Fish remains in domestic contexts: "a question oF scales" A study from a Late Iron Age settlement in...

Fish remains in domestic contexts: “a question oF scales”

Fish remains in domestic contexts: “A question of scales”. A study from a Late Iron Age settlement in Lewis, Western Isles of ScotlandRuby Cerón-CarrasCo(1)

(1) Archaeology, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland <[email protected]>

Résumé. Un site de l’Âge du Fer récent a été dévoilé par l’érosion côtière du machair sur la plage de Bostadh, dans l’île de Great Bernera sur la côte occidentale de Lewis, une des îles occidentales de l’Écosse. Les structures et la séquence stratigraphique ont permis l’étude fine et l’interprétation des bâtiments ainsi que des dépôts qu’ils contenaient. Les restes paléo-environnementaux récupérés à Bostadh Beach éclairent certains aspects de l’exploitation des ressources marines à l’Âge du Fer récent dans cette région, notamment en ce qui concerne les poissons, les mollusques et les algues. Cet article entend démon-trer qu’il est possible d’identifier des patrons généraux dans les systèmes d’activités liés à l’utilisation de ces resources marines, telles que la préparation de nourriture ou la prépa-ration et l’utilisation des sous-produits comme le sel de cendre d’algue et l’huile de foie de poisson.Mots-clés. Âge du Fer récent, Bostadh Beach, Machair, ressources marines, systèmes d’activités.

Abstract. A Late Iron Age settlement in the island of Great Bernera on the west coast of Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland, was revealed by coastal erosion on the machair beach of Bostadh. The structures and stratigraphical sequence allowed the dissection and inter-pretation of the buildings and the deposits within them. Palaeo-environmental remains recovered at this site illuminate aspects of marine resource exploitation during the Late Iron Age in this region ranging from fish, molluscs and seaweed. This paper hopes to demonstrate that it is possible to identify broad patterns of activity systems related to the use of these marine resources such as food preparation and preparation and use of by-products such as use of seaweed ash salt and rendering of fish liver oil.Keywords. Late Iron Age, Bostadh Beach, Machair, marine resources, activity systems.

* * *

135

ARCHÉologie du poisson. 30 Ans d’ARCHÉo-iCHtyologie Au CnRsHommage aux travaux de Jean desse et nathalie desse-BersetXXViiie rencontres internationales d’archéologie et d’histoire d’AntibesSous la direction de P. Béarez, S. Grouard et B. ClavelÉditions APDCA, Antibes, 2008

136

r. cerón-carrasco

Introduction

Bostadh Beach in Great Bernera, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland (fig. 1) is located within what is presently rapidly eroding machair (fig. 2). The word machair is Gaelic, meaning an extensive, low-lying fertile plain. Machair is one of the rarest habitats in northern Europe, found only in the north and west of Scotland and Ireland. Almost half of the Scottish machair occurs in the Western Isles (also known as Outer Hebrides). Machair sand has a high shell content, sometimes 80 or 90%. Marram grass solidifies these mobile sands and encourages soil growth further back in the dune system.

The Iron Age settlement

Bostadh’s position, by a white sandy beach and surrounded by a rocky shore, allowed easy access to a rich variety of marine resources. The location of the archaeo logical

deposits within this calcareous environment allowed an excellent degree of preservation of environmental material.

The site consisted of a multi-period settlement in a dune system that included a rectilinear structure and associated midden sealing three circular structures with circular annexes: Houses 1, 2 and 3. The excavation subsequently revealed the structures of an additional house (House 4) but very little remained of this structure and therefore this paper deals with the findings associated with Houses 1, 2 and 3 (fig. 3a and 3b).

Radiocarbon dates show that these structures date from AD 8th-9th centuries (Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre 2002).

The houses shared a number of common architectural features; they were essentially stone-built, circular houses with southern entrances and at least one annex. They are considered to have been largely subterranean which is a sensible response to living in what even then is likely to have been an unstable sand dune system. It is assumed that the roofing was analogous to those constructed for more recent Hebridean Black houses (fig. 4). The house walls were made of drystone, with a core of sand and midden material. The hearths had been

80 km0

N

OrkneyScotlandAreas

Shetland

Western Isles

Highland

Moray

Aberdeenshire

AngusPerth and

KinrossFife

ArgyllandBute

ScottishBorders

ENGLANDDumfries and

Galloway

SouthAyrshire

Fig. 1. Map of scotland showing the different regions.

