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.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Tables
• List of Contributors
• 1 The excavations at Bornais – N Sharples
  • Introduction – N Sharples
  • The history of the excavations – N Sharples
  • The stratigraphic sequence in mound 2 – O Davies and N Sharples
  • The stratigraphic sequence in mound 2A – K Waddington and N Sharples
  • The chronological sequence – N Sharples
  • The research focus of this volume – N Sharples
  • Acknowledgements – N Sharples
• 2 Site activities: the artefact assemblages
  • Introduction – N Sharples and R Smith
  • Manufacturing evidence – N Sharples
    • Copper alloy – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Lead – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Iron – R Smith
    • Bone waste – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Antler waste – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Organisation of comb manufacture – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Horn – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Stone tool manufacture – A Clarke
    • Flint – A Pannett
    • Pumice – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Clay mould – N Sharples
    • Slag – T Young
    • Conclusion – N Sharples
  • Vessels – N Sharples
    • The ceramic assemblage – N Sharples and K Harding
    • An experiment in the construction and use of ceramic platters – C Freer
    • Organic residues from Late Iron Age and Norse pottery – L Cramp, E Casanova and R Evershed
    • Steatite vessels – A Forster
    • Copper-alloy vessels – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Iron vessels – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Cetacean pot lids – R Smith
  • Currency and exchange
    • Coins – G Williams
    • Weights – T Horne and R Smith
    • Balance component – T Horne and R Smith
    • Hacksilver? – T Horne
  • Personal Objects – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Composite combs – N Sharples, R Smith and C Riley
    • Pins – A Rowe, R Smith and N Sharples
    • Other dress accessories – R Smith and N Sharples, with A Forster
    • Utilised tine tips – N Sharples and R Smith, with H Wickstead
    • Decorated objects – N Sharples and R Smith
    • Gaming pieces – M Hall, N Sharples and R Smith
    • Musical instruments – R Smith
    • Weapons – P Parkes, R Smith and N Sharples
    • The distribution of personal objects – N Sharples
  • Tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Metalworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Woodworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Leatherworking tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Agricultural and fishing tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Household activities – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Tools for textile production – R Smith and N Sharples with B Cartwright
    • Miscellaneous bone and antler tools – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Miscellaneous stone tools – A Clarke
    • The distribution of tools – N Sharples
  • Fittings – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Architectural features – S Evans
    • Structural fittings – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Decorative fittings – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Horse fittings – R Smith
    • Other iron fittings – R Smith and N Sharples
    • Miscellaneous objects – R Smith and N Sharples
    • The distribution of the structural fittings – N Sharples
• 3 Site activities: the biological evidence
  • Introduction – N Sharples
  • Archaeobotanical remains – J R Summers and J M Bond
    • Crops/domestic taxa
    • Chaff
    • Wild taxa
    • Comparative analysis of floors and middens
    • Statistical analysis
    • Summary
  • Charcoal – D Challinor
  • The bird bone – J Best
    • Taphonomy
    • Anatomical representation
    • Domestic Birds
    • Age
    • Season
  • Fish preparation and consumption – C Ingrem
    • Herring
    • Saithe, cod, hake and other gadoid fish
  • Cetacean bone – S Evans
    • Methodology
    • Species by mound and block
    • Skeletal elements
    • Site activities
    • Bone as fuel
    • Small species and meat utility
    • Worked bone
  • Animal bone – C Ingrem and A Powell
    • Taphonomy
    • Anatomical representation of major terrestrial species
    • Spatial analysis
    • Conclusion
  • Human bone – A Davies-Barrett
  • Conclusion – N Sharples
• 4 Resource exploitation: the bioarchaeological evidence
  • Introduction – N Sharples
  • Fish – S Evans and C Ingrem
    • Herring
    • Saithe, cod, hake and other gadoid fish
    • Conclusion
  • Sea mammals – S Evans and C Ingrem
    • Procurement of cetaceans
    • Late Iron Age
    • Norse period
  • Shellfish – M Law
    • Results
    • Conclusion
  • Crab – J Light
    • Results
    • Conclusion
  • Land snails – N Thew and M Law
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
  • Birds – J Best
    • Seabirds
    • Shore birds
    • The machair
    • Moorland
  • Small vertebrate fauna – A Powell
    • Discussion
  • Animal management – C Ingrem
    • Age and sex
    • Size
    • Conclusion
  • Animal management and marine resource use: the stable isotope evidence – J R Jones, R Madgwick and J Mulville
    • Materials and methods
    • Results and discussion
    • Comparisons with other Norse sites
    • Conclusions
  • A sequential multi-isotopic analysis of Norse Cattle teeth – J Griffith and J Mulville
    • Incremental stable isotopic analysis
    • Methodology
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
  • Carbonised plant remains – J Summers and J Bond
    • Barley
    • Oat
    • Flax
    • Wheat
    • Large legumes
    • Wild taxa on the machair
    • Rye
    • Hay
    • Wild and gathered taxa
    • Trees – D Challinor
    • Conclusion – N Sharples
• 5 Resource exploitation: inorganic materials
  • Introduction – N Sharples
  • The stone – N Sharples
    • The flint – A Pannett and N Sharples
    • Slate – N Sharples
    • The geological sources of the whetstones – G Gaunt
    • Other imported stones – N Sharples
    • Steatite sources – A Forster and R Jones
  • The ceramics – N Sharples
    • An imported cooking pot – M Redknap with D Brown
  • The iron knives and structural Iron – P Forward
    • The blades
    • The structural iron
    • Provenance of the ferrous metalwork
  • The copper alloys – M Davis (based on a dissertation by K Hopkins)
  • Glass analysis – J R N Peake and I C Freestone
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
  • Conclusion – N Sharples
• 6 Discussion
  • Introduction – N Sharples
  • The exploitation of the landscape – N Sharples
    • The machair
    • Coastal exploitation
    • Exploiting the sea
    • Moorland settlement
  • Settlement rhythms and taskscapes – N Sharples
    • Landscape orientation
    • Cosmologies
  • Change through time in the agricultural economy – N Sharples
    • Late Iron Age
    • Early Norse period
    • Middle Norse period
    • Late Norse period
  • Archaeobotanical remains – J R Summers and J M Bond
    • The arable economy at Bornais in its regional setting
    • Trade and exchange
    • The long-term trajectory of arable cultivation in the Bornais area
  • Animal bone – J Mulville
  • Birds – J Best
  • Fish – C Ingrem
  • Material modifications – N Sharples
    • Stone
    • Wood, bone and antler
    • Ceramics, metals and glass
  • The wider context – N Sharples
    • Cille Pheadair and Bornais
    • The Northern isles
  • Conclusion – N Sharples
    • Viking colonisation
    • 1266 and all that
    • The end of the settlement
• 7 Bibliography
• 8 Appendix 1 Artefact catalogue – R Smith and N Sharples, with A Clarke, A Forster, M Hall and g Williams
  • Bone, antler and horn
  • Copper alloy
  • Iron
  • Lead
  • Silver
  • Ceramics
  • Glass
  • Stone
  • Pumice
• 9 Appendix 2 A list of the illustrated ceramics – K Harding and N Sharples