Occupation Deposits Research Articles

Bottle Merchants at A’Beckett Street, Melbourne (1875–1914): New Evidence for the Light Industrial Trade of Bottle Washing

Glass bottles were a valuable commodity in colonial Australia, and the commercial reuse of these vessels ensured that they were used to their full potential. The 2009 excavations at 19–37 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne, uncovered architectural features and occupation deposits associated with four bottle merchant businesses operating from Lot 35–37 between 1875 and 1914, providing a rare opportunity to study this little-known but significant light industrial trade. This paper draws on archaeological data from 35–37 A’Beckett Street to examine the role of bottle merchants and marine store dealers in nineteenth-century Melbourne. It also seeks to determine an archaeological signature for bottle merchants through comparison with other contemporary sites, and briefly touches on the implications of bottle reuse when identifying patterns of consumption in archaeological assemblages.

Monks, priests and farmers

A community research excavation centred on Baliscate on the Isle of Mull (NGR: NM 49677 54068) took place in autumn 2012. The excavation has revealed the existence of a thriving 6th-century agricultural settlement which was either adopted or replaced by a 7th-century Christian community which appears to have been a monastic establishment. The continued ecclesiastical nature of the settlement into the 9th and 10th centuries is attested by the presence of a later enclosure/vallum and a rectangular structure interpreted as a leacht. In the late 11th or early 12th century, a stone and turf bow-ended structure was built which probably functioned as a longhouse or hall. This structure was later used in the 12th century to house a large corn-drying kiln. Although no 11th- or 12th-century structures were identified adjacent to the leacht, occupation deposits were identified. Then, in the late 13th or early 14th century, a wattle and turf structure was built over these deposits and the remains of a seventh- to eighth-century cemetery. This structure burnt down and was rapidly replaced by a new stone and turf structure enclosed by a rectangular stone and turf enclosure. This is tentatively interpreted as an enclosed chapel, but the evidence is contradictory and it may have simply been an enclosed farmstead. Occupation around the site continued in one form or another until the 16th century and thereafter the site was used intermittently. The excavation has highlighted how little we know about the so-called enclosed chapel sites of Argyll and the absence of evidence for the early Christian church.

Preliminary report on fish remains from the 18th- and 19th-century pearl fishing and trading settlement of Al Zubārah, Qatar

This paper presents initial results of continuing work on the fish remains from excavations at Al Zubārah in northwest Qatar. Al Zubārah flourished as a political, cultural and economic hub during the 18th and 19th centuries following the establishment of a settlement by the ᶜUtūb tribe from Kuwait. Comparison is made between faunal material from contexts dating to the initial settlement of the site in the mid 18th century and occupation deposits from houses inhabited once the town was at the height of its importance as a trading centre. This allows comparison of fishing strategies employed as the town expanded, cultural changes in the preference of fish and the effects on the marine environment as the town's population grew. Analysis also examines evidence for the preparation of fish within the houses and cooking practices.

Contacts under the lens: Perspectives on the role of microstratigraphy in archaeological research

Achieving an accurate perception of time and context remains a major challenge in archaeology. This paper highlights the potential benefits of microstratigraphic study to address this goal, drawing on case studies from Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Iron Age archaeological sites. First, we discuss the importance of site formation reconstruction and the ways in which current field methods approach the sedimentary record. Then, we focus on both field identification and high-resolution study of stratigraphic contacts, which are ubiquitous in archaeological deposits. Examples are presented to highlight the role of microstratigraphy in characterizing the nature of contacts and their significance for archaeological interpretation. A microstratigraphic approach is especially useful for distinguishing between contacts that originate from changes in depositional processes and contacts that form as a result of post-depositional processes such as pedogenesis, diagenesis, or burning. Further examples show how “invisible” anthropogenic surfaces and different kinds of occupation deposits can come to light at a microscopic scale of observation. Finally, we illustrate cases in which what appeared to be sterile layers in the field yielded anthropogenic elements. In the end, we discuss how archaeological projects might incorporate microstratigraphic analyses and their results within broader research frameworks that prioritize site formation process reconstruction.