137

HOUSE 1

HOUSE 2

HOUSE 3

HOUSE 4

Site ofExcavation

Dune

Contours at 1 m intervals

Beach

Cem

etery

Knoll

Shetland Is.

Orkney Is.

Bostadh inWestern Isles

200 km0 40 m0

N

Fig. 2. location of the Bostadh Beach settlement site (after neighbour 2001).

Fig. 3a. Bostadh in great Bernera, lewis in a summer sunny day.

Fig. 3b. Bostadh in great Bernera, lewis in a winter, stormy day

138

r. cerón-carrasco

Fig. 4. Blackhouse (photo school of scottish studies Archive, university of edinburgh (AVii 3A 2061)).

edged by stone, forming three sides of an open-ended rectangle; the open sides normally faced south.

The excavator’s conclusion was that the spatial organisation of the three houses points to their contemporary occupation.

The ichthyo-archaeological evidence

Large amounts of fish remains were recovered by sieving through 1 mm mesh size and by hand-collecting during the excavations. The level of fish bone preservation was consistent throughout the site, in terms of fragment size and condition.

A total of thirty-seven taxa were identified, consisting of twenty-two identified to species and fifteen family groups (fig. 5).

Contexts types

The fish remains from Bostadh Beach were recovered from a variety of context types. For taphonomic analysis, these contexts were grouped into eight main types: midden deposits, hearth and ash spreads, sand-filled deposits, pit fills, post hole and wall core deposits. These groups were then further classified into “internal” (i.e. within a building), or “external” deposits.

All contexts identified as layers, occupation horizons or surfaces within a building were classed as “internal”, including hearth deposits. The “external” group included all contexts described as rubble, fill, tip and midden even if they were


139

found within a structure. This was done as it is unlikely that such deposits would relate to the occupation of the structures, but rather that they accumulated after the initial function of the building had been abandoned (after Nicholson, 1998).

Middens may grow out of simple activity areas within a broader economic unit such as a household, or result from patterned rubbish disposal practices in a settlement (Simpson, Barrett 1996). Middens are likely to produce abundant fish remains from a variety of individuals of different sizes.

Hearths in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland were traditionally incorporated into the household floor (fig. 6). They were constructed from stones embedded into the earth floor and covered over with clay (Fenton, 1978; Colley, 1989). Most domestic rubbish was disposed of in the fire and eventually thrown onto the middens. From here, it may subsequently have been dispersed, for example as fertiliser.

Species English name Gaelic name

Gadidae Gadus morhuaPollachius virensPollachius pollachiusMelanogrammus aeglefinusMolva molvaMerlangius merlangusMerluccius merlucciusGaidropsaurus mediterraneusTrisopterus smarkiiTrisopterus luscusTrisopterus minutusRaniceps raninus

CodSaithePollackHaddockLingWhitingHakeRocklingNorway poutBibPoor codTadpole-fish

TrosgCudaigLiubhAdag

LangaCuiteagFalmaire

Sparidae Pagellus bogaraveo Red sea-bream Brianthadh

Labridae Labrus bergylta Ballan wrasse Blalaogham

Scombridae Scomber scombrus Mackerel Rionnach

Clupeidae Clupea harengus Herring Sgadan

Congridae Conger conger Conger eel

Ammoditae Ammodytes marinus Sandeel Siolag

Gobiidae Gobius sp. Gobies

Elasmobranchii Rays, Skates, Sharks

Atherinidae Atherina presbyter Sand-smelt

Gasterosteidae Gasterosteus aculeatus Three-spined stickleback Biorag-lodain

Pholididae Pholis gunnellus Butterfish

Salmonidae Salmo salarSalmo trutta

SalmonTrout

BradanBreac

Anguilidae Anguila anguila Eel Easgann

Fig. 5. Fish species representation at Bostadh Beach later iron Age settlement.

