Sunday, August 29, 2010
unHenged idolising Harray
Many thanks to Andrew Appleby, archaeologist-turned-potter, for providing info' additional to his article in "Orkney Today" of August 26th 2010. It is he who found evidence for a stalled cairn that, when brought to the attention of the Henshalls by farmer Yorston, turned out to be the Staney Hill long cairn [I have found that the Lesser Wall of Brodgar is aligned to it through the Lochview standing stone pair]. This cairn is two fields NW of the largest road circuit hereabouts. Between this road and the Nearhouse circuit is the Staney Hill Standing Stone. Bounded by the latter circuit is the site Andrew found and called Henge (in recent years this whole field has been investigated as such by a lad doing an archaeological thesis). Starting in 1977/8 with the observation of a low bank he eventually discovered it to be a ring 150' across with a ditch and bank each of 15' width (BA he said). On subsequent visits he "traced banks leading in an alignment from its circumference." Later Colin Richards and Jane Downes declared it to be a saucer barrow, the largest in the north of Britain. The first thing that brought the Henge field (HY321155) to his attention was finding a small figurine in 1976, which had come from a field with an outlier to the bank. The Whins Wifie [which he also calls the Venus of the Whins or Grimeston Girlie] would seem to be a kind of puppet, using the ?nates to present the figurine in a divine re-enactment or play. It can be made to stand - a puzzle aspect ? Basically the Grimeston Girlie resembles two globs of clay placed together, with two 'dimples' [?buttocks] as the potter's pinches. She is 45mm high with body 32mm wide measuring 30mm to the neck, which varies 21-27mm wide - the 'dimples' are 14mm diameter.
On one of his first visits to Orkney, aged 15, Andrew find a less portable figurine somewhere around the Springfield quarry (HY331158). He showed it to the [pre Anne Brundle] Tankerness House Museum who said they already had many of these, allowing him to keep it. The Springfield Quarryman is slightly asymmetric and measures 38cm high by 5cm thick, from base 26cm to neck which is 8cm wide, eyes 2.5cm wide. It looks like something from Ireland or out of a Danish bog and is properly man-shaped with additionally eyes and nose and perhaps a mouth. Several similar idols have been found in the Harrray tunships of Grimeston and Overbrough. In 1927 the site of Dale (south of the quarry) with its erdhus, long cist etc. was excavated. From the souterrain's causeway came an irregular stone 43cm by a maximum 20cm and 50-75mm thick. It shared a picked groove opposite the broad end with an idol whose dimensions are not given. On a photo in P.S.A.S. 62 it appears as an upper right circle quadrant with very bulging arc and having the head topping the square corner.
In "The Orkney Herald" of October 4th 1933 there is a photo of two idols with heads and another ancient stone, found in a grassy circle on the Brecks of Netherbrough. The December 6th 1933 edition gives further details of the find site and another photo. This place had been until taken into cultivation a few years previous a "peculiar" spot some 40'D having a slightly sunken centre and partly raised circumference. From by the former came a piece of incised oval sandstone 36cm long by maximum width 23cm having a roughly bored hole roughly 25mm across. The sandstone idols were found vertical and projecting a little above the surface at the circle's outer edge. The surfaces were natural and had then had the tops rounded to form the heads. One was 48cm by 36cm and the other 38cm by 33cm.
The second article mentions a similar idol to the two being still in the possession of the Netherbrough farm where it had been found many years before. Another had been found somewhere in Birsay and another on South Ronaldsay. It is possible that this last is confusion with two found at Ronaldshay in Zetland.
