Excavations at Dun Vulan:

a reinterpretation of the reappraised

Iron Age
SIMON 81MURRAY
GILMOUR COOK"

Recent excavation of Scottish Iron Age Brochs and wheelhouses enables n e w discussion
of the development, dating and economic interpretation of these impressive structures.
Here, Gilmour b Cook assess the work at Dun Vulan, South Uist, in the Western Isles.

Key-words: Scotland, Iron Age, brochs, Western Isles

Introduction buildings revetted into the central area of the

In a recent review of brochs and wheelhouses,
Brochs a n d Iron Age society: a reappraisal
(Parker Pearson et al. 1996), a model was pre-
sented whereby broch inhabitants were at the
peak of a hierarchical system and wheelhouse
inhabitants were base clients. The model pro-
posed was based on faunal material recovered
from an external midden at Dun Vulan broch
and compared to southern English Iron Age
evidence and medieval data (Parker Pearson
et al. 1996: 66). This demonstrated a clearly
different economy in comparison with the
Kildonan I11 wheelhouse. This paper seeks to
explore the evidence presented and concludes
that there is, as yet, no evidence to link this
external midden with the broch occupation. It
is also the authors' intention briefly to review
the evidence for Iron Age society from the occu-
pation of brochs to the later 1st millennium AD
secondary settlement. We would conclude that
southern English models have little relevance to
Atlantic Scotland. Rather than try to propose wide-
ranging syntheses, the relatively scant Iron Age
evidence from Atlantic Scotland lends itself more
towards the definition of local patterns.
Secondary structures
Mike Parker Pearson and Niall Sharples' exca-
vations at Dun Vulan have revealed cellular
structure, possibly at first-floor level [Parker
Pearson et a1. 1995). This evidence, however,
appears to have been ignored in the subsequent
publication dealt with here (Parker Pearson et
al. 1996). The authors' experience and subse-
quent research into such structures, initiated
during excavations at Loch na Berie broch, West
Lewis (Harding & Armit 1990; Harding 1993;
Harding et al. 1994 & 1995),can now be brought
to bear on the evidence presented in the 1996
paper. Loch na Berie broch is a semi-submerged
site where 1 0 years of excavation have un-
covered extraordinarily well-preserved and
detailed information on the development of
secondary cellular structures. A very com-
plex sequence of deposits spanning over 1 0
phases of occupation from the 2nd century
AD to the 7th or 8th centuries AD have been
excavated of which none is conclusively origi-
nal to the use of the broch itself. The experi-
ence of this site, and evidence from the Howe,
is relevant to the analysis and dating of the
Dun Vulan material.
The lack of any published plans of the cel-
lular buildings and external structures at Dun
Vulan makes an analysis of their layout and
specific architectural details difficult. However,
the latter are stone buildings located in a fore-
court to the broch, possibly erected by the 1st