140

r. cerón-carrasco

The floors of the post-medieval Black houses, for example, were often made simply of bare earth. A “blackhouse” is the term for the traditional Hebridean building that was generally oblong, often with one or more additional buildings laid parallel to it. The walls were made from an inner and outer layer of unmor-tared stones, the gap between them filled with peat and earth. It had one door and generally no windows and it is thus tempting to assume that the term “black-house” refers to the windowless darkness in which people would have lived and/or the peat smoke.

The floor of the living area of the blackhouse would usually be flagged. The animals would be at one end of the house, and in the byre area there would be earth flooring, usually with a drain for some of the animal waste. Part of the blackhouse would also be used as a barn for storage and processing of grain and other products. The roof was thatched secured by an old fishing net or by twine, attached to large rocks whose weight held everything down, hearths were incorpo-rated into the house floor (Fenton, 1995; Thompson, 1997) (fig. 7a, 7b and 7c).

It is therefore assumed here that such was also the case for the Iron Age houses. If the soil became damp, it would then be scattered with stones (Thomas, 1866). It is assumed that household rubbish, including fish bones, would also become incorporated into such floors.

Within habitation layers it is unlikely that large fish bones were deposited: contrastingly, smaller bones from smaller specimens however, may also have been trodden into the floors.

Other context types, such as fills, are less likely to contain remains of major help in our attempts to interpreting fishing activities.

Fig. 6. Blackhouse interior, note the hearth in the centre of the room.


141

Fish bone survival and inter-contextual variability

The question of inter-contextual variability is closely linked to that of differ-ential preservation. This study of fish remains derives from the evaluation of skeletal elements and species representation. The first analysis focused on skel-etal element representation in general, taking into account all the identified and non-identified element units. The second analysis is based on the representation of species in the different contexts.

c

b

a

Fig. 7. Arnold Blackhouse, a. Arnold Blackhouse, lewis 'a' from the east, (this house was occupied until circa 1968); b. Arnold Blackhouse, longitudinal section; c. Arnold Blackhouse, plan (Walker, Mcgregor 1995).

142

r. cerón-carrasco

Taphonomy, activity systems and use of space

Human activities are a direct expression of lifestyle and it can be argued that the wide range of human activities appear to be significantly more limited than the large variety of environments that have been created for them (Kent, 1990). An example of this is cooking: all people cook, in fact Lévi-Strauss (1970) regards cooking as a major difference between human and non-human, since only humans transform raw food into cooked food. The ways people cook, i.e. transform food are already extraordinarily varied. How cooking is associated with other activities varies even more. Furthermore, the meaning of cooking, its social or ritual significance, tend to be even more variable.

There are certain specifics of activity systems related to cooking that may be recognisable in the archaeological record. Particularly in archaeological assem-blages according to their contextual relationship, for instance in what order or sequence activities occurred (e.g. butchery, cooking), the nature of these sequences (e.g. processing for preservation or immediate consumption), how they are linked or separated, who was involved or was excluded (what gender was involved in preparation of food for cooking), where and when they occurred (what activities were done inside a dwelling or outside and when).

By looking at the taphonomy of the Bostadh Beach fish bone and also the marine molluscs assemblage, it is hoped that some activity systems may be recog-nised in the analysis of this material within the description of context type provided by the excavator (Based on Neighbour, Burgess, 1996; Neighbour, Finlayson, 1997; Neighbour, 2001).

Possible systems of activity and use of space at Bostadh Beach: the contextual evidence

Hodder (1987) argued that understanding the object is achieved through placing it in relation to the larger functioning whole. In relation to this state-ment we may also infer that when surviving material culture data are sufficiently networked, it may then be possible to identify their variations by measuring the different contexts: thus assuming that the net-work itself was an attempt by past people to achieve order. An example of this notion of “order” may be the boundary between domestic and wild, which could initially have been the house wall, and which may later have been extended to a settlement fence.

Hodder argues that archaeology (and anthropology) are able to approach such questions because the need for “cultural order” is universal, and it is argued that the methods of achieving order are the same in the present as in the past.

