Burnt Mound by Meur
The Burnt Mound of Meur on the Scottish Orkney island of Sanday was discovered and excavated in early 2005 by coastal erosion, which exposed some orthostats .
During the excavation, a stone trough was found in the center of a bay defined by walls. The bay contained at least one secondary compartment and a cantilevered water reservoir with an overflow. The oval square was surrounded by a wall of scorched stones mixed with earth. The structure of the Burnt Mound , comparable to others in the Northern Isles ( Liddle Burnt Mound ), was established between the late 2nd and the middle of the 1st millennium BC. BC, i.e. during the Bronze Age , used. This was confirmed by radiocarbon dating of the animal bones found.
The evidence from Meur and his comparative objects shows that cooking was the primary function of the burnt mounds. The cooking events are believed to have taken the form of communal banquets, with the purpose of optimizing the island's limited resources and maintaining social cohesion. This fits in with other testimonies on Sanday that point to social and economic stability during the period. However, since the phenomenon is widespread throughout the British Isles and (even across cultures ) beyond ( Gargrube ), only a supraregional background can be imagined.
literature
- Ronan Toolis et al: Excavation of a burnt mound at Meur, Sanday, Orkney. In: Scottish Archaeological Journal. Vol. 29, No. 1, 2007, ISSN 1471-5767 , pp. 31-49, doi : 10.3366 / E1471576708000193 .
Web links
- Entry on Burnt Mound by Meur in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
- image
Coordinates: 59 ° 17 ′ 49.6 " N , 2 ° 26 ′ 47.8" W.