Well in the Broch of Breckness

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The well in the Broch of Breckness, below the remains of the Broch of Breckness, west of Stromness , on Mainland , the main island of Orkney , which was badly damaged by coastal erosion , was investigated in the 1990s. Half of the well discovered in 1993 had already been eroded a year later. A few years earlier, a well in "Warebeth Broch", which is located on the same stretch of coast, under the Stromness cemetery, was exposed to similar circumstances. Its contents have been excavated and its structure described.

Cross section of a brochure

Archaeological background

The Breckness Broch has been a place of archaeological interest since the second half of the 19th century. Until the mid-1980s, it was covered by a sod. A landslide resulted in the occasional human skull and bones being found on the beach, indicating the erosion of the cliff. In 1993 the well was found below the Broch, which, like a shallow trench, was cut 27 m to the west into the underground. The U-shaped trench found west of the Broch is interpreted as part of an Iron Age settlement and was recorded, but not excavated, at the time the well was excavated.

A contemporary or later Iron Age settlement with layers of waste ( midden ) in the east of the Broch is also exposed to the erosion of the steep coast. The fountain had been discovered while removing some of the brochures. The multi-sided wall of the well was partially removed and lay on a rock face towards the sea. The material obtained was threatened by the next storm or flood.

Goals and Methods

Given the threat of erosion and the potential loss of information about the Iron Age contained in the well, it was decided to excavate the structure. It was ultimately safer to remove the rest of the well. The distance on the sea side enabled easy access from there. The top was also worn away by erosion, and the overlying stratigraphy from inside the Broch ends abruptly at the landside wall of the well. A deposit about three feet high, excavated by hand, had survived in the well. Results of the excavation:

The fountain was a parallelogram cut into the rock, 1.7 by 2.6 m in plan. It had been dug into the soft, laminated sandstone and reached a height of about two meters in the preserved northwest corner. A small area of ​​masonry above the north wall indicates that its roof was designed as a cantilever vault .

An almost intact roof slab measuring 0.95 × 0.95 m together with larger stones was found on the bottom of the filling layer. The remaining finds consisted of bones from birds, land and marine mammals, some human remains, stone and bone artifacts, and broken pottery. As a result of the roof collapse, all of the finds had reached the well from the Broch area.

Finds and samples

A total of 14 small finds and 22 samples were recovered from the well filling. In addition, there were small finds from the ditch and from the Køkkenmøddinger (midden).

Ceramics

Eight pieces of coarse pottery were found in the filling of the well, seven in the ditch and three in Køkkenmøddinger. The undecorated fragments correspond to finds from other brochures on Orkney. They are relatively small, none of them weighs more than 53 g. The average thickness of the shards is 9 mm. There are no fine ceramics to represent vessels from later periods. All are typical Middle Iron Age goods that were in use during the time when the broch was used and the trench was filled. Several fragments show sooting or carbon deposits, suggesting their use on or near a fireplace.

Bone artifacts

Three burins or drills (made of antler or bone) were found in the well along with worked and unworked fragments of deer antlers. The artifacts point to leather, bone or antler work that may have taken place within the broch at the time the well roof collapsed.

Two of the complete drills were tools over 110mm long, with a heavy polish indicating long use. They may have been tools for piercing hides and leather. Bone fragments, which were also used as a burin, were found in the well and in the trench filling. Often times, burins and drills were made from the long bones of sheep, and similar tools are often found in brochs. However, they do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about a specific period, as the same tools were already used in Skara Brae during the Neolithic . The antler fragments and bones of red deer show that they were either hunted or kept on Orkney for their skins, meat and antlers. As other brochure finds show, antlers were used to make combs (e.g. weaver combs) and for knife handles.

Stone artifacts

Only three stone artifacts were found when the well was excavated. A small, round pot lid and two axes made from beach pebbles. These tools are typical, but also undated brochure finds. A tiny, round, flat, pierced stone made of limestone or marble was found in the Midden. Its size and shape are similar to the Iron Age glass beads. However, in the Iron Age, larger stone beads in various shapes are usually common.