* Gilmour, Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Old High School, Infirmary St, Edinburgh ~ 1 3 ~1 L T ,
Scotland. sgilrnourQhsyl.ssc.ed.ac.uk Cook, AOC (Scotland) Ltd, The Old Schoolhouse, 4 Lochend Road, Leith,
Edinburgh EH6 8BR, Scotland. murraycQaocscot.co.uk
Received 21 August 1997, accepted 2 1 November 1997, revised 18 February 1998.
ANTIQUITY72 (1998): 327-37
328 SIMON GILMOUR & MURRAY COOK
to 2nd centuries AD based on the MacKie sys-
tem of dating brochs (Parker Pearson et al. 1996:
63). The original report noted that the entrances
to the external structures face the same east-
erly direction as the broch itself (Parker Pearson
et ~ l1996:
. 63), and at least two of these were
rectangular stone platforms with covered drains
running in an east-west direction. Analysis of
the soils on these platforms indicates their use
as outhouses rather than dwellings although
they incorporate some unusual features. These
buildings were compared with the chronologi-
cally wide-ranging rectilinear structures at Cnip,
Lewis, Tungadale, Skye and the Wag of Forse,
Caithness (Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 63). The
external midden is discussed during the same
argument encompassing these later external
structures (Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 63) which
would seem to imply that it was certainly not
a primary broch feature. Many excavations of
Iron Age sites uncover evidence for rectangu-
lar buildings such as at Cnip, The Howe, Wag
of Forse and even Gurness. These are all dated
to the 1st millennium AD and often occur prior
to the appearance of figure-of-eight cellular
buildings dating to the late centuries of the 1st
millennium AD.
The appreciation of secondary structures
within the dilapidated remains of broch struc-
tures is often sidelined by focusing on brochs
and wheelhouses. Current work is trying to
disentangle and analyse a morass of second-
ary occupation. Many antiquarian excavators,
working within very short chronological con-
straints imposed by the use of historical events
to account for changes in society, simply did
not understand the longevity of such sites and
failed to extrapolate their secondary re-use from
the original deposits and structures. This is-
sue is still a contentious subject and has been
highlighted in a recent Argyll publication
(Ritchie 1997).In this the problems of identifi-
cation and dating of secondary structures, as
opposed to original deposits, occurs twice. First,
the original interpretation of Dun Mor Vaul
is vigorously argued (MacKie 1997) and sec-
ond, the re-interpretation of Dun Cuier first
proposed by Ian Armit (1988: 81; 1990a: 55-
7; 1992: 83-4) is still seen as problematic
(MacKie, 1997: 153).These authors agree with
Armit’s reinterpretation of Dun Cuier as a
complex Atlantic roundhouse with a second-
ary structure inserted.
Dun Cuier again, and again . ..
It is perhaps worth considering this problem
in some detail as it has become synonymous
with the interpretation of secondary structures
on Iron Age sites in Atlantic Scotland. A sin-
gle skin of walling was built inside a galleried
roundhouse at Dun Cuier (Young 1956). The
excavator regarded the site as essentially sin-
gle period and assigned it to the 5th-7th cen-
turies AD on the basis of the material remains
recovered. These included a single fragment
of a zoomorphic brooch mould (Young 1956:
315), bone parallelepiped dice and decorated
composite combs, one of which is a high backed
single-sided comb comparable to that found at
Lagore crannog, Ireland (Young 1956: 316). This
internal structure has been convincingly argued
as secondary by Armit, an idea also supported
by Harding (1997: 126-8). MacKie’s recent ar-
guments against this reinterpretation have con-
ceded that the internal wall face may indeed
be secondary and associated with featureless
coarse pottery and a late horizon above the main
hearths on the site. However, the sand in which
the hearths were set and diagnostic artefacts
discovered is still considered contemporary with
the main galleried structure (MacKie 1997: 153).
Evidence to the contrary is portrayed in the
cross-sections drawn by the excavator which
plainly indicate the sand abutting the stone
foundations of the secondary walling (Young
1956: 298, figure 6b).
Further reinterpretations of secondary struc-
tures have been attempted at Gurness and
Midhowe by MacKie (1995) and the structural
evidence presented seems wholly convincing
to these authors. It is our belief that in the Iron
Age, where the radiocarbon calibration curve
is grossly inefficient, much more reliance must
be placed on sound stratigraphic and structur-
ally derived chronologies. Unfortunately it
seems that the evidence of secondarylcontin-
ued activity at many sites is very rarely accorded
significance and is often excluded from detailed
consideration or amalgamated with original
structures to produce single period phasing (e.g.
Gurness; Hedges 1987).The analysis of the Dun
Vulan midden seems to have become the most
