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Project Details: Everley Broch

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Project Description

Title: Everley Broch
Description The site of Everley Broch, situated in Caithness, is composed of a Middle Iron Age broch and a Late Norse house. This project aimed to study the human/plant interaction on the site and see its evolution through time. The archaeobotanical assemblage shows that hulled barley was the main staple crop cultivated in both periods. The Late Norse assemblage also indicates the introduction of cultivated oat and flax as well as a general intensification of the agricultural production. The archaeobotanical assemblage, combined with some pollen analysis, indicates that the local environment around the site was free of dense woodland. Regarding the wood procurement strategies, local gathering, short-distance timber trade within the mainland and collection of driftwood are attested. It is proposed that a long-distance trade network within the Scottish mainland or Scandinavia was established during the Norse period as a fourth wood supply strategy. Everley Broch macroplant remains indicates that the broch was housing farmers with a subsistence-based economy. The Late Norse household however proposes a wealthier economy with three cultivated plants and the establishment of a long-distance trade network. Within a wider Atlantic Scotland framework, Everley Broch follows the general agricultural patterns observed elsewhere. The main wood procurement strategy is similar to the other sites of Caithness and Sutherland, but differs slightly from the ones seen in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland islands. As Everley Broch is located on the Scottish mainland where more timber is available, it is believed that driftwood was not as important as for the other sites of Atlantic Scotland.
Keywords:Archaeobotany
Broch
Iron
Age
Norse
Sponsors/Funders AOC Scotland
Country Scotland
Region Caithness
Project Start Year 2001
Project End Year 2010

Project Contact

Contact: Anne-Marie Faucher
Email anne-marie.faucher.1@ulaval.ca

Project Content

Archaeobotanical dataset of Everley Broch, season 2002.
Archaeobotanical dataset of Everley Broch, season 2002.

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