The site of Cille Pheadair on South Uist, an island off the western coast of Scotland, was excavated between 1996 and 1998 because it was about to erode away. This rich volume collects the results of these excavations. It is a large and heavy book (mine weighs in at 5.11 lbs or 2.575 kg) with color illustrations and contributions by numerous people in addition to the main authors listed above. While the primary focus of the excavations was the farmhouse of the title, the whole site and a nearby Pictish burial mound are described in detail and placed in historical context. The book is divided into two main parts bracketed by an introduction and a conclusion. Chapters 2 through 11 discuss each layer found in the excavation. They are organized chronologically, from the site's first settlement until its abandonment. These are followed by analytical analyses in chapters 12 through 24.
The main goals of the project were to learn about farmhouse construction and how it changed over time, to test the hypothesis that townships on South Uist originated in the Iron Age, to determine whether Scandinavians colonized the island or Hebridians adopted Scandinavian styles, to place the Uists in the international trade network of the time, and to better understand social stratification in the area. Cille Pheadair is a good site for this because the buildings are relatively well preserved and show several phases of (re)construction. Unlike other locations, Cille Pheadair is near four likely Middle Iron Age settlements, which may represent dispersion from an even earlier site, testing the hypothesis of Iron Age origins. Finally, as an isolated farmstead, Cille Pheadair can provide information about social stratification and links in the trade network.
The first main part begins with the Pictish cairn (cal AD 640-780) south of the Norse settlement, which was discovered accidentally by author Mark Brennand while he was out on a walk. Cille Pheadair Cait (Kilpheder Kate), as the woman in the cairn was called, died in her late thirties or early forties. She was not native to the region; isotope analysis shows that she moved to South Uist from the eastern side of the British Isles as a child. The position of the skeleton suggests that it was disturbed after burial, but before the cairn was erected, perhaps to remove grave goods or even body parts, the authors speculate. Their speculation is supported by the noteworthy absence of the sternum. This is the third instance of a Pictish burial near a Norse settlement, the others being Sandwick and Sangobeg, which leads the authors to suggest "that Pictish burial sites might have served as visible markers employed in siting Norse-period farmhouses" following Brady et al., "A Pictish burial and Late Norse/medieval settlement at Sangobeg, Durness, Sutherland," Scottish Archaeological Journal 29: 51-82 (2008).
Chapters 3 through 12 discuss the nine occupation phases of the Norse site (cal AD 945-1245) with a focus on the construction events during each period. Each concludes with an overview by lead author M. Parker Pearson that highlights the chapter's main results and links the chapters together. The primary focus of the excavation was the farmhouse itself. This was an unusually rich structure because it was nearly complete and featured a full artifact assemblage. The ceramic artifacts found in the pits from the first phase of construction (phase 1, cal AD 945-1020) hint at unusual activities, perhaps a party to celebrate the new building. The second phase (cal AD 945-1020) raises questions about what was constructed because the chronology is unclear and there is compressed peat ash that looks like flooring but is not accompanied by a building. Things become clearer in phase 3, when the first longhouse (House 700) was built (cal AD 1030-1095). This house featured stone footings under the walls and an east-facing front door; the lack of interior supports suggests that the walls carried the weight of the roof.
Shortly thereafter (cal AD 1060-1100, phase 4), House 700 was dismantled to build House 500, the largest to grace the site. It featured an additional room at the north end with a second fireplace. Potsherds suggest the beginning of trade with people living on the Irish Sea, in contrast to Norwegian and Shetland artifacts found in earlier phases. In cal AD 1070-1125 (phase 5), the house was first abandoned and then rebuilt. The two rooms were separated, and the size of the main building was halved. The north room became an outhouse. This change in size may represent a change in fortune, perhaps due to a Norwegian raid. After this, there was a break in the use of the house as the site was buried in sand. In cal AD 1100-1155 (phase 6), two "small and rather curious buildings" were built. Their function remains unclear, but may have been related to agricultural activity or storage.
In phase 7 (cal AD 1105-1160), two entirely new buildings, House 312 and an outhouse, were built on the site. The new house had an east-west orientation, which contrasts with the earlier longhouses' north-south orientations. This choice is probably attributable to "cultural understandings of cosmology and religion" (598). The house was used until cal AD 1130-1190. After an unknown length of time (months or years), House 007 was built on top of House 312 in cal AD 1140-1205 (phase 8). This new building represented a return to the original north-south orientation of the earlier houses. Interestingly, the site was not completely abandoned during this time. The outhouse remained in use continuously. The longhouse's final abandonment is marked by a coin from King John's reign (c. AD 1206), which is consistent with the corresponding radiocarbon date (cal AD 1160-1245). The site was never again home to permanent occupants. In the ninth and final phase (cal AD 1160-1245), House 007 was repurposed into two small rooms or huts with short-term occupants.
The second main part of the book consists mainly of detailed analyses of artifacts by type. The chapters treat, in order, ceramics; small items (combs, ornaments, weights, and coins); bone and antler tools (including a single perforated marine shell); iron tools (including both knives and weapons); stone artifacts; artifacts associated with industry (mainly ironworking waste); mammal remains; bird, fish, and mollusc remains; human remains; plant remains; and organic residues. A study of the soil micromorphology and a description of the radiocarbon dating methods applied round out this part. These chapters vary in size with the amount of material found. The chapters on human remains, ironworking, and organic residues are all fewer than five pages long. In contrast, the chapters on faunal remains both approach fifty pages. The level of detail is appropriate to the number of artifacts; the chapter on human remains only addresses two bone fragments and five teeth, which does not require as much discussion as the thousands of mammal bones do.
The concluding chapter places the site in its historical context and identifies the main contributions of the study. The application of a Norse architectural style to a pre-existing structure in which pottery was used shows a continuation of pre-Viking culture in an area of Norse ascendancy. This supports the idea that the Norse settlement of this region is better modeled by integration than genocide. Artifacts found on the site suggest links with Norway and Shetland in phases one through five that then shifted to links with Great Britain and Ireland in the later phases. This change in linkage is consistent with larger-scale historical events.
This large volume is a fitting monument to a vanished site. Figure 2.1 on page 22 shows the erosion process poignantly: in 1996, both the Pictish cairn and the Norse farmstead were dangerously close to the low tide mark. Two nearby sites had already been damaged or vanished by that point. The excavators are to be congratulated on completing a well-timed rescue operation despite grim working conditions involving blowing sand and rotting animal corpses. They were able to collect valuable and unusually detailed information that can now be combined with other results for a better understanding of local and regional history.