recent victim of this train of thought. On the
evidence presented in the 1996 paper there is
no stratigraphic link between the midden de-
posits and the galleried roundhouse which
suggests contemporaneity with the primary use
 EXCAVATIONS AT DUN VULAN: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REAPPRAISED IRON AGE
of that building. The presence of secondary
structures similar to those at Berie within the
galleried roundhouse highlights the dangers of
such assumptions. It is suggested in the fol-
lowing discussions that the midden evidence
supports a later date for its deposition, possi-
bly contemporary with the secondary cellular
buildings.
Definitions and dates
Acceptance of the unequivocal category and
dating of ‘brochs’ as defined by MacKie (Parker
Pearson et al. 1996: 59) is problematic. Such a
statement cannot be made at this time as the
development of modern research into such
monuments is unfortunately still in its infancy.
Exceptionally constraining architectural typol-
ogy is fraught with problems which made the
definition of a broad category of Atlantic Round-
houses so appealing. The arguments which al-
low the general acceptance of such a category
impinge on the possibility of a clearly visible
separate class of monument known as the ‘broch’
(Armit 1988; 1990a; 1992; 1996). Armit him-
self has conceded the notion of a separate tower-
like structure but this has never been clearly
defined and seems to apply only to those sites
preserved well enough to exhibit tower like
proportions. All so-called ‘brochs’ indicate
vagaries in construction, Gurness for example
seems to be exceptional in having continuous
ground-floor galleries (Hedges 1987), while
others have various means of relieving weight
above doorways. For instance, the early reports
of Dun Carloway (Tabraham 1976) can be com-
pared to the ladder-like effects at Dun Troddan
(Curle 1921) and Mousa (Hamilton 1970; Fojut
1982) and the lack of any such space at Dun
Mor Vaul (MacKie 1974).These and many other
architectural details are the building blocks of
MacKie’s definition of a ‘broch’, and yet many
of those sites so frequently called ‘brochs’ do
not exhibit all or any of these features. The prob-
lems of archaeological visibility have been re-
hearsed many times already (Armit 1988;1990a;
1992; 1996; Harding & Armit 1990) and while
not reiterated in full here should not be ignored.
The authors would therefore argue that the
concept of Atlantic roundhouses should be
explored in much greater detail before sepa-
rating ‘brochs’ from the circular drystone ar-
chitecture which characterizes Iron Age Atlantic
Scotland.
329
The dating of Atlantic roundhouses and their
development from simple to complex types is
very important to the issues at stake here. It is
not possible simply to accept those parts of
MacKie’s complex and embedded dating argu-
ment which may seem useful or correct with-
out, by implication, accepting how those parts
were arrived at. The so-called ‘exaggeration’ of
the significance of early dates at several sites
is a case in point (Parker Pearson et al. 1996:
59). These early dates are the very crux of the
Atlantic roundhouse concept; they seem to
indicate the early origins of the form in an indig-
enous environment. That they relate to structures
‘which do not satisfy the definition of brochs’
(Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 59) only enhances
the inextricability of the dating, definition and
development arguments. Dun Bharabhat, The
Howe and Crosskirk all contained the eroded or
dismantled remains of intramural staircases
which may have wound up the structure to allow
access to many floors. All these structures had
some form of intramural space, and for all we
know may even have contained upper galler-
ies. The picking of single architectural details
from one site to distinguish it from others is
clearly not viable in the authors’ point of view,
particularly when different architectural details
are identified from each site.
Recent radiocarbon dates for the cellular
phase at Berie, allied with artefactual evidence,
places the material and later features discussed
here into the 6th century AD and later. An
analysis of cellular settlement across the At-
lantic Seaboard indicates that many such set-
tlements, especially figure-of-eight type
buildings, also emerge from the archaeologi-
cal record around this time and slightly ear-
lier. It is quite possible that many wheelhouses
discussed in this paper developed alongside
or prior to the earlier cellular settlements or
perhaps even towards the end of the use of
Atlantic roundhouses. However, the radiocar-
bon dating evidence for the coeval building
of roundhouses and wheeIhouses is far from
secure (cf. Armit 1997a).
Parker Pearson et al. submit the evidence of
presumably later, but unpublished, dates from
the excavations at Dun Vulan and Scalloway
in Shetland to enforce the 1st century BC con-
struction of ‘brochs’. However, without any
stratigraphic details it is impossible to evalu-
ate these claims.
330 SIMON GILMOUR & MURRAY COOK