The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2013: the seventh season of excavations in the Haua Fteah cave

AbstractThe paper reports the preliminary results from the short season of fieldwork that the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project was able to undertake with a small Anglo-Libyan team in September 2013. The work concentrated on continuing the excavation of Trench M down the southern side of the Middle Trench and of Trench D on the southern side of the Deep Sounding below it, the eventual objective being to link these so as to provide a high quality dataset of sedimentary and cultural data from the top to the bottom of the Pleistocene occupation deposit (some 12 m). The ~1 m of sediments investigated in Trench M in the 2013 fieldwork includes carbonate crusts possibly formed in oscillating sub-humid to arid climatic pulses, perhaps likely during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, around 60,000–70,000 years ago. One of these crusts formed the base on which a hearth-like structure had been built. In Trench D evidence for human occupation appears to decline moving up the profile, coinciding with sedimentary evidence of more frequent disruptive climatic events possibly associated with latter stages of MIS 5.

Characterising the use of urban space: a geochemical case study from Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester, Hampshire, UK) Insula IX during the late first/early second century AD

The geochemical analysis of soil samples from the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester, Hampshire, UK) has been undertaken in order to enhance our understanding of urban occupation during the late first/early second century AD. Samples taken from a variety of occupation deposits within several, contemporary timber buildings, including associated hearths, have been analysed using laboratory-based x-ray fluorescence for a suite of elements (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sr, P and Ca). The patterns of elemental enrichment seen across the site have allowed us to compare and contrast the buildings that were occupied during this time in an attempt to distinguish different uses, such as between domestic and work-space. Two of the buildings stand out as having high concentrations of elements which suggest that they were dirtier work spaces, whilst other buildings appear to be have lower chemical loadings suggesting they were cleaner.

Micromorphological analysis of sediments at the Bronze Age site of Mitrou, central Greece: patterns of floor construction and maintenance

The study of settlement sites is usually based on the analysis of architectural or cultural phases. The sediments that constitute the excavated deposits inside or outside houses are rarely studied. This work presents micromorphological analysis of sediments at the prehistoric site of Mitrou, a small tidal islet in central Greece. Unusually long archaeological sequences have been excavated ranging from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (ca. 2400–900 BCE). The occupational deposits in the Early and Middle Bronze Age are characterized by meticulous maintenance practices with multiple replastered floor sequences. These include surfaces made of debris produced inside houses by day-to-day activities. In this way an impressive thick sequence of overlapping worn-out floors and occupational deposits is produced with a characteristic finely layered macroscopic appearance. There is no clear association of a building phase with a single floor level but rather with a thick sequence of floor build-up. This practice ends in the Late Bronze Age, and from then on, floors are not frequently repaired and their construction technique is more standardized. Usually, a relative thin sequence of one or two floors is associated with a new architectural phase. The observed change is broadly correlated with the rise of a prepalatial political elite at Mitrou. The contrasting maintenance techniques also are relevant to discussions about differences between tells and 'flat' settlements. Until the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, Mitrou's indoor surfaces are those of a tell site whereas after that its surfaces resemble those of a ‘flat’ settlement. In Mitrou it appears that this change is related to a different perception of construction and maintenance of floors that in turn should be traced to the pattern of reconstruction of entire houses. These changes have a social significance that may reflect differences in household processes and use of space.

The Late Paleoindian Occupation of the Western Ouachita Mountains of Southeast Oklahoma: The Archaeology of Component V at the Quince Site (34AT134)

