Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron AgeAnderson, Joseph
History
Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron Age
Anderson, Joseph
Scotland -- Antiquities
In the first group, grave-mound No. 1 contained a human skeleton laid on
its right side, north and south, the skull cleft, apparently before
burial, and only one half of it found. Deposited with it there were a
number of iron weapons or implements, among which Mr. Rendall recognised
an iron axe and what he calls the half of a helmet, which I have no
doubt was half of the globular boss of a shield. Grave-mound No. 2
contained the remains of a man, a horse, and a dog. It is not said
whether the whole skeleton of the horse was in the grave, but the remark
is made that the horse was of small size, and the bridle-bit remained
between its jaws. Many pieces of iron were found, among which were a
buckle and a spear-head or part of a sword. Grave-mound No. 3 contained
the remains of a man and a horse with fragments of iron implements.
Grave-mound No. 4 contained a skeleton only.
At a little distance to the north-east of this group of grave-mounds was
the second group. In grave-mound No. 1 was the skeleton of a man. At his
head lay the cup-shaped boss of his shield; at his left side his sword.
A whetstone, a comb, and several glass beads were also found, and many
pieces of iron of whose form and purpose there is no suggestion. In
grave-mound No. 2 was a skeleton, which Mr. Rendall concluded to be that
of a female. Two oval bowl-shaped brooches of brass were found on the
breast, and a little below them a circular ornament and a pin of the
same metal. There were no traces of iron, or remains of iron implements
or weapons. Grave-mound No. 3 contained a small skeleton with two oval
bowl-shaped brooches and a small circular-headed pin on the breast, and
two long single-edged, round-backed combs of bone (Fig. 47) lay on
either side of the neck. No. 4 had been previously disturbed. In No. 5
were two brooches, two combs, and a pin similar to those in No. 3.
[Illustration: Fig. 47.—Round-backed Comb from a Grave-mound in
Westray.]
In 1851 Mr. Rendall presented to the National Museum the contents of a
grave which is not described in these notes but was found in the same
locality. It contained the skeleton of a man, with which there had been
deposited an iron axe, a spear-head of iron, and the iron boss of a
shield, an oval bowl-shaped brooch (Fig. 48), and a penannular brooch of
Celtic form, ornamented with interlaced work of purely Celtic style.[37]
In this remarkable cemetery we have the same type of burial and the same
typical forms of weapons, implements, and ornaments, as in Islay and in
Eigg. Of the whole group of objects found in all these graves there is
but one, viz. the Celtic brooch last mentioned, that is of a type native
to the soil in which they are found.
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Footnote 37:
Figured in the previous series of Lectures—_Scotland in Early
Christian Times_, p. 29, Fig. 22.
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[Illustration: Fig. 48.—Oval Bowl-shaped Brooch from a Grave-mound in
Westray.]
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