‘Brochs’in the landscape material, from Dun Vulan was used by the ex-
The definition of a ‘broch’ has obvious effects cavators to elucidate ‘the social significance of
on the recorded distribution of the site type the broch lifestyle’ (Parker Pearson et al. 1996:
across the Atlantic Scottish Seaboard. In recent 63). This material, recovered from the large
discussions relating to this problem Armit has external midden, has been dated to the 1st-
pointed out that many of the qualifications 3rd centuries AD, presumably by analogy to the
sought by Parker Pearson et al. tend to obscure broch dating. The excavators believe this midden
the settlement patterns visible in the landscape. to be a curious feature since it is seen as an
This would seem to apply also to the smaller, extravagance in a machair environment which
non-roundhouse occupations discovered dur- needed constant fertilizer (Parker Pearson et
ing the recent intensive surveys conducted by al. 1996: 63). It is true that very few complex
SEARCH in North Uist (Armit 1997b: 266-8). roundhouses exhibit conspicuous external
The authors would tend to concur with this middens, although almost all such sites to date
view while acknowledging that the paper high- have produced secondary occupation which
lights interesting avenues towards a more land- would destroy such evidence if it existed. How-
scape-oriented Atlantic Iron Age archaeology. ever, if one accepts that this deposit may be-
We would agree that the ‘siting of a broch is a long to the secondary re-use of the site then
conscious statement which only makes sense perhaps this incongruity may be better ex-
within a social context’ (Parker Pearson et nl. plained. Rather than having to resort to sym-
1996: 60) However, it would be difficult to sus- bolic reasons for the accumulation of a large
tain an argument for the social context suggested midden, it may be that the occupants of the
in the currently rare atmosphere of full-scale smaller secondary cellular structures were less
archaeological excavation of such sites and, as preoccupied or influenced by the external ap-
will be argued later, this may be an oversim- pearance of their dwelling. Certainly, the need
plification of a very complex situation. for monumental architecture seems to have
The location of the cellular settlement, pre- faded by this time (Armit 1990-1996), and the
sumably 1st millennium A11 (if analogous to cellular structures dominating the western ar-
Berie) is, in some ways, influenced by the prior chaeological record during the 1st millennium
needs of the original inhabitants of the round- AD indicate a greater focus on internal organiza-
house. However, the excavations at Dun Vulan, tion than external appearance. Most, if not the
and to a certain extent Dun Bharabhat (Harding majority, of these buildings are revetted and only
& Armit 1990),Loch na Berie (Harding & Armit expose small lengths and heights of walling and
1990; Harding 1993;Harding et al. 1994 & 1995), their roofs to the external environment. The
Eilean Olabhat (Armit 1997) and other sites in midden may simply represent several years’build-
the north, such as Howe (Ballin Smith 1994), up of deposit from which the occupants took
would argue for the long-term and/or repeated material as and when necessary for various func-
use of a specific location over many hundreds of tions such as fertilizer and wall core material.
years, and sometimes longer. At Dun Vulan this The evidence from this midden may there-
is represented by Bronze Age material and Late fore have more relevance to the discussion of
Iron Age cellular structures. These locations have mid to late 1st millennium AD cellular settle-
presumably been favoured throughout much of ment than the ‘broch’lifestyle. There were high
Western Isles prehistory and therefore indicate proportions of both cattle, possibly used mainly
some form of continuity throughout this time for dairying, and sheep, perhaps used as meat
span. Whether this continuity is functional, for livestock. The high proportions of dead calves
example proximity to good arable or grazing suggest an unsustainable population demog-
land, or a more social aspect, for example the raphy. There was a significant proportion of
development and possibly even hereditary pig allowing detailed analysis of their usage
nature of land ownership, is a complex argu- which indicated a high kill-ratio of young ani-
ment to be discussed elsewhere. mals. This information suggested to the exca-
vators that the occupants were deriving much
‘Broch’lifestyles of their meat from exploited communities in
Preliminary analysis of the well-preserved en- the vicinity. There was also a large quantity of
vironmental remains, particularly the faunal fish and bird bone, particularly in comparison
 EXCAVATIONS AT DUN VULAN: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REAPPRAISED IRON AGE
to the nearby wheelhouse at Kildonan I11 (Parker
Pearson et al. 1996: 65). This is also seen by
the excavators as another indication of higher
living standards than others in the area. The
material analysed thus seems to compare well
with 1st century BC/AD southern Britain and
even aristocratic and commoner diets in me-
dieval England (Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 66).
The agelslaughter patterns reconstructed from
the assemblage do appear to suggest that the
inhabitants were deriving much of their meat
from elsewhere. However, as the phase exca-
vated may actually represent the final phase
of cellular occupation, this material cannot be
related to the broch. A cattle slaughter pattern
in which 60% of the population are killed in
their first year is suggested as indicating a dairy-
ing economy (Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 65).
Early historic and ethnographic evidence
(McCormick 1992) suggest that early cattle
would not give milk without the presence of
the calf. Analysis of Early Christian Irish sites
where dairying is recorded demonstrate age/
slaughter patterns of calves with peaks towards
the end of their first year. McCormick has sug-
gested (contra Legge 1981) that the deliberate
slaughter of calves up to six and perhaps nine
months cannot be taken as evidence of dairy-
ing, but rather an economy where it was of lit-
tle importance.
Support for the proposal that pig represents a
substantial proportion of complex Atlantic round-
house economies is drawn from three sites: the
Howe, Orkney (26%),Upper Scalloway,Shetland
(22%) and Crosskirk, Caithness (18%). This is
compared to the wheelhouses at Kildonan 111,
South Uist (9.4%), Sollas, North Uist (5-4%),
Baleshare, North Uist (6%) and Hornish Point,
South Uist (12%) (ParkerPearson et ~ l1996: . 65).
However, in the Atlantic roundhouse phases
516 and 7 at the Howe pig constitutes 4.15%
and 12.27y0 respectively. It is only in Phase 7/
8, which includes Pictish Late Iron Age mate-
rial and cellular buildings, that pigs approach
26% and in fact constitute 24.4% of the assem-
blage (Smith 1994). The figures from Howe 51
6 and 7 are thus more in line with the figures
quoted from wheelhouses. The Crosskirk as-
semblage does not solely represent complex
Atlantic roundhouse occupation, but rather a
summary of all the occupation phases, in total
some 700 years. Therefore the pigs may not
derive from the primary Atlantic roundhouse
331
occupation. The Upper Scalloway assemblage
represents only a partial sampling of the midden
(Sharples &ParkerPearson 1997: 257) and this
too is not directly related to the internal de-
posits. A second assemblage found outside the
Dun Vulan roundhouse, above the external struc-
tures, is mentioned in which pigs constitute
only 1 2 % of the assemblage, a figure closer to
the wheelhouse totals (Parker Pearson et al. 1996:
65). This material is not included in the site's
assessment. Finally, the only other two exca-
vated complex Atlantic roundhouses with pri-
mary levels producing adequate material are
Dun Mor Vaul (MacKie 1974) and Dun Ardtreck
(MacKie 1970). Neither have significant pro-
portions of pig remains (TABLE2).
It is suggested that red deer represents only
an incidental component of other Iron Age sites
(Parker Pearson et al. 1996: 65). However, TA-
BLES 1& 2 which review the existing evidence
for Iron Age economies in Atlantic Scotland,
demonstrate that it is only in the Uists that red
deer do not play a significant role in site econo-
mies.
Support for the dominance of pigs and cat-
tle in the hierarchical model proposed is drawn
from Romanized communities in southern Eng-
land, and the preference of Medieval English
aristocracy for pigs (Parker Pearson et al. 1996:
66). Neither would appear to have any bearing
on Atlantic Scotland. There is, however, some
evidence for the ritual significance of pigs and
cattle in the area. At Sollas wheelhouse and
the Howe, for example, pig and cattle burials
have been found (Smith 1994; Campbell 1991;
Campbell & Finlay 1991; Ballin Smith 1994).
A deposit of some 32 cattle teeth was recov-
ered from A'Cheardach Mhor wheelhouse
(Young & Richardson 1959: 141) and a double
line of cattle teeth were found in an arc around
the hearth at Dun Bharabhat (Harding & Armit
1990: 81). These however should be seen as
part of a wider ritual deposition of all animals
including sheep and wild genera. For instance
there are two deposits of seal canines at the
secondary settlement at Berie. Twenty-nine were
retrieved from a slab-sided square box in the
penultimate Pictish phase (representing at least
8 animals) and another 20 (representing at least
4 animals) from mixed Pictish deposits. An arc
of deer jaws were also discovered around a
hearth at A'Cheardach Bheag wheelhouse
(Fairhurst 1971). The depiction of deer on pot-
332 SIMON GILMOUR & MURRAY COOK