The Quince site (34AT134) is a well-preserved and relatively deeply stratified Ouachita Mountains archaeological site in Atoka County in southeastern Oklahoma. The site’s archaeological deposits are buried in Late Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial terrace deposits of McGee Creek, a tributary to Muddy Boggy Creek, itself a southern-flowing tributary to the Red River, that cuts through the western edge of the mountains. Excavated in 1982 and 1983 prior to the creation of McGee Creek Reservoir by the Bureau of Reclamation, the 3.0 m deep archaeological deposits at the Quince site contained a record of prehistoric occupations spanning most of the Holocene period (from ca. 10,500 B.P to 1000 radiocarbon years B.P., or ca. 12,590 to 927 calibrated years B.P.) Woodland (Component I), Late Archaic (Components II and III), and Middle Archaic (Component IV) period occupational deposits are present in good stratigraphic order within the upper 1 m of McGee Creek alluvium. There are also a series of buried Late Paleoindian occupations (in what is defined as Component V) with features and chipped stone lithic tools recovered in situ that are recognized beginning from about 1.10 m to 3.0 m in depth below the surface. In this article, I discuss the archaeological evidence for use of the Western Ouachita Mountains by Late Paleoindian foragers as seen principally from the micro-scale; that is, from the perspective of this one well-preserved and stratified Late Paleoindian site. Paleoindian occupations with good stratigraphic context are apparently quite rare in the Ouachita Mountains and along the edge of the Southeastern woodlands and the Great Plains in the eastern and eastcentral part of the state of Oklahoma. Much of the archaeological research dealing with Late Paleoindian peoples in this region has dealt primarily with the description and classification of isolated temporally diagnostic projectile points (and the kinds of lithic raw materials employed in projectile point manufacture) found on the surface or in mixed and relatively shallow stratigraphic contexts. The Quince site Late Paleoindian archaeological deposits provide direct and compelling evidence for the long-term and recurrent use of the western Ouachita Mountains by hunter-gatherer groups.

Applications of micromorphology to understanding activity areas and site formation processes in experimental hut floors

Experimental buildings at Butser Ancient Farm and St. Fagans (UK) and Lejre (Denmark) were sampled to investigate micromorphology of known activity areas, to contribute to our understanding of the internal use of space in excavated buildings and formation processes of house floor deposits. The experimental buildings provided important information relating to activity residues and sediments over the 16 years that the buildings were in use. Specifically, these results contribute to our understanding of the routes and cycles for transportation of materials in occupation contexts, which can be used to inform archaeological studies. It has been possible to identify internal ‘hot spots’ within the buildings for the deposition of activity residues and for the formation of specific deposit types. Analysis also highlighted post-depositional alterations occurring in internal occupation deposits, which has provided a means of identifying roofed and unroofed spaces in the archaeological record.

Erratum to: A Microfacies Toolkit for Revealing Linkages Between Cultural Discontinuities and Exceptional Geogenic Events: the Tell Dja’de Case Study (NE Syria)

High-resolution multi-archive studies have been promoted to reveal abrupt discontinuities that would express rapid social reactions (days to decades) to sudden exceptional geogenic phenomena (climatic, volcanic, tectonic, geomorphic, or cosmic). We expose here how we have adopted this approach for examining the causal linkages between a series of cultural discontinuities encountered through the cultural deposits of Da’de (Syria) and cosmic airbursts. Cosmic events, known to be rare, erratic, and unpredictable, are traced by exceptional debris that formed from aerosols when violently compressed during entry through the earth atmosphere of hypervelocity cosmic collider. They consist of singular organo-mineral materials in the form of volatile-rich hydrocarbon fuel with resistant metal-rich carbonaceous composites and colorful polymers. The archaeological sequence comprises Da’de phases 0 to III that represent a nearly continuous accumulation for 1,000 years during the Pre-pottery Neolithic period (ca. 9,900–8,900 years bp) and two short-term occupation phases during the pre-Halaf (Da’de IV) and early Bronze Age periods (Da’de V). Study of the exceptional debris in virgin soils and occupation deposits at Da’de has allowed to distinguish an intact debris assemblage that pulverized at the ground following an airburst (type 1 natural singular signal) with the ones that have been processed by humans (type 2 anthropic singular signal). Type 1 singular organo-mineral materials were found intact at the contact of the virgin soil with the earliest Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) occupation layers (Da’de phase 0, area [SB]), at the top part of the virgin soil with the PPNA occupation layers (Da’de phase Ia, area [B]) and just under the lower slabs of the EB III/IV burials (Da’de phase V, area [SB]). This has allowed to establish a strict contemporaneity between cosmic airbursts and remarkable historical events: initial settlement at phase 0, establishment of the magnificent communal building at phase 1, EBIII/IV cemetery after a long period of abandonment. Evidence for the collection of the singular materials (type 2) and meticulous processing of the related hydrocarbon fuel in occupation floors, earthen construction, coloring materials, and objects have been traced from the initial settlement (phase 0) through the successive cultural periods. This correlation has revealed a long-lasting transmission of the value of memorial natural resources which were only available from time to time in the surroundings. The close timing between changes in the use of the singular organo-mineral materials (preparation techniques, types of by-products) and cultural phases has enabled us to identify social discontinuities which correlate to distinctive geogenic events and search of the related exceptional resources. Based on the long-term record from Da’de, cosmic airbursts are suggested to be considered as a new class of dual-discontinuous signal of historical dimension, which have led to sudden (days to months) geogenic shifts in the availability of singular fuel resources and, simultaneously, to rapid cultural responses in their exploitation and use, depending on reactivity of local landscapes to the induced changes at short time scales (decades).

