A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides

A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Niall Sharples
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781789258837
Category : Excavations (Archaeology)
Languages : en
Pages :

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A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides

A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Niall Sharples
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781789258837
Category : Excavations (Archaeology)
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides

A Norse Farmstead in the Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Niall M. Sharples
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
This volume examines South Uist, a small island in the soutern half of the Outer Hebrides. In the middle of the island lies the township of Bornais. This covers a particularly flat area of land which means that the three mounds can be seen all the more clearly. These mounds have been identified as being from the Viking period, with evidence of pre-Viking habitation at the site coming from Iron Age sherds. The excavation of the Bornais settlement is a long-term project, which has been going since 1994. This first volume of results of the excavation focuses on Mound 3, but includes a discussion of the topographic and geophysical survey of all the mounds. There is also considerable analysis of the environmental remains and radiocarbon dating.

A Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides

A Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Niall Sharples
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789250498
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 752

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Book Description
The settlement at Bornais in the Western Isles of Scotland is one of the largest rural settlements known from the Norse period in Britain. It spans the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century AD when the Atlantic seaboard was subject to drastic changes. The islands were systematically ravaged by Viking raiders and then colonised by Norse settlers. In the following centuries the islanders were central to the emergence of the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, played a crucial role in the development of the Lordship of the Isles and were finally assimilated into the Kingdom of Scotland. This volume explores the stratigraphic sequence uncovered by the excavation of Bornais mounds 2 and 2A. The excavation of mound 2 revealed a sequence of high status buildings that span the Norse occupation of the settlement. One of these houses, constructed at the end of the eleventh century AD, was a well preserved bow-walled longhouse and the careful excavation and detailed recording of the floor layers has revealed a wealth of finds that provides invaluable insight into the activities taking place in this building. The final house in this sequence is very different in form and use, and clearly indicates the increasing Scottish influence on the region at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The excavation of mound 2A provides an insight into the less prestigious areas of the settlement and contributes a significant amount of evidence on the settlement economy. The area was initially cultivated before it became a settlement local and throughout its life a focus on agricultural activities, such as grain drying and processing, appears to have been important. In the thirteenth century the mound was occupied by a craftsman who produced composite combs, gaming pieces and simple tools. The evidence presented in this volume makes a major contribution to the understanding of Norse Scotland and the colonisation of the North Atlantic in a period of dramatic transformations.

The Economy of a Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides

The Economy of a Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Niall Sharples
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789255392
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1225

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Book Description
This book explores the economic evidence for the settlement at Bornais on South Uist. It reports in detail on the large assemblages of material found during the excavations at mounds 2 and 2A. There is important evidence for craft activity, such as bone and antler working and this includes the only comb making workshop from a rural settlement in Britain. A large proportion of the copper alloy, bone and antler assemblages comprise pieces of personal adornment and provide important information on the dress and thereby social relations within the settlement occupation. There is a large assemblage of iron tools and fittings, which provides important information on the activities taking place at the settlement. The information derived from the artefact assemblages is complemented by that provided by the ecofactual material. Large amounts of animal, fish and bird bones plus carbonised plant remains provide detailed information on agricultural practices, and the processing, preparation and consumption of foodstuffs. It is clear that the Norse inhabitants of the settlement had access to a much richer variety of resources than had been exploited before the Viking colonisation of the region. The settlement also had a significantly wider range of connections; material culture indicates contacts to the south with the Irish Sea ports and Bristol, and to the north with Shetland and the Viking homelands of Norway. The evidence produced by these excavations is exceptional and provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore medieval life in the Scandinavian kingdoms of Western Britain.

Cille Pheadair

Cille Pheadair PDF Author: Michael Parker Pearson
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
ISBN: 9781785708510
Category : Excavations (Archaeology)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Cille Pheadair is one of more than 20 Viking Age and Late Norse settlements discovered on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), off the west coast of Scotland. Its unusually well-preserved stratigraphic sequence of nine phases of occupation, including five longhouses and many smaller buildings, provides a remarkable insight into daily life on a Norse farmstead during two centuries of near-continuous occupation c. AD 1000 -1200. Although the excavation at Cille Pheadair was a rescue project undertaken before the site was destroyed by coastal erosion, it provided an opportunity to address important research questions about the domestic use of space, agricultural economy, and relationships with the wider world beyond the Outer Hebrides. Careful and ground-breaking analysis of preserved house floors provided profound insights into the changing use of space within a Norse longhouse and its surrounding outbuildings. The rich assemblage of pottery, ironwork, gold and silver reveals that the inhabitants of Cille Pheadair had long-distance connections across the Viking world. A battery of scientific studies, including faunal and floral analyses, isotopic and lipid residue analyses, and soil chemistry, have revealed much about the social and economic dimensions of life on a Norse farm. Detailed survey and excavation in South Uist, reveals a remarkable picture of Norse-period settlement across this island which was part of the insular Viking world between Ireland and Norway, becoming part of the Kingdom of Man and later the Kingdom of the Isles. Cille Pheadair's status as an ordinary, if wealthy, farmstead can be contrasted with the much larger and longer-lived high-status settlement at Bornais to the north. The two sites together provide a fascinating insight into similarities and differences within the settlement hierarchy of the time that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Viking world.

The Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides PDF Author: Mary MacLeod Rivett
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1788850688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
The Outer Hebrides lie 40 miles to the west of mainland Scotland, forming a barrier to the North Atlantic. Culturally distinct from early prehistory, the islands contain a wealth of historical and archaeological monuments, including the standing stones at Callanish, the magnificent St Clement’s church at Rodel as well as numerous brochs, castles, Pitish houses, croft houses and industrial and military buildings. In addition to descriptions of key historic sites from prehistory onwards and gazetteers covering every place of historical interest, this book also traces the development of the modern environment and landscape of the islands, enabling the visitor to appreciate the sites within their historical and cultural context.

The Norwegian Domination and the Norse World, C. 1100-c. 1400

The Norwegian Domination and the Norse World, C. 1100-c. 1400 PDF Author: Steinar Imsen
Publisher: Tapir Academic Press
ISBN: 9788251925631
Category : 1100-tallet
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
This book is the first of four planned volumes on the Norwegian realm and its dependencies in the central Middle Ages. As with future volumes, the underlying theme of this book is the transformation of Norway and parts of the Norse world into a monarchic state in the 12th and 13th centuries. The collection provides a presentation of the Norse world, the Norse community, the 'Norgesvelde' (the Norwegian domination), along with highlights of geographical, political, and cultural aspects. (Series: ROSTRA Books Trondheim Studies in History - No. 3)

The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology

The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology PDF Author: Umberto Albarella
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199686475
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 865

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Book Description
Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. This Handbook offers a cutting-edge, global compendium of zooarchaeology that seeks to provide a holistic view of the role played by animals in past human cultures. Case studies from across five continents explore ahuge range of human-animal interactions from an array of geographical, historical, and cultural contexts, and also illuminate the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions instudying these relationships.

Northern Emporium

Northern Emporium PDF Author: Søren M. Sindbæk
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
ISBN: 8793423764
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
In the early Middle Ages, a network of maritime trading towns – emporia – emerged along the northern coasts of Europe. These early urban sites are among archaeology’s most notable contributions to our knowledge of the period between the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire and the growth of a maritime-oriented world in the Viking Age. Ribe, on the western coast of Denmark, is one of these sites. In 2017-18 the Northern Emporium research project conducted seminal research excavations, which provided new foundations for the study of this nodal point between Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the world beyond. This first volume presents the results of these excavations and analyses to piece together the history of the emporium and its social fabric. The research employs novel, high-definition methods to explore the networks of the site, integrating an extensive use of geoarchaeology and 3D stratigraphic recording with intensive environmental sampling and artefact recovery, resulting in more than 100,000 artefact finds. The results transform our understanding of key points of the early history of the North Sea region. Through the remains of dwellings and workshops – the traces left by traders, sailors, weavers, tailors, comb makers, and skilled producers of glass beads and metal ornaments – we follow the creation of Viking Age social networks, along with some of the most iconic artistic products of this world and the daily lives of some of its notable inhabitants.

Everyday Life in Viking-Age Towns

Everyday Life in Viking-Age Towns PDF Author: Letty ten Harkel
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782970096
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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Book Description
The study of early medieval towns has frequently concentrated on urban beginnings, the search for broadly applicable definitions of urban characteristics and the chronological development of towns. Far less attention has been paid to the experience of living in towns. The thirteen chapters in this book bring together the current state of knowledge about Viking-Age towns (c. 800–1100) from both sides of the Irish Sea, focusing on everyday life in and around these emerging settlements. What was it really like to grow up, live, and die in these towns? What did people eat, what did they wear, and how did they make a living for themselves? Although historical sources are addressed, the emphasis of the volume is overwhelmingly archaeological, paying homage to the wealth of new material that has become available since the advent of urban archaeology in the 1960s.