sheep/ red
site period cattle goat pig horse deer seal others total

Orkney
Crosskirk 5th c ~ c - 2 n dc AD a60 a14 a16 a2 a5.5 ax a2.5 788

Warbeth 3rd-5th c AD a23 a55 a5 a0 a17 a0 a0 2098

b5 b25 b9 a0 b5

Ho we
Phases 516 2nd c Be-1st c AD a39 a18 a4 ax a34 ax a5 1226
b4 b4 bi bl b8 b?
Phase 7 1st-4th c AD a40 a27 a13 a1 a1 7 ax a2.5 11636
b63 b88 b35 b4 b50 b?
Phase 8 4th-7th c AD a26 a31 a15 a0.5 a3 ax a1.5 2308
b34 b63 b41 b2 b6 b?

B u ckq u oy
Phase l a 7th c AD a62.92 a14.61 a15.7 a5.62 a0 a1 a0 178
b6 b3 b4 bl bl
Phase 1b 7thC AD a50.41 a21.38 a22.2 a3.75 a1 a0.5 a1 1333
b26 b7 b13 b5 b5 b1
Phase 2ia 8th C AD a56 a64 25
b5 b5
Phase 2ib 8th c AD a534 a25.33 a18.7 a1.5 a0 ax a0.5 3 75
b1o b9 b5 b2 bl
Phase 2ii 8th c AD b37.04 a33.33 a22.7 a1.5 ax ax a5 405
a5 b10 b8 b2 bi b1

