Anatomy of an Iron Age Roundhouse: The Cnip Wheelhouse Excavations, Lewis

Authors

Ian Armit (ed)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8669-3810

Keywords:


wheelhouse, architecture, pottery, cosmology, roundhouse, red deer, human remains
Location(s):

Western Isles, Scotland, UK

Period(s):

Iron Age

Synopsis

Wheelhouses were Iron Age buildings of great sophistication. Although found only in northern Scotland, they belong to a much wider “roundhouse tradition” that, before the arrival of the Romans, covered the whole of Britain. When tidal erosion on Cnip beach in west Lewis uncovered a spectacularly well-preserved wheelhouse complex, it presented a rare opportunity to shed new light on the extraordinary architectural phenomenon. The uniquely detailed sequence at Cnip enabled the excavation team to trace the settlement from conception to abandonment, dissecting the buildings and generating new insights into the daily lives of the Iron Age islanders, their relationships with their environment, and with their neighbours. This volume sets out the results of the excavations, placing them in the wider context of the British and European Iron Age.

***

This report provides an excellent source for readers to appreciate the archaeology in the Western Isles.

– Professor Niall Sharples (Antiquity)

***

Canmore ID 4009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.9750/9781908332288

Chapters

  • Front matter
    Ian Armit, Kirsten Leask, Ulrike Wenzel
    PDF
  • 1 | Introduction
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • 2 | Excavation results
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • 3 | Material Culture
    Ian Armit, Fraser Hunter, Kath McSweeney, Bill Finlayson, Anthony Newton, Andrew Heald, Ann MacSween, Ann Clarke, Andrew Kitchener, Dawn McLaren
    PDF
  • 4 | Subsistence and environment
    Ian Armit, Finbar McCormick, Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, Ruby Cerón-Carrasco, Mike Church, Mike Cressey
    PDF
  • 5 | Anatomy of a wheelhouse
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • 6 | Chronology
    Ian Armit, Magnar Dalland
    PDF
  • 7 | Living in Iron Age Lewis
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • References
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • Index
    Ian Armit
    PDF
  • Plates
    Ian Armit
    PDF

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Published

September 30, 2022

Categories

Copyright (c) 2022 Ian Armit and the individual contributors

Details about this monograph

ISBN-13 (15)

9781908332288

Date of first publication (11)

2006