Analysis of a Surface Collection from the L. A. Hale (41TT12) Mound Site, Titus County, Texas

This article, and the three that follow in this volume, are summaries of artifact surface collections obtained by Robert L. Turner, Jr. at four sites in the Big Cypress Creek basin in the Post Oak Savanna and Pineywoods of Northeast Texas. The first surface collection is from the L.A. Hale Mound site (41TTI2) on Blundell Creek, a southward-draining tributary to Big Cypress Creek. According to Thurmond, the principal component at the L.A. Hale Mound site is an Early Caddo (ca. A.D. 900-1200) mound center with extensive midden deposits. There are six mounds at the site, two large platform mounds (Mounds 1 and 2) and four low mounds that cover occupational deposits and burned house structures. There are also four large midden areas adjacent to the earthen mounds as well as at least one borrow pit. In addition to the Early Caddo component, Thurmond has recognized Late Paleoindian, Early Archaic, Middle Archaic, Late Caddo Titus phase, and an early historic Anglo-American occupation from material culture remains recovered in excavations conducted at the site in 1934 by A. T. Jackson (1934) at The University of Texas and a 1980 surface collection by Susan Lisk of The University of Texas at Austin. Turner's collection adds additional information on the occupational history of the site. The exact location of the surface collection area at the site is not known.

Twenty Thousand-Year-Old Huts at a Hunter-Gatherer Settlement in Eastern Jordan

Ten thousand years before Neolithic farmers settled in permanent villages, hunter-gatherer groups of the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 22–11,600 cal BP) inhabited much of southwest Asia. The latest Epipalaeolithic phase (Natufian) is well-known for the appearance of stone-built houses, complex site organization, a sedentary lifestyle and social complexity—precursors for a Neolithic way of life. In contrast, pre-Natufian sites are much less well known and generally considered as campsites for small groups of seasonally-mobile hunter-gatherers. Work at the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic aggregation site of Kharaneh IV in eastern Jordan highlights that some of these earlier sites were large aggregation base camps not unlike those of the Natufian and contributes to ongoing debates on their duration of occupation. Here we discuss the excavation of two 20,000-year-old hut structures at Kharaneh IV that pre-date the renowned stone houses of the Natufian. Exceptionally dense and extensive occupational deposits exhibit repeated habitation over prolonged periods, and contain structural remains associated with exotic and potentially symbolic caches of objects (shell, red ochre, and burnt horn cores) that indicate substantial settlement of the site pre-dating the Natufian and outside of the Natufian homeland as currently understood.

Western Desert Iconography: Rock art mythological narratives and graphic vocabularies

AbstractThe travels of the ancestral beings known as Wati Kutjarra (two lizard-men) are central to Western Desert cosmology. The results of their actions, markings and transmogrified forms are often seen in socially ‘open’ domains and cover and connect features over huge tracts of land. On the central Canning Stock Route of Western Australia there are detailed ethnographic records and ongoing observances of Wati Kutjarra by custodians at a number of ranges and water holes where pigment rock art occurs in shelters. At these same locales archaeological excavations have yielded ochres and occupational deposits which suggest these places have acted as aggregation locales through long periods of time. In this paper we explore the dynamics and genesis of socially constituted desert iconography through time.