Kent (1990) analysed the relationship between architecture and the use of space in terms of different settings: according to space and the activities carried out, probably organised not only in space but also in time. Rapport (1990) consid-ered the “environment” as consisting of fixed feature elements: furnishings, inte-rior and exterior, of all sorts. His conclusions were that behaviour is contained


143

loosely by architecture where space may serve for different settings and that acti-vities occur not in architecture but in systems of settings, which include outdoor areas. Moreover, activities are organised not only in space but also in time.

Ultimately, all activities are an expression of culture. They may involve the activity itself, the way it is carried out and is associated with other activities (i.e. combined into activity systems) as well as its purpose.

A tangible example is cooking and how cooking is associated with other activities.

Internal settings: cooking and related activities at Bostadh Beach

House 1 settings for cooking activities (fig. 8)

House 1 contained a possible hearth (C. 450); however, no associated ash deposits or other evidence for burning were apparent.

A sub-rectangular hearth (C. 289) was located close to the entrance to the building. Its primary fill was a mixed deposit of peat ash (C. 749) and above this another peat ash deposit (C. 748); this layer was in turn sealed by a later in situ hearth deposit (C. 744). This tertiary fill also included C. 737.

The mixed ash deposit C. 749 contained the remains of burnt fish bones; these were black in colour. Context 748, the secondary ash deposit, also contained remains of burnt-black fragments of fish bone. Context 744 contained a single fish vertebra that had not been subjected to burning. Likewise, Context

715

745

750752

289

Rotaryquern

Fish Molluscs(450)

(749 & 751)

3 m0

Fig. 8. Bostadh Beach House 1 interior: drawing shows hearths with fish and mollusc remains associated to systems of activities (drawing of House 2 based on neighbour, 2001).

737 contained several fish vertebrae that had not been burnt.

Another hearth inclu ded Context 745 and an associated stone-lined post-hole (C. 727) that was also rich in bones. This context contained several fish vertebrae none of which displayed signs of burning.

A rectangular hearth Context 715 was also found at the centre of the house. The open-end of this rectangular hearth faced south. Peat ash filled this hearth (C. 738), most of the fish remains recovered in this fill were vertebrae that had been burnt white and a few fish bone fragments (splinters) that were burnt black. Fill C. 738, merged with contexts 751 and 753, contained large amounts of fish remains that were almost entirely vertebrae, apart from a few unidentifiable splin-

144

r. cerón-carrasco

ters of bone. Most were burnt black, and some were burnt white, blue and gray. Hearths 715 and 745 appear to be contemporary (Neighbour 2001).

Interesting evidence also emerges from the non-edible marine molluscs recovered from the interior of House 1. In particular, the evidence from Contexts 749 and 751 (within contexts 250 and 252) is noteworthy. In both contexts large quantities of mollusc remains that had been burnt black were found. They included flat periwinkle (littorina littoralis), rough periwinkle (littorina saxatilis), large quantities of the tiny species Cingula cingillus and Margarites helicinus as well as remains of spirorbis borealis (Serpulidae, tube-dwelling polychaetes); all these species are found attached to seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum).

If seaweeds were used as manure, could they have also been used for fuel? It could be argued that since peat supply would have been plentiful, this would be unlikely. However, seaweeds could have served various purposes, one of which would include the use of their ash instead of salt for preserving fish, meat and also some dairy products, for example cheese. Martin (1695) noted these practices during his tour of the Outer Hebrides in the 17th century.

Since the contexts here were also rich in burnt fish remains, it is possible that some of the hearths were used in other activities. In this particular case, the use of the hearth fire to heat containers with fish livers to extract their oil is a strong possibility since immature saithe (pollachius virens) were traditionally used in the islands for this purpose and most of the fish bone components recovered were from this species.

House 2 settings of cooking activity (fig. 9)

A rectangular hearth (C. 525) came to light in the centre of this house. It had been built with three edge-set slabs and with an open end facing south. The hearth was filled with peat ash (C. 567), but contained no fish remains.

Two contexts, 526 and 530, representing floor levels in the house interior, however, contained large amounts of fish remains. The elements recovered were mainly scales identified to the Sparidae family. Whether the act of de-scaling fish took place inside or outside the house is unclear from these contexts since masses of scales seem to have been accidentally incorporated into the fill during the levelling of floors. The primary activity of de-scaling nevertheless denotes what could be regarded as a preliminary part of the cooking process, and the implication of this must have occurred inside or near the house.