Many thanks to Andrew Appleby, archaeologist-turned-potter, for providing info' additional to his article in "Orkney Today" of August 26th 2010. It is he who found evidence for a stalled cairn that, when brought to the attention of the Henshalls by farmer Yorston, turned out to be the Staney Hill long cairn [I have found that the Lesser Wall of Brodgar is aligned to it through the Lochview standing stone pair]. This cairn is two fields NW of the largest road circuit hereabouts. Between this road and the Nearhouse circuit is the Staney Hill Standing Stone. Bounded by the latter circuit is the site Andrew found and called Henge (in recent years this whole field has been investigated as such by a lad doing an archaeological thesis). Starting in 1977/8 with the observation of a low bank he eventually discovered it to be a ring 150' across with a ditch and bank each of 15' width (BA he said). On subsequent visits he "traced banks leading in an alignment from its circumference." Later Colin Richards and Jane Downes declared it to be a saucer barrow, the largest in the north of Britain. The first thing that brought the Henge field (HY321155) to his attention was finding a small figurine in 1976, which had come from a field with an outlier to the bank. The Whins Wifie [which he also calls the Venus of the Whins or Grimeston Girlie] would seem to be a kind of puppet, using the ?nates to present the figurine in a divine re-enactment or play. It can be made to stand - a puzzle aspect ? Basically the Grimeston Girlie resembles two globs of clay placed together, with two 'dimples' [?buttocks] as the potter's pinches. She is 45mm high with body 32mm wide measuring 30mm to the neck, which varies 21-27mm wide - the 'dimples' are 14mm diameter.
On one of his first visits to Orkney, aged 15, Andrew find a less portable figurine somewhere around the Springfield quarry (HY331158). He showed it to the [pre Anne Brundle] Tankerness House Museum who said they already had many of these, allowing him to keep it. The Springfield Quarryman is slightly asymmetric and measures 38cm high by 5cm thick, from base 26cm to neck which is 8cm wide, eyes 2.5cm wide. It looks like something from Ireland or out of a Danish bog and is properly man-shaped with additionally eyes and nose and perhaps a mouth. Several similar idols have been found in the Harrray tunships of Grimeston and Overbrough. In 1927 the site of Dale (south of the quarry) with its erdhus, long cist etc. was excavated. From the souterrain's causeway came an irregular stone 43cm by a maximum 20cm and 50-75mm thick. It shared a picked groove opposite the broad end with an idol whose dimensions are not given. On a photo in P.S.A.S. 62 it appears as an upper right circle quadrant with very bulging arc and having the head topping the square corner.
In "The Orkney Herald" of October 4th 1933 there is a photo of two idols with heads and another ancient stone, found in a grassy circle on the Brecks of Netherbrough. The December 6th 1933 edition gives further details of the find site and another photo. This place had been until taken into cultivation a few years previous a "peculiar" spot some 40'D having a slightly sunken centre and partly raised circumference. From by the former came a piece of incised oval sandstone 36cm long by maximum width 23cm having a roughly bored hole roughly 25mm across. The sandstone idols were found vertical and projecting a little above the surface at the circle's outer edge. The surfaces were natural and had then had the tops rounded to form the heads. One was 48cm by 36cm and the other 38cm by 33cm.
The second article mentions a similar idol to the two being still in the possession of the Netherbrough farm where it had been found many years before. Another had been found somewhere in Birsay and another on South Ronaldsay. It is possible that this last is confusion with two found at Ronaldshay in Zetland.
Labels: Dale, Grimeston, Henge, idols, Overbrough, saucer barrow, Springfield, Staneyhill
Friday, August 14, 2009
COMET STONE
This site shows how size isn't everything. There was a complicated set of ceremonies surrounding matrimony involving all three rings and another Bookan site. Though nothing is recorded for this place, if the early name of Ulie Stane comes from
dialect ullie 'oil' might I suggest a reference to chrism and perhaps ceremonies surrounding childbirth ? Note that this was the way to the Ring of Brodgar on the old track that ran through the "sacred monuments", making it a gatekeeper kind-of - in the 19th century gentlemen still doffed their caps to it.
[My stone measurements are likely accurate but the distances between them and across the mound are as near as I could manage alone. {NMRS converted to metric} ]
The Comet Stone aligns NW/SE and sits in a depression presently measuring 2.7m by 2.3m and 20cm deep. The main stone stands 1.88m at the SE end {1.75m} and 1.97m at the NW, depth 27-28cm {29cm}, width 70cm at base increasing to 73 {76cm}.