Brough of Birsay
Site 7 7th-9th c AD a36 a64 ax a0 a0 a0 ax 91 3
b1 b2 bl
Site 8 7th-gth c AD a52 a29 a3 a0 ax a0 a16 297
b2 b2 bl
Site 9 7th-gth c AD a48 a35 a17 a0 a0 a0 a0 177
b2 b2 bl

Room 5
Phase 1 pre 645+55 AII a47.37 a47.55 a1.63 a0 a0 a0 a3.45 1104
b3 b4 b2
Phase 2 pre 645+55 A11 a34.77 a61.42 a0 a0 a0 a0 a3431 394
b2 b3

Saevar Howe
Phase 1 8th c AD a18 a66 a15 a1 a0 a0 a0 164
b4 bll b4 bl

a = NISP total, b = MNI value, x = loss than 0 . 5 % .

TABLE1. Proportions of species in North Scotland a n d Mainland Orkney (After Macartney 1984; Smith
1994; Noddle 1977; Sellar 1982; 1986; 1989; Rowley-Conwy 1983.)

tery such as at Bragar and Galson, Lewis, Dun
Boraidh, Coll and Kilpheder, South Uist (Hingley
1992: 24), as well as a model red deer head,
found at Dun Bharabhat (D.W. Harding pers.
comm.) is further indication of the general in-
fluence of these creatures on Iron Age society.
The evidence presented in the 1996 paper can
thus be reinterpreted in different ways. In gen-
eral the differences in economy noted between
sites may be chronological rather than societal
and we would argue that a dairying economy was
secondary in the Atlantic Scottish context.
 EXCAVATIONS AT DUN VULAN: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REAPPRAISED IRON AGE 333

sheep1 red
site period cattle goat Pig horse deer seal others tofu1

Lewis
Cnip
Phases 1-3 415th c BC-1st c A D a38 a28 a5 a0 a23 a1 a5 1625
c33 c26 c15 c26 ? ?
Bharabhat# late 1st millennium BC a26.2 a21.08 a3.92 a0 a47.29 a1.5 0 332

North Uist
Sollas Site A early centuries AD a34 a58 a5.5 ax a1 a1.5 a0 788
b4 b14 bi bi b1
Sollas Site B early centuries AD a5 7 a36 a5 a1 a1 a0 a0 354
b2 b7 bi bl bi

South Uist
Dun Vulan lst-3rd c AD a2 6 a47 a22 a? ax a5 a? ?

Skye
Dun Flodigarry 1st C BC-1st C AD a81.94 a2.31 a9.72 a0 a5.56 a0.46 21 6
b4 bl b2 bi bl
Dun Ardtreck 1st c Bc-2nd c AD a50 a8 a1 3 a0 a29* 1307
b68 b35 b44 b51*

Tiree
Dun Mor VauJ 5th c BC-3rd c AD
Phase 1 a18 a32 a2.5 a0 a36.5* a0 a1 82
Phase 2 a17.5 a66 a2.5 a0 a13* a0 a1 446
Phase 3a a29.5 a35.5 a5 a0 a29* a0 a1 237
Phase 3b a3 1 a27 a12 a0 a28.5* a1.5 a0 74
Phase 4 a33 a29.5 a2 a0 a31.5* a5 a0 396
Phase 5 a21.5 a2 2 a8 a0 a39.5* a0 a0 149

Iona
Dun Cul Bhuirg 1st C ~C-3rd C AD a42 a1 5 a19 a0 a18* a2 a0 1384
b15 b7 biz b7* bl
Monastic Valium early 7th c AD a76.9 a5.4 a2.2 a2.2 a8.9* a1.8 a2.2 221
b9 b5 b2 b2 b5* b2 b2
Guest House early 9th c AD
Upper a45.04 a16.63 a15.7 a.046 a1946* a1.39 a1 433
b8 b8 b7 bl b7* b3 b3
Lower a43.94 a3.07 a2.7 a0 a45.57* a4.34 ax 553
b14 b3 b3 big* b3 b2

# This only represents an initial assessment of the assemblage.

* Includes both red and roe deer.
a =NISP total, b = MNI value, c =%I MNI value, x = less than 0.5%.

TABLE 2 . Proportions of species in the Hebrides. (After McCormick 1991; Cook forthcoming; Parker
Pearson et al. 1996; Finlay 1991; Stallibrass 1985; Noddle 1974; 1980; 1981; McCormick 1981.)