House 3 settings of cooking activity (fig. 10)

A central hearth was found in House 3 (in the component labelled Structure L, Phase IV). This central hearth (C. 362) had originally been rectangular in form and consisted of three stone-defined sides with an open end facing south, towards the doorway.

This hearth was filled with peat ash (C. 889) that contained non-burnt fish vertebrae. A circular pit (C. 890) was also found; its fill probably represented a


145

525

(567)

Molluscs

526530

3 m0

Fig. 9. Bostadh Beach House 2 interior: drawing shows hearth and the mollusc remains associated to systems of activité (drawing of House 2 based on neighbour, 2001).

146

r. cerón-carrasco

deposit made prior to the construction of the central hearth; this pit contained a few fish vertebrae which were not burnt.

Contexts 885, a sub-circular pit cut through the central hearth (C. 362), and 884, an oval peat cut, contained large amounts of tiny marine molluscs that were burnt: these were black and grey. These small molluscs live attached to seaweed. It is suggested therefore that seaweed-ash salt was produced in this house probably to use in preserving food.

In another component of House 3, Structure H, Phase II, Context 870 has been described as a probable hearth, although no edge stones defining this feature were found. No fish remains were recovered in this context.

Str G

Str L

Str H

258

362

884

885

(352)

(889)(890)

(870)

Fig. 10. Bostadh Beach House 3 interior: drawing shows hearth and possible settings of systems of activity (drawing of House 3 based on neighbour, 2001).


147

A further petal-shaped hearth in the same part of the building was formed by five edge-set slabs. It was set into a circular cut (C. 352). The primary fill of this hearth was mainly peat ash (C. 866) and sand (C. 867), which had been black-ened by heat. Both contexts contained fish vertebrae that had been burnt black.

At the centre of the same building, a small rectangular hearth (C. 258) was discovered. This hearth was once again formed by three edge-set slabs and had an open end facing south. A dump of ash (C. 361) sealed this hearth. This ash deposit (C. 361) has been interpreted as a deposit that was used to level the floor of Structure H at a point when the hearth was no longer in use. No fish bones were recovered in any of these hearth deposits. However, Context 164, a possible floor surface in Structure H, contained large quantities of large, robust scales identified to the Sparidae family. A total of 234 scales were recovered in Context 164. This may also have been part of the levelling material. Their presence indi-cates that the de-scaling of red seabream (pagellus bogaraveo), the only sparid species identified at Bostadh Beach, was carried out probably within House 3, prior to cooking, as has already been suggested for House 2.

A further three contexts in this building, including (C 234) a floor deposit, and two wall core deposits (Contexts 620 and 660), also contained large amounts of Sparidae scales. Finds from these contexts amounted to some 1.385 fragments of scales, most in good condition (between 60-90% complete). Because of the nature of the contexts from which this material was recovered, i.e. their components had been used as filling material for walls and levelling floors, it is unclear whether all the de-scaling would have been done inside the house, prior to cooking or also outside the building. In the latter case, it is likely that the scales were mixed with sand and other materials there for construction purposes.

External settings

Some fish remains were also found in contexts outwith the buildings that formed the principal focus of the building.

Outside House 1, large amounts of burnt tiny, non-edible mollusca were recovered. They included Cingula cingillus, Rissoa parva, Margarites helicinus and the small tubes (rolled in clockwise coil) of the bristle worms (Polychaeta) spirorbis borealis. Since all these species are found attached to seaweed, particu-larly on the fronds of Fucus spp. and on laminaria spp., it is assumed that seaweed had been burnt in this area to be used as fertiliser and/or in the production of seaweed ash salt.

Conclusions

This analysis attempted to incorporate aspects of archaeozoological research into an investigation of the “household” organisation. The overall pattern of skeletal element representation in the fish bone assemblage at Bostadh Beach

148

r. cerón-carrasco

is similar for the context groupings from the three Iron Age houses used in this study. Most of the variation is considered to be a result of differential pres-ervation of the various types of fish bone elements and fish scales. The most commonly represented skeletal elements in the archaeological samples were those which occur in largest numbers in the fish skeleton, such as vertebrae, branchial bones and scales.