Measured height differs enough from NMRS to indicate surface erosion [there is a long scrape in the northern half too]. "Lines on the Landscape, Circles from the Sky" by Trevor Garnham gives an alignment to Maes Howe. but unless my compass reading is absolutely useless is incorrect this is not so, explaining why the meticulous antiquarians would miss such a thing- the alignment would seem, rather, to carry on to the Ring of Bookan [though this is on the hillslope invisible from here unless it stood higher formerly or had a superstructure such as a stone ring or posts] and perhaps ? to something roughly in the Dowsgarth region in the other direction. This NW/SE alignment is shared by the Stanerandy Tumulus (for a long while thought to be standing stones) and the Deepdale Stones, both on Mainland, and the Langsteeen on Rousay - we know so few s.s. orientations that there could well be more. The relationship with the recorded 'stubs' is striking, forming a geometric unequal tee-formation.
Following the alignment 2.97m {2.67m} brings you to the western edge of Stub i and from that 2.75m takes you to the eastern edge of Stub ii. These define the mound's axes. Axis A , defined by Comet to Stub i 'W', is perpendicular to Axis B which is along the line of the two stubs (a NE/SW alignment shared with the Watch Stone stump and the Spurdagrove s.s. pair). Using 'mound' for the area currently left rough then the mound is 16~16.5m along Axis A and ~11m along Axis B - NMRS gives approximate size of 13.7x12.8 and ~80cm high. At the edge, 6.5m from the Comet Stone's SE end only a few inches away [<5deg] from where Axis A meets the SE periphery, there can be seen the top of another stone, call it Stub iii, that is probably like to Stub i except that only the very top is showing - careful ground prodding proves the top extends beyond the visible surface and I imagine if more were exposed the axial fit might be closer still (Stub iii is level with the grass and has a smooth appearance, not layered like the other three recorded stones). Similarly a few inches off Axis B , though roughly a metre short of where this meets the NE periphery, there is a roughly rectangular prostrate Slab 3.98m from Stub i 'E'. There's a slight space underneath where the lower surface has 'flaked' loose fragments [I presume they are from this leastways]. Careful search failed to disclose any further stones, so the fact that these appear to mark the axes ends is fascinating (though what of the other ends ?).
Used the 10x zoom on my digital camera [380mm equivalent] to examine three of the directions - for even if the indication from the stubs to the SW was a particular one of the lesser mounds without knowledge of any specific importance it is only presently referrable to chance. Looking along the Comet Stone in conjunction with stub i the Ness of Brodgar is perfectly framed, like looking down the barrel of a gun. From the Comet Stone alone to the SE, apart from the Orphir area, the only possibilty is the putative lost stone circle incorporating the Watch Stone. Viewing along the stubs to the NE confirms that it has Staney Hill in its sights, the standing stone being fractionally left of centre with the 'new' site of Henge to its right [both sides of the Grimeston road]. Disappointed to find the white cottage in the NW direction, which means disregard my previous photo info as the Ring of Bookan is on the LH side of the cottage to its left ! As this alignment passes to the east of the Ring of Brodgar I had read this as an ignoring that circle, but someone could instead read the two axes NW and SW directions marking out the area about it instead.
Stub i 73 x 23 and 16 & 19cm exposed height at ends, depth unknown - evidence of post-mediaeval [?modern] break at NE end [Stub i 'E']
Stub ii 29 x 30 and 29cm exposed height, depth unknown [still whole ??]
Stub iii minimum 20cm down in mound, surface 23 [19 visible] by 15cm, depth unknown
Slab almost entirely exposed, 40x36 cm and 6cm thick at least (stone fragments in 4cm space beneath it)
This site shows how size isn't everything. There was a complicated set of ceremonies surrounding matrimony involving all three rings and another Bookan site. Though nothing is recorded for this place, if the early name of Ulie Stane comes from
dialect ullie 'oil' might I suggest a reference to chrism and perhaps ceremonies surrounding childbirth ? Note that this was the way to the Ring of Brodgar on the old track that ran through the "sacred monuments", making it a gatekeeper kind-of - in the 19th century gentlemen still doffed their caps to it.