Animal bones

The Breckness brochure contained a number of animal bones in good condition. The mammal species identified were: foxes, deer, dogs, rabbits, cats, cattle, sheep, pigs and seal species. The bird bones are documented by: domestic chicken (Gallus gallus), rock dove (Columba livia), booby (Sula bassana) and guillemot (Uria aalge). Four herringbones were also discovered. The deer bones come from large animals. Cattle bones were only weakly represented. Sheep bones were numerous. While the bones of cattle, deer and domestic poultry show cut marks, indicating that the meat was used as food, no sheep bones show cut marks. This seems to suggest that whole animal bodies ended up in the well, which can be assumed for the cat and fox bones as well. The presence of rabbit bones in the well is problematic as this species was not introduced to the islands until the Middle Ages. They therefore probably originate from modern interventions, especially since no crop marks were observed on them. All bird species are edible, but there is no evidence that this was the case on the Broch von Breckness, as there were no cut marks on the bones here either.

Age of the animals

Six out of seven of the sheep appear to have died before the age of two. Due to the fusion of teeth and epiphyses, one animal died between two to six months. As with the Broch of Howe, around 50% of the young red deer were eaten.

Human remains

Eight fragments of bones from a young adult were found in the upper layers of the well filling.

Other organic residues

The other remains in the well filling include fragments of coal, lobsters or crabs and shells, the latter are probably due to modern interventions due to the location of the broch.

interpretation

The fountain was found in the middle of the remains of the brochure. The ground in which it was cut was leveled by masonry, which at the top probably formed a cantilever dome. The large square stone slab found in the well closed it. The Dachstein was notched on the sides, indicating that it was being held over the opening. Missing signs of wear suggest that it was lifted instead of pulled to the side when it was opened. Based on the evidence, it is assumed that the collapse of the well roof already occurred while the broch was in use.

It is unknown whether the collapse was the result of the failure of the well structure or part of the collapse of the broch. Separately, no evidence of continued use of the well was found, nor was there any attempt to clean or repair it. However, there are indications that sheep's bodies and deer, as well as cat and fox bones, may not have been thrown into the well until after the collapse.

The collapse may have been the result of a lowering of the broch. This may have been so momentous that it led to the abandonment of the brochure. The lack of rubble in the remaining Broch structure cannot be explained by erosion, it points to an early abandonment and continued use as a quarry.

Basic question

It is discussed whether the structure was a well at all. Was it just a cavity below the broch or does it have some other function. The appearance of structures under brochure floors, such as at Gurness and more recently also in the Howe mine, suggests that not all underground chambers were wells. The position of the Breckness fountain and its simple structure suggest, however, that it was a fountain like the one in Warebeth Broch.

It would be important to clarify the sequence of events that led to the collapse of the well and the likely abandonment of the Broch. Brochs structural failures have been recorded by Gurness, Midhowe and Howe, among others, and could have a common cause. The absence of debris in the Broch von Breckness recorded in the 19th century by Watt indicates a short period of use. The extensive remains in the contemporary and later settlement near Breckness show that the place was not completely abandoned and remained in use until well into the first millennium AD.

Wells can also be found in the structurally very similar tower structures on sardines , the nuraghi .

literature

  • B. Ballin Smith: The relentless pursuit of the sea: Breckness an eroding broch. In: Ballin Smith, Iain Banks (ed.): In the Shadow of the Brochs: The Iron Age in Scotland. Tempus Publishing, Stroud 2002, ISBN 0-7524-2517-X , pp. 163-176.
  • John W. Hedges: Bu, Gurness and the Brochs of Orkney. Volume 3: The Brochs of Orkney (= British Archaeological Reports. British series. 165). BAR, Oxford 1987, ISBN 0-86054-436-2 .

Web links

Coordinates: 58 ° 57 '49.3 "  N , 3 ° 20' 57.5"  W.