Addressing seasonal site use through ancient DNA species identification of Pacific salmon at Dionisio Point, Galiano Island, British Columbia

We use ancient DNA analysis to identify Pacific salmon vertebrae to species in order to provide an important line of evidence that helps to establish the timing of seasonal residence at a Pacific Northwest Coast village site. Ancient DNA results from House 2 at Dionisio Point allow a characterization of the salmon fishery. Ten of eleven randomly selected smaller-sized salmon vertebrae were positively identified as sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka) while only a single pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) was identified. Of the 322 whole salmon vertebrae identified from House 2 occupation deposits during zooarchaeological analysis, 58 percent measure less than 8.0 mm and 70 percent are less than 8.5 mm in maximum transverse diameter. Together with documented aspects of the material record from Dionisio Point, most notably the vertebrate fauna from House 2, the indication that sockeye was the primary focus of the Dionisio Point salmon fishery suggests the site was inhabited during the spring and summer. This approach to the identification of season-specific site occupation has the potential for application over much of the Northeast Pacific.

Homo floresiensis and the late Pleistocene environments of eastern Indonesia: defining the nature of the relationship

Evidence from Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the island of Flores in East Indonesia, provides a unique opportunity to explore the long term relationship between hominins and their environment. Occupation deposits at the site span ∼95 ka and contain abundant stone artefacts, well preserved faunal remains and evidence for an endemic species of hominin: Homo floresiensis. Work at the site included detailed geomorphological and environmental analysis, which has enabled comparisons to be drawn between changes in the occupational intensity in the cave, using stone tool and faunal counts, and changes in the environmental conditions, using the characteristics of the sedimentary layers in the cave and speleothem records. These comparisons demonstrate that H. floresiensis endured rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions over the last ∼100 ka, which influenced the geomorphological processes in the cave and their occupational conditions. The intensity of occupation in the cave changed significantly between 95 and 17 ka, with peaks in occupation occurring at 100–95, 74–61 and 18–17 ka. These correlate with episodes of channel formation and erosion in the cave, which in turn correspond with high rainfall, thick soils and high bio-productivity outside. In contrast, periods of low occupational intensity correlate with reduced channel activity and pooling associated with drier periods from 94 to 75 and 36 to 19 ka. This apparent link between intensity of hominin use of the cave and the general conditions outside relates to the expansion and contraction of the rainforest and the ability of H. floresiensis to adapt to habitat changes. This interpretation implies that these diminutive hominins were able to survive abrupt and prolonged environmental changes by changing their favoured occupation sites. These data provide the basis for a model of human–environment interactions on the island of Flores. With the addition of extra data from other sites on Flores, this model will provide a greater understanding of H. floresiensis as a unique human species.

The Archaeology of the Streets of North Berwick and Implications for the Development of the Burgh

Replacement and upgrading of the mains water system in North Berwick provided an opportunity to identify and record deposits and structures across the core of the medieval burgh. The methods of trench excavation used meant that archaeological features were largely only seen in section, however, a large amount of information about the development of the burgh, and its layout, was collected despite this. Over much of the central core of the medieval burgh, layer upon layer of occupation deposits and more mixed material were interspersed with obvious inundations of wind-blown sand. The existence of a rough surface running east-west along much of the High Street could suggest that this is the more likely candidate for the earliest focus for the burgh, rather than the north/south running Quality Street further to the east. Road surfaces were also seen along East Road, running out of the town. The density of occupation deposits markedly lessened along Westgate, the continuation of the High Street, indicating the limits of the medieval core. A number of structures were also identified, including a wall at the east of the town that may represent the town wall, or at least define the limit of settlement to the east. The data collected from the watching brief will allow better assessments for future planning decisions, and also shows the importance of archaeological monitoring of this type of construction work.

Archaeology of the streets of North Berwick and implications for the development of the burgh

Replacement and upgrading of the mains water system in North Berwick provided an opportunity to identify and record deposits and structures across the core of the medieval burgh. The methods of trench excavation used meant that archaeological features were largely only seen in section, however, a large amount of information about the development of the burgh, and its layout, was collected despite this. Over much of the central core of the medieval burgh, layer upon layer of occupation deposits and more mixed material were interspersed with obvious inundations of wind-blown sand. The existence of a rough surface running east-west along much of the High Street could suggest that this is the more likely candidate for the earliest focus for the burgh, rather than the north/south running Quality Street further to the east. Road surfaces were also seen along East Road, running out of the town. The density of occupation deposits markedly lessened along Westgate, the continuation of the High Street, indicating the limits of the medieval core. A number of structures were also identified, including a wall at the east of the town that may represent the town wall, or at least define the limit of settlement to the east. The data collected from the watching brief will allow better assessments for future planning decisions, and also shows the importance of archaeological monitoring of this type of construction work.