[My stone measurements are likely accurate but the distances between them and across the mound are as near as I could manage alone. {NMRS converted to metric} ]
The Comet Stone aligns NW/SE and sits in a depression presently measuring 2.7m by 2.3m and 20cm deep. The main stone stands 1.88m at the SE end {1.75m} and 1.97m at the NW, depth 27-28cm {29cm}, width 70cm at base increasing to 73 {76cm}.
Measured height differs enough from NMRS to indicate surface erosion [there is a long scrape in the northern half too]. "Lines on the Landscape, Circles from the Sky" by Trevor Garnham gives an alignment to Maes Howe. but unless my compass reading is absolutely useless is incorrect this is not so, explaining why the meticulous antiquarians would miss such a thing- the alignment would seem, rather, to carry on to the Ring of Bookan [though this is on the hillslope invisible from here unless it stood higher formerly or had a superstructure such as a stone ring or posts] and perhaps ? to something roughly in the Dowsgarth region in the other direction. This NW/SE alignment is shared by the Stanerandy Tumulus (for a long while thought to be standing stones) and the Deepdale Stones, both on Mainland, and the Langsteeen on Rousay - we know so few s.s. orientations that there could well be more. The relationship with the recorded 'stubs' is striking, forming a geometric unequal tee-formation.
Following the alignment 2.97m {2.67m} brings you to the western edge of Stub i and from that 2.75m takes you to the eastern edge of Stub ii. These define the mound's axes. Axis A , defined by Comet to Stub i 'W', is perpendicular to Axis B which is along the line of the two stubs (a NE/SW alignment shared with the Watch Stone stump and the Spurdagrove s.s. pair). Using 'mound' for the area currently left rough then the mound is 16~16.5m along Axis A and ~11m along Axis B - NMRS gives approximate size of 13.7x12.8 and ~80cm high. At the edge, 6.5m from the Comet Stone's SE end only a few inches away [<5deg] from where Axis A meets the SE periphery, there can be seen the top of another stone, call it Stub iii, that is probably like to Stub i except that only the very top is showing - careful ground prodding proves the top extends beyond the visible surface and I imagine if more were exposed the axial fit might be closer still (Stub iii is level with the grass and has a smooth appearance, not layered like the other three recorded stones). Similarly a few inches off Axis B , though roughly a metre short of where this meets the NE periphery, there is a roughly rectangular prostrate Slab 3.98m from Stub i 'E'. There's a slight space underneath where the lower surface has 'flaked' loose fragments [I presume they are from this leastways]. Careful search failed to disclose any further stones, so the fact that these appear to mark the axes ends is fascinating (though what of the other ends ?).
Used the 10x zoom on my digital camera [380mm equivalent] to examine three of the directions - for even if the indication from the stubs to the SW was a particular one of the lesser mounds without knowledge of any specific importance it is only presently referrable to chance. Looking along the Comet Stone in conjunction with stub i the Ness of Brodgar is perfectly framed, like looking down the barrel of a gun. From the Comet Stone alone to the SE, apart from the Orphir area, the only possibilty is the putative lost stone circle incorporating the Watch Stone. Viewing along the stubs to the NE confirms that it has Staney Hill in its sights, the standing stone being fractionally left of centre with the 'new' site of Henge to its right [both sides of the Grimeston road]. Disappointed to find the white cottage in the NW direction, which means disregard my previous photo info as the Ring of Bookan is on the LH side of the cottage to its left ! As this alignment passes to the east of the Ring of Brodgar I had read this as an ignoring that circle, but someone could instead read the two axes NW and SW directions marking out the area about it instead.
Stub i 73 x 23 and 16 & 19cm exposed height at ends, depth unknown - evidence of post-mediaeval [?modern] break at NE end [Stub i 'E']
Stub ii 29 x 30 and 29cm exposed height, depth unknown [still whole ??]
Stub iii minimum 20cm down in mound, surface 23 [19 visible] by 15cm, depth unknown
Slab almost entirely exposed, 40x36 cm and 6cm thick at least (stone fragments in 4cm space beneath it)
Labels: Henge, Ness of Brodgar, Ring of Bookan, Ring of Brodgar, Staneyhill, Stoney Hill, Watch Stone
