Prehistoric Orkney - Archaeological History

Archaeological History

Formal excavations are first recorded at Earl's Knoll on Papa Stronsay in the Statistical Account of Scotland in 1795. As with the Dwarfie Stane, the mound was assumed to be a giant's grave at the time. Following soon after this, work on the "Picts-house" (i.e. chambered tomb) at Quanterness commenced, but little else of note was achieved until the mid 19th century. F. W. L. Thomas, whose day job was as a Captain in the Royal Navy published The Celtic Antiquities of Orkney in 1852, which listed various sites and aimed to interest "antiquarians" in the subject. His hopes were met and about a dozen chambered tombs were worked on between 1849 and 1867 by James Farrer, R.J. Hebden and George Petrie. However, other than work at Unstan near Stromness there was then a lull for about six decades. Then, from the late 1920s, work recommenced with the assistance of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and the Ministry of Works. The most eminent archaeologist to work here at this time was Vere Gordon Childe. He was involved in excavations at Skara Brae and Rinyo, but it was only when a shard of pottery was discovered at the latter site that it became understood that these settlements dated to the Neolithic rather than the Iron Age. A further 18 tombs were excavated before 1950, including five on Eday and one on the Calf of Eday and by the 1960s the outlines of a modern understanding of Orcadian prehistory had emerged. The advent of radiocarbon dating enabled even more detailed dates to be established and refuted earlier theories that the chambered tombs of Orkney had developed from similar structures found in the Eastern Mediterranean, such as those built by the Minoans, when it became clear that the former pre-dated the latter by a considerable margin.