew Heald Reading Govan Old: interpretative challenges and aspirations 73 Stephen T Driscoll SECTION 2 – ANCIENT LIVES AND MULTIPLE LIVES 93 Robert Innes Shearer: a lost antiquary from Caithness 95 Stratford Halliday ‘Thanks to you the best has been made of a bad job’: Vere Gordon 111 Childe and the Bronze Age cairn at Ri Cruin, Kilmartin, Argyll & Bute Trevor Cowie Mary Boyle (1881-1974): the Abbé Breuil’s faithful fellow-worker 127 Alan Saville Evidence and artefact: utility for protohistory and archaeology in 151 Thomas the Rhymer legends Hugh Cheape Expiscation! Disentangling the later biography of the St Andrews 165 Sarcophagus Sally M Foster SECTION 3 – PIECES OF THE PAST 187 Scottish Neolithic pottery in 2016: the big picture and some details 189 of the narrative Alison Sheridan Skara Brae life studies: overlaying the embedded images 213 Alexandra Shepherd The earlier prehistoric collections from the Culbin Sands, northern 233 Scotland: the construction of a narrative Richard Bradley, Aaron Watson and Ronnie Scott The provision of amulets and heirlooms in Early Bronze Age 245 children’s burials in Scotland Dawn McLaren On the edge: Roman law on the frontier 263 David J Breeze The Colour Purple: lithomarge artefacts in northern Britain 273 Martin Goldberg ‘Coal money’ from Portpatrick (south-west Scotland): reconstructing 281 an Early Medieval craft centre from antiquarian finds Fraser Hunter Silver handpins from the West Country to Scotland: perplexing 303 portable antiquities Susan Youngs Gleaming eyes and the elaboration of Anglo-Saxon sculpture 317 Alice Blackwell Combs and comb production in the Western Isles during the Norse 331 period Niall Sharples and Ian Dennis Playing the dark side: a look at some chess and other playing pieces 359 of jet and jet-like materials from Britain Mark A Hall Reading Govan Old: interpretative challenges and aspirations Stephen T Driscoll Abstract This paper explores the conceptual and strategic issues raised during the transformation of Govan Old church into a heritage attraction and community cultural centre. This exceptionally important Gothic revival church houses the largest collection of early medieval sculpture that is not in state care in Scotland. The quality and depth of Govan’s cultural assets and its historical traditions provide great interpretative opportunities, but come with great expectations. Govan is in the early stages of post-industrial urban regeneration and the church has been identified as its prime cultural resource. So the success of the transformation of Govan Old has the potential to have a significant influence on the future growth and prosperity of the community. Keywords: sculpture, British, Early Medieval, hogback, gravestones, churchyard David Clarke’s affinity for Early Historic sculpture can probably be traced to two of his intellectual guides. His museum mentor, R B K Stevenson (O’Connor & Clarke 1983), was at heart an early medievalist who produced critical works about artefacts, field monuments, and perhaps most lastingly, about sculpture. His academic guide from Cardiff, Leslie Alcock, who also shared a close connection with Stevenson, redefined ‘Dark Age’ Scotland through a programme of excavations which stimulated David’s late blossoming of interest in the Early Historic period (Clarke et al 2012). Of course he nurtured a prehistorian’s interest in monumentality and an appreciation of the consequences of monuments being reused over a long time span. I detect an awareness of the multiple lives of prehistoric standing stones as far back as the ‘Symbols of Power’ exhibition, which incorporated images of impressive monuments alongside dazzling artefacts. This notion of conscious reuse was eventually articulated in an influential discussion of Pictish sculpture (Clarke et al 1985; Clarke 2007). It is a pleasure to record my appreciation for David’s contribution to Scottish archaeology: for my generation he has been the dominant intellectual figure in the Edinburgh establishment (although one suspects that he would prefer to be thought of as anti-establishment). As a young archaeologist making my way in the driscoll 73 world I found the critical atmosphere of the Café Royal an agreeable alternative to the seminar room. I have chosen to present these reflections on Govan for several reasons. Firstly, I know David is attracted to the unlikeliness of Govan as an ancient power centre, second Govan is richly endowed with monuments with ‘multiple lives’, and third these monuments present serious practical and conceptual challenges of interpretation and presentation. All of these will, I hope, make what follows of interest to him. The challenge of Govan Old Govan Old church (Fig 1) houses a unique collection of sculpture dating from the ninth to 11th centuries. Arguably this is the most significant single collection of Viking Age sculpture in Britain and Ireland, but it is little known outside the parish and a narrow specialist community. Since the middle of the last century the collection has been cherished and cared for by successive ministers and their congregations. However, in 2007 when the three Govan parishes were consolidated into one, the fragility of this curatorial arrangement was exposed. Despite Govan Old being the original ecclesiastical foundation, it was not selected as the seat of the amalgamated parish, a decision which raised questions about the future of the splendid Gothic-revival building and the long-term security of the sculpture collection. While the historical significance of the Govan collection has long been known to some scholars, its potential value to the local community was scarcely recognised. I have been involved in recent efforts to draw on this potential in order not only to secure the future protection of the monuments, but also to transform Govan Figure 1. View of Govan Old church, designed by James Smith in 1826 74 ancient lives Old into a cultural resource for the community, the city and, indeed, the nation as a whole. This paper explores the key interpretative themes and challenges which have emerged through these initial efforts. Govan itself is one of central Glasgow’s more deprived districts: well off the tourist trail and with virtually no casual footfall, its most fundamental challenge is to attract visitors. However, the hidden quality of Govan Old church can be considered an asset in that for many people a visit provides a powerful sense of discovery, not to say wonder. What is this architectural masterpiece doing in Govan of all places? Why does it house this very large collection of ancient sculpture? How did the historic churchyard survive industrialisation? The answers to these and other questions are to be found in the material remains, which form the basis for a compelling multi-stranded story which begins with the earliest Christian activity on the Clyde and includes, in addition to the familiar story of industrial greatness, periods of royal patronage, commercial philanthropy, religious leadership and community-based social justice movements.