Iron Age economies in Atlantic Scotland
A recent review (Cook forthcoming) of the Iron
Age and Pictish economies of Atlantic Scot-
land (TABLES1 & 2) highlights that, while there
may be general similarities across this area and
time-scale, there is considerable regional vari-
ation which in turn masks detailed site histo-
ries. Across the study area cattle appear to domi-
nate the economy providing the main source
of meat and husbandry patterns were fairly
conservative, indicating large proportions of
cattle were killed before their first winter. This
334 SIMON GILMOUR & MURRAY COOK
is probably due to a lack of winter fodder
(McCormick forthcoming; Cook forthcoming).
Sheep were generally killed towards the end
of their first year, also as a source of meat.
Regional differences exist between Orkney
and the Hebrides. On Orkney the numbers of
red deer decrease from the Iron Age to the Pictish
period (TABLE 1)and it is suggested this may
be due to a combination of over-exploitation,
limited grazing land and pressure on woodland
environments. In the Hebrides there appears
to have been an alternative response of careful
economic management represented by continu-
ing high proportions of red deer across the pe-
riod of study (TABLE 2).McCormick has suggested
red-deer management took place on Tiree as
evidenced by the Dun Mor Vaul assemblage and
on Bhaltos, West Lewis as shown at Cnip
(McCormick 1991). Tiree is a small island yet
both red and roe deer survive some 700 years
of occupation on the Dun Mor Vaul site. The
density of presumably contemporary Atlantic
roundhouses in the Dun Mor Vaul area also
raises interesting questions about land owner-
ship and the methods utilised to retain eco-
nomic stability. Iona is also a small island,
potentially too small to maintain a deer popu-
lation, and it is possible that deer were imported
from Mull. Evidence from the excavations on
Iona (Noddle 1981; reinterpreted in Cook forth-
coming) suggests cattle may also have been
imported from Mull. In the upper levels of the
main Guest House midden red deer and seal
constitute much lower proportions of the rep-
resented diet and the deficit is made up by larger
quantities of sheep and pig (TABLE 2). This is
anachronistic in the general Western Isles con-
text and may indicate the exploitation of red
deer to near extinction or perhaps the disrup-
tion of imports by the Vikings during the 8th
or 9th century AD. That there are differences
in economic development across the Iron Age
is plainly visible from the general evidence ac-
cumulated here and it is this regionalization
linked to site variability which the authors see
as a more interesting avenue of study than sim-
plistic hierarchical models.
Site variation: Iron Age lifestyles?
Detailed analysis of faunal assemblages from
several of the sites so far discussed highlights
the reservoir of information available through
a more in-depth examination of the available
evidence. These details also enhance the prob-
lems of generalization over large areas of At-
lantic Scotland and demand that study of ma-
terial respecting the established principles of
stratigraphic sequence is required before broad-
based conclusions are sought. It is clear that
some form of exchange networks existed across
different areas of Atlantic Scotland and at sev-
eral different levels throughout the Iron Age.
Evidence for such networks is proposed from
two sites at opposite ends of the chronological
span considered in this paper. Given the lim-
ited scope of this short review no attempt is
made to consider the effects of dogs on the as-
semblage or of differential rates of bone sur-
vival; for example, pig bones are much more
easily degraded than those of other mammals
(King 1978).
The Brough of Birsay on a small island in
Orkney has been interpreted as a Pictish power
centre in the pre-Norse period (Morris 1996:
38-9). The faunal assemblage was recovered
from four areas on the eastern side of the is-
land. Room 5 has been dated prior to the 7th
century AD while the others are dated to the
7th-gth centuries AD (Hunter & Morris 1982;
Hunter 1986). The range of animals recovered
is typical of the Late Iron Age in the Northern
Isles with very small quantities of red deer (TA-
BLE 1).The Brough of Birsay material is lim-
ited but the largest assemblages from Room 5
and Site 7 allow an analysis of the cull pat-
terns for cattle and sheep. This indicates a range
of small culls throughout the cattle’s life span,
particularly Room 5, but the majority were killed
after the optimum slaughter age (Uerpmann
1973: 31-60) and the sheep were similarly
treated. Pig evidence is only available from Room
5 and indicates that 44.44% of the population
died in the first year, while the rest died after
two years (Sellar 1982: 135). The body-part
representation suggests a high proportion of low
meat value bones from sheep and pigs but not
cattle, implying that sheep and pig may have
been slaughtered on or near the site but cattle
generally were not (Sellar 1982: 215). It is pos-
sible that the small size of the island encour-
aged cattle to be kept on the mainland and only
small populations of pig and sheep were resi-
dent on or near the site.
