DOI Artikel:
Rees, Sian E.: Stone ard points from Orkney and Shetland
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49000#0263
STONE ARD POINTS FROM ORKNEY
AND SHETLAND
By
Sian E. Rees
The earliest parts of ards that have so far been
recognised in Britain are the sandstone bars
which have been found in profusion as casual
finds and on excavated sites in Orkney and
Shetland, and which appear to be unique to
those islands. It has been convincingly argued
(Henshall 1955-6; Fenton 1962-3) that these
bars are the stone shares, or working points of
ards, the main structure of which would have
been of wood, and my examination of large
numbers of the bars seems to reinforce this
argument.
The majority of these tools are 23-40 cm
long and 6-8 cm wide. They are oval or round
in cross section, almost invariably made of
sandstone and are often pecked at various
places along their length. One end is pointed
and occasionally both ends are, and they often
bear wear marks, the characteristic pattern of
which is the strongest argument for their in-
terpretation as ard points.
In Shetland, the tools are associated most
commonly with the oval stone houses dis-
cussed by Calder (Calder 1955-6); altogether
possibly as many as twelve such sites have
produced stone ard points, and the oval house
is the most common type of site associated
with the shares in Shetland. The shares are also
found associated with burnt mounds, cham-
bered cairns, heel-shaped and round houses
and possibly with brochs. In Orkney, the
shares have been found associated with burnt
mounds, habitation sites, a stalled cairn, two
cist graves and one broch site. This series of
associated sites and radio carbon dates for
three associated sites suggest a date range from
the early second millennium to possibly as late
as the last two centuries B.C. It is perhaps
worth noting firstly that the tools appear to be
associated with earlier sites in Shetland than in
Orkney although this is no doubt due to some
extent to archaeological accident, and se-
condly that the tools as a whole are more
commonly found in Shetland (65.49 %) than
in Orkney (31.86 %). The distribution pattern
of the shares in the islands is similar to that of
oval houses and burnt mounds (Calder
1962-3, figs 15 and 18) showing a preference
for agriculturally favoured areas of sandstone
and limestone usually lying below 200 ft
[60.96 m] above sea level.
Over 450 stone ard points were studied;
many were casual finds, roughly provenanced
if at all, while others were from excavated
sites. The majority of the latter were from two
sites, the Bronze Age habitation site at Skaill,
Deerness in Orkney (Gelling, excavations
continuing) and the probably second millen-
nium habitation site at Sumburgh, Dunross-
ness in Shetland (excavated by Lamb). All the
shares excavated on these two sites were re-
tained for study, rather than a sample.
The tools were distinctly classifiable into
those with a round cross section (Type 1) and
those with a wide or oval cross section (Type
2). These two groups could then each be sub-
divided according to the shape of the butt, or
non-working end, of the tool; those with a
AND SHETLAND
By
Sian E. Rees
The earliest parts of ards that have so far been
recognised in Britain are the sandstone bars
which have been found in profusion as casual
finds and on excavated sites in Orkney and
Shetland, and which appear to be unique to
those islands. It has been convincingly argued
(Henshall 1955-6; Fenton 1962-3) that these
bars are the stone shares, or working points of
ards, the main structure of which would have
been of wood, and my examination of large
numbers of the bars seems to reinforce this
argument.
The majority of these tools are 23-40 cm
long and 6-8 cm wide. They are oval or round
in cross section, almost invariably made of
sandstone and are often pecked at various
places along their length. One end is pointed
and occasionally both ends are, and they often
bear wear marks, the characteristic pattern of
which is the strongest argument for their in-
terpretation as ard points.
In Shetland, the tools are associated most
commonly with the oval stone houses dis-
cussed by Calder (Calder 1955-6); altogether
possibly as many as twelve such sites have
produced stone ard points, and the oval house
is the most common type of site associated
with the shares in Shetland. The shares are also
found associated with burnt mounds, cham-
bered cairns, heel-shaped and round houses
and possibly with brochs. In Orkney, the
shares have been found associated with burnt
mounds, habitation sites, a stalled cairn, two
cist graves and one broch site. This series of
associated sites and radio carbon dates for
three associated sites suggest a date range from
the early second millennium to possibly as late
as the last two centuries B.C. It is perhaps
worth noting firstly that the tools appear to be
associated with earlier sites in Shetland than in
Orkney although this is no doubt due to some
extent to archaeological accident, and se-
condly that the tools as a whole are more
commonly found in Shetland (65.49 %) than
in Orkney (31.86 %). The distribution pattern
of the shares in the islands is similar to that of
oval houses and burnt mounds (Calder
1962-3, figs 15 and 18) showing a preference
for agriculturally favoured areas of sandstone
and limestone usually lying below 200 ft
[60.96 m] above sea level.
Over 450 stone ard points were studied;
many were casual finds, roughly provenanced
if at all, while others were from excavated
sites. The majority of the latter were from two
sites, the Bronze Age habitation site at Skaill,
Deerness in Orkney (Gelling, excavations
continuing) and the probably second millen-
nium habitation site at Sumburgh, Dunross-
ness in Shetland (excavated by Lamb). All the
shares excavated on these two sites were re-
tained for study, rather than a sample.
The tools were distinctly classifiable into
those with a round cross section (Type 1) and
those with a wide or oval cross section (Type
2). These two groups could then each be sub-
divided according to the shape of the butt, or
non-working end, of the tool; those with a