Presenting the San Hunter-Gatherer Past to the Public: A View from the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, South Africa

The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (UDP) was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000 on the basis of its magnificent scenery, biodiversity, and archaeological richness, comprising a rich corpus of rock paintings and occupation deposits relating to the San hunter-gatherers. The desire to encourage heritage tourism to the UDP following the declaration, along with the wish to present a more positive picture of the San hunter-gatherers, led to the development of the Kamberg (in 2002) and Didima Rock Art Centres (in 2003). These centres, together with the Main Caves visitor attraction, which had been redeveloped in 1998, distinguish the UDP as the premier region in South Africa for the interpretation of the San past. Cognizant of the critical role that public interpretation plays in the management of archaeological resources, this paper investigates which aspects of the archaeological record have been stressed and which have been overlooked, the relationship between the interpretations and the findings of UDP archaeological research since the 1970s, and whether these findings enhance the significance and value of the resources and thereby promote their management. It is shown that the overall interpretive emphasis is on rock art and that information derived from Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer excavations since the 1970s have been neglected. Furthermore, it is revealed that the display of Early and Middle Stone Age material at Didima is inconsistent with regional archaeological findings and that there is a neglect of local archaeological remains. It is concluded that the development of any further attractions should be based on an interpretive plan which considers the interpretive requirements of the region as a whole.

On Diet and Settlement in Holocene South Africa

Sealy (CA 47:569–95) reports a contrast in nitrogen isotope readings on human skeletons from two neighbouring areas of the southern Cape, South Africa, and draws two conclusions from it. The first is that the contrast reflects a greater consumption of high-trophic-level food, most likely seals, on the Robberg Peninsula between 4,500 and 2,000 years ago than in the nearby Matjes River Rock Shelter, a difference that she believes implies a long-term territorial boundary between the sites. She further suggests that the Holocene hunter-gatherers of this part of the Cape may have been less residentially mobile than hitherto assumed and may have practiced territorial rather than social boundary defence. This implies semi-sedentism and less exchange of personnel between groups. All the available evidence refutes rather than confirms these suggestions. The difference in nitrogen values is more than 4‰, which would imply a massive dietary contrast between the site occupants. Total dietary replacement of shellfish by seal would result in a shift of about 9‰. Given that many other dietary items, including terrestrial foods, are common to the occupants of these sites, 4‰ implies a shift from a shell midden with seal to a seal midden with shell. Yet both sites are dominated by shellfish. Seal bones are no more common at Nelson Bay Cave than at other Cape sites including an admittedly poorly described Matjes River. At Nelson Bay Cave seal bones are no more common after 4,500 years ago than before and about eight times more common after 2,000 years ago than before. Some of the lowest seal bone densities at Nelson Bay Cave are between 3,300 and 2,000 years ago. The archaeological record, such as it is, directly refutes the proposed interpretation. Marean suggests in his response (2006, p. 588) that it might be possible to rescue the main hypothesis by invoking subsidiary ones such as the impact of transport decisions on seal bone frequencies, but these would need to be spelled out and tested. There are changes in seal bone frequencies and densities, but such changes are out of phase with the Sealy hypothesis. The suggestion that increased seal consumption led to a less residentially mobile settlement pattern on the Robberg Peninsula is also not supported by existing observations. There is a substantial amount of occupation deposit in the

A Pictish burial and Late Norse/Medieval settlement at Sangobeg, Durness, Sutherland

Salvage excavation was carried out on an archaeological site, discovered during the North Sutherland Coastal Zone Assessment Survey in 1998, in dunes at Sangobeg, near Durness in northern Sutherland. The excavation, conducted in 2000, uncovered the fragmentary remains of probable Norse-period settlement, including stone walling, a hearth and occupation deposits that had been truncated by erosion. Sealed beneath the Norse-period remains was the burial of a child of indeterminate sex, aged between 8–10 years, who had been placed in a flexed position on a bed of quartzite pebbles and covered with a mound of clean sand, capped with larger quartzite stones. The burial was dated by radiocarbon to 170 cal BC–cal AD 30 (GU-12535).