Midden deposits from the three houses have the highest concentration of fish remains. Contexts grouped into sand-filled deposits have the highest overall concentration of fish bone fragments (i.e. unidentifiable splinters of fish bone). On the other hand, fish remains found in deposits described as wall cores, pit fills and post-hole fills have an equal concentration of recognizable skeletal elements and broken, unidentifiable fish bone fragments.

By looking at the taphonomy of the fish remains and, in some cases also that of microscopic mollusc recovered at Bostadh Beach, it has also been possible to identify certain systems of activity and setting. This part of the analysis was based on the presence and condition (i.e. whether burnt or not) of skeletal elements, as well as types of non-edible marine molluscs (most of which were burnt) that were also present.

This analysis has indicated that by looking at taphonomic processes, certain ancient household activities can be identified. Conclusions may be based on the relationship between specific material groups, in this case fish and mollusc remains, and domestic furniture settings such as hearths. This means looking at the relationships between the environmental and architectural remains. This approach may reveal evidence for the preparation, cooking and preservation of food, as well as other domestic activities such as securing fuel for lighting by processing fish liver oil and the use of seaweed salt.

The taphonomic analysis of fish and marine mollusc remains has clearly outlined the importance of understanding how these remains were deposited and preserved in different contextual units on the site, and their subsequent survival. Taphonomic studies demonstrably contribute substantially to our understanding of past societies, in terms of subsistence and the management of natural resources and household activities.

Acknowledgement

With thanks to Mr T. Neighbour of CFA Archaeology who directed the excavation.

Bibliography

colley S. M., 1989.– The fish bones, in: C. D. Morris (ed.), the Birsay Bay project, 1: Durham, University of Durham Department of Archaeology Monograph Series 1, p. 284-253.

Fenton A., 1978.– the northern isles: orkney and shetland, Edinburgh, John Donald.

Fenton A., 1995.– the island Blackhouse, Edinburgh, Historic Scotland.


149

hodder I., 1987.– The contextual analysis of symbolic meanings in: I. Hodder (ed.), the Archaeology of Contextual Meanings, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Kent s., 1990.– Activity areas and architecture: an interdisciplinary view of the rela-tionship between the use of space and domestic built environments in: S. Kent (ed.), domestic Architecture and the use of space. An interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural study, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 1-8.

lévi-strauss c., 1970.– the Raw and the Cooked, London, Jonathan Cape.

martin M., 1719.– A description of the Western isles of scotland circa 1695, by Martin Martin; including A vogage to st. Kilda by sir donald Monro, in: D. J. Macleod (ed.), 1994, Edinburgh, Birlinn.

neighbour T., 2001. excavation at Bostadh Beach, great Berneraigh, isle of lewis: data structure Report, Edinburgh, CFA.

neighbour t., burgess c., 1996.– Bostadh Beach, 1st Millennium AD Settlement (Uig Parish), discovery and excavation in scotland, 113.

neighbour t., Finlayson b., 1997.– excavation at Bostadh Beach, great Berneraigh, isle of lewis: data structure Report, Report no 374, Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh & CFA.

nicholson R. A., 1998.– Fishing in the Northern Isles: a case study based on fish bone assemblages from two multi-period sites on Sanday, Orkney, environmental Archaeology, 2, p. 15-28.

rapport a., 1990.– Systems of Activity and Systems of Setting, in: S. Kent (ed.), domestic Architecture and the use of space. An interdisciplinary Cross–Cultural study, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 9-20.

simpson i. a., barrett J. h., 1996.– Interpretation of midden formation processes at Robert’s Haven, Caithness, Scotland using thin section micromorphology, Journal of Archaeological science, 23, p. 543-556.

thomas F. L. W., 1866.– On primitive dwellings and hypogea of the Outer Hebrides, proceedings of the society of Antiquaries of scotland, 7 (1866-1868), p. 153-196.

thomson F., 1997.– Crofting years. Edinburgh, Luath Press Ltd.

Fish remains in domestic contexts: "a question oF scales" A study from a Late Iron Age settlement in...

Documents

Transcript of Fish remains in domestic contexts: "a question oF scales" A study from a Late Iron Age settlement in...