Grain Earth House
Grain Earth House (also called Grainbank) is located in an industrial area west of Kirkwall Bay on the Scottish Orkney island of Mainland . The earth house was discovered in 1827. At that time it was, like the Crantit Cairn , in the farmland not far from the city. The chamber remained locked and intact until 1857 when antiquarians Farrer and Petrie decided to explore the interior. In the case of basements, a basic distinction is made between "rock-cut", "earth-cut", "stone built" and "mixed" basements.
location
Grain Earth House is a "drystone basement. The underground chamber is one of 25 prehistoric basements on the Orkney. Above ground you only see a small, green hill, which is noticeable through the modernly built entrance. About two meters below the surface there is a well-preserved Example of an Iron Age basement, built and used in the first millennium BC The underground area can be reached via a partly modern stone staircase.
description
Grain Earth House consists of a gently sloping, curved corridor that ends in an oval chamber. The corridors of Orcadian and Irish basements are extremely narrow compared to those of other Scottish basements or Cornish Fogous . The chamber and the corridor are roofed over by flat stone slabs. Inside the chamber, close to the edge, there are four massive stone pillars about 1.5 m high that bear the weight of the roof of the 4.9 m long chamber. The roof is 2.0 m below the ground. Although no detailed record of the excavation was made, we do know that they found the chamber empty. Above ground they came across the remains of a settlement and a large rubbish pit.
context
In 1982 a smaller earth house was discovered about six meters west of Grain. Above was another Iron Age building, next to which other building remains were found. This means that the two earth houses and their structures above ground were part of a common concept.
The neighboring basement of Rennibister contained the bones of six adults and twelve children. Howe souterrains at Stromness and Rowiegar on Rousay (all on Orkney) were installed within decommissioned Neolithic burial chambers.
The purpose of the basement is unknown. Interpretations as defensive structures or stables were rejected. Most likely a cultic function applies today, but the use as storage cannot be completely ruled out.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Ian Armit: The abandonment of Souterrains: evolution, catastrophe or dislocation? In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . Vol. 129, 1999, ISSN 0081-1564 , pp. 577-596 ( online [PDF; 2.2 MB ]).
Web links
- Description Grain Earth House (English)
literature
- Mark Clinton: The Souterrains of Ireland . Wordwell, Bray Co. Wicklow 2001, ISBN 1-869857-49-6 .
- Ian Cooke: Guide to Carn Euny iron age village & fogou and other nearby ancient sites (= Antiquities of West Cornwall and how to get there without a car. Guide 3). Men-an-Tol Studio, Penzance 1991, ISBN 0-9512371-4-4 .
- Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .
Coordinates: 58 ° 59 ′ 15.5 " N , 2 ° 58 ′ 19.7" W.