A similar range of animals was recovered
from the pre-Norse levels at the nearby site of
Buckquoy on the mainland opposite the Brough
of Birsay (Ritchie 1977; TABLE1).The age-of-
death evidence from this site indicates 50% or
 EXCAVATIONS AT DUN VULAN: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REAPPRAISED IRON AGE
more of the cattle died in their first year and
the rest before or just after four years. The sheep
data exhibit more variation but suggest that
around a third of the animals were killed be-
fore the end of their first year, in advance of
their optimum slaughter age. Pigs also show
considerable variation in the kill pattern, but
again over one-third of the animals died in their
first year, before their optimum slaughter age.
The culling pattern seems to become consid-
erably more inefficient by the final Pictish phase.
A high proportion of low meat value bones of
all species indicates that all the animals were
slaughtered on or near the site; cattle especially
were represented by very few high meat value
bones. The cattle evidence may suggest that they
were heavily processed or absent from the re-
covered assemblage (Noddle 1977: 203).
It is possible that the evidence from these
two sites may be inter-related. The cattle evi-
dence from Buckquoy indicates they were butch-
ered on site but consumed elsewhere. The
Brough of Birsay cattle seem to have been im-
ported from the mainland as adults and this
supply may have been enough to negate the
need for a high juvenile sheep cull. It has been
suggested elsewhere that the Buckquoy site may
have been a producer site for the Brough of
Birsay (Ritchie 1985: 198), but here we may
have tangible evidence of hierarchical settle-
ments within the Late Iron Age.
The earlier complex Atlantic roundhouse at
Bharabhat, West Lewis has produced a large
faunal assemblage from an external building
excavated underwater (Harding & Armit 1990;
Cook forthcoming). A limited preliminary analy-
sis demonstrates the presence of the typical
range of species for the Western Isles and that
red deer was a prime source of meat. The as-
semblage is dominated by high meat value bones
from the front limbs and low meat value bones
from the hind limbs. It is possible from this
evidence that the site was processing meat some
of which was consumed elsewhere. In this light
it is interesting to note the near-by presence of
a larger complex Atlantic roundhouse less than
500 m away at Loch na Berie to the east. Although
excavations here have yet to investigate the pri-
mary levels, the greater size and possibly more
complex architecture of Berie may hint at a hier-
archy within Atlantic roundhouse settlement. It
is conceivable that Bharabhat was processing
deer meat to be consumed at Berie, although
the possibility that much may have been con-
335
sumed within the Bharabhat roundhouse and
disposed of in an as yet unexcavated midden
must also be considered.
Exchange networks thus incorporated the
local variation highlighted earlier. It would be
reasonable to assume that hierarchies operated
through these networks although currently we
lack the evidence to define exactly which sites
were involved at which level.
Conclusion
Interim reports are a necessary means of dis-
seminating evidence gleaned through archaeo-
logical study. However, the interpretation of such
data should perhaps comprise more detailed
and informative discussions of the raw data.
This is not to restrict novel, modern theoreti-
cal archaeological thought, too often omitted
from discussions of Iron Age Scotland, but to
express a wish for such studies to be well
grounded in physical evidence. The need for
greater published stratigraphical as well as in-
ter- and intra-site detail in archaeological in-
terpretation is stressed here. At Dun Vulan the
inference of primary phase economy from ma-
terial derived from a probable secondary midden
violates the principles of stratigraphy and faunal
analysis. Further, the authors believe the ag-
gregated analysis of clearly multiphase (or in-
deed any) faunal evidence on Scottish sites is
not a viable technique; a similar study of pot-
tery, environmental material or even structural
evidence would also be unacceptable.
What emerges from studies of the Atlantic
roundhouse phenomenon and the reinterpre-
tation of the Dun Vulan assemblage (if accepted)
are variable local patterns. In the north there
is a major shift in emphasis of economic strat-
egies employed over time. In the west there
seems to have been several areas where suc-
cessful deer management was practised, and
in the Uists a lack of deer in the assemblage
may indicate another strategy altogether.
Iron Age society was complex and variable,
requiring more detailed interpretative models
than the simple Atlantic roundhouse/wheel-
house hierarchy proposed by Parker Pearson
et al. In this paper we hope to have highlighted
several aspects of this society which we believe
are beginning to take shape from the archaeo-
logical evidence. These and other aspects are
currently the subject of archaeological research
within the Callanish Archaeological Research
Project and its affiliated work.
336 SIMON GILMOUR & MURRAY COOK
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