The last two days have been relentless, and quite simply, stunning. Every time I left site to check the email or put out a display or run an errand I returned to find another wonderful new discovery.
On Thursday afternoon we found, after being tantalised by small (but nice) fragments of pottery earlier in the week, a large section of an extremely well made early Neolithic carinated bowl. It has clear decoration made by pressing a piece of twisted cord into the wet clay before firing. We suspect that we have most of the bowl in fragments, and after analysis of the inside which may reveal what was stored in the bowl, and all the other analysis we will want to do, we hope it will be possible to put the pieces back together for eventual display in Campbeltown museum. This bowl was found on it's side, which made us think that the chamber must have been robbed at some point in the past, but we were very pleased with it anyway.
Next, just before we packed up for the day on Thursday we found fragments of early Bronze Age pottery, perhaps contemporary with the roundhouse on the other side of the hill. This also links the chambered tomb to the ring cairn on top of the hill very nicely.
Needless to say we went home on Thursday evening feeling very pleased with ourselves.
On Friday morning within an hour of beginning digging we began to find fragments of a different Neolithic pot from outside the chamber. This means that we were beginning to make a major contribution to the knowledge of early Neolithic pottery in western Scotland, and as technology has moved on so much since Beacharra (with things like contents analysis) we will ultimately be able to add significantly to the pool of knowledge about Neolithic Britain. Then we found, in the same area, what was described as “The best flint I have ever seen” by several different people (although some used rather more colourful language) which is again early Neolithic. It is about 4 inches long and beautifully made. By this time it seemed that we were pulling artefacts out of the ground on an almost hourly basis, so when I set off for the Muneroy Store in Southend to meet the locals for tea and cakes and tell them about what we are doing (which was a great success) I couldn't help but think I was going to miss out on some more exciting finds. I had underestimated just how good those finds might be though, and returned to find yet another complete early Neolithic pot had been excavated in my absence. This appears to be very similar to a Ballyalton bowl (which date to 3,500-3,300 BC) and if so might be Irish in origin. Of course, it is far too early to say just yet, and we will have to get a pottery specialist to study them to be sure.
We have also (we think) roughly worked out the sequence of construction of the tomb. First there was one chamber set within it's own cairn consisting of loose rock. Next, this chamber and cairn were incorporated into a single, long rock cairn, possibly with the chamber at the front of the tomb being constructed at this time. This construction would have included the large upright stones marking the perimeter of the tomb as well as the dry stone walling on the north side facing out across the valley. The facade at the front may also have been part of this phase, or may have been added later. Finally the front was blocked with rubble taken from the top of the tomb itself when it went out of use at a date we cannot yet determine. It may also be the case that in the Bronze Age cremations were also buried in pots in the main body of the cairn.
This leads us quite breathlessly into a very welcome day off from digging on Saturday, and with six days left until we have to back-fill the trenches and pack up, including the open day on Sunday and the public lecture in the Argyll Arms, Campbeltown at 8 on Wednesday, we are tremendously excited the prospects for the last week of the dig. We still have work to do in the area where all the pottery has so far been found, and have yet to excavate the forecourt area which may reveal a whole different set of finds, things like hearths, charred food remains, and flint knapping debris, this being the area used by the living, as opposed to the interior which was used by the dead.
Overall though, we have already made several astounding finds, which should ensure that Blasthill becomes one of the best known Neolithic sites in the country. Can this get any better? We shall have to wait and see!
On Thursday afternoon we found, after being tantalised by small (but nice) fragments of pottery earlier in the week, a large section of an extremely well made early Neolithic carinated bowl. It has clear decoration made by pressing a piece of twisted cord into the wet clay before firing. We suspect that we have most of the bowl in fragments, and after analysis of the inside which may reveal what was stored in the bowl, and all the other analysis we will want to do, we hope it will be possible to put the pieces back together for eventual display in Campbeltown museum. This bowl was found on it's side, which made us think that the chamber must have been robbed at some point in the past, but we were very pleased with it anyway.
Next, just before we packed up for the day on Thursday we found fragments of early Bronze Age pottery, perhaps contemporary with the roundhouse on the other side of the hill. This also links the chambered tomb to the ring cairn on top of the hill very nicely.
Needless to say we went home on Thursday evening feeling very pleased with ourselves.
On Friday morning within an hour of beginning digging we began to find fragments of a different Neolithic pot from outside the chamber. This means that we were beginning to make a major contribution to the knowledge of early Neolithic pottery in western Scotland, and as technology has moved on so much since Beacharra (with things like contents analysis) we will ultimately be able to add significantly to the pool of knowledge about Neolithic Britain. Then we found, in the same area, what was described as “The best flint I have ever seen” by several different people (although some used rather more colourful language) which is again early Neolithic. It is about 4 inches long and beautifully made. By this time it seemed that we were pulling artefacts out of the ground on an almost hourly basis, so when I set off for the Muneroy Store in Southend to meet the locals for tea and cakes and tell them about what we are doing (which was a great success) I couldn't help but think I was going to miss out on some more exciting finds. I had underestimated just how good those finds might be though, and returned to find yet another complete early Neolithic pot had been excavated in my absence. This appears to be very similar to a Ballyalton bowl (which date to 3,500-3,300 BC) and if so might be Irish in origin. Of course, it is far too early to say just yet, and we will have to get a pottery specialist to study them to be sure.
We have also (we think) roughly worked out the sequence of construction of the tomb. First there was one chamber set within it's own cairn consisting of loose rock. Next, this chamber and cairn were incorporated into a single, long rock cairn, possibly with the chamber at the front of the tomb being constructed at this time. This construction would have included the large upright stones marking the perimeter of the tomb as well as the dry stone walling on the north side facing out across the valley. The facade at the front may also have been part of this phase, or may have been added later. Finally the front was blocked with rubble taken from the top of the tomb itself when it went out of use at a date we cannot yet determine. It may also be the case that in the Bronze Age cremations were also buried in pots in the main body of the cairn.
This leads us quite breathlessly into a very welcome day off from digging on Saturday, and with six days left until we have to back-fill the trenches and pack up, including the open day on Sunday and the public lecture in the Argyll Arms, Campbeltown at 8 on Wednesday, we are tremendously excited the prospects for the last week of the dig. We still have work to do in the area where all the pottery has so far been found, and have yet to excavate the forecourt area which may reveal a whole different set of finds, things like hearths, charred food remains, and flint knapping debris, this being the area used by the living, as opposed to the interior which was used by the dead.
Overall though, we have already made several astounding finds, which should ensure that Blasthill becomes one of the best known Neolithic sites in the country. Can this get any better? We shall have to wait and see!
No comments:
Post a Comment