57:. John Hedges, a member of his team, investigated the site and recognized the remains of a stone building at the centre of the mound. The building is oval with thick external walls. From these, interior walls project into the main room creating compartments, one of which houses a hearth. In the centre of the structure is a large recessed, stone tank, lined with flagstones and rendered waterproof by the surrounding clay. The capacity of the tank is nearly one thousand litres and it was found half filled with stones that were shattered and "fired" by intense heat. Hedges originally thought that the building represented a house, but he was troubled by the distribution of features; for example, there is no obvious place to sleep.
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The surrounding mound still rises to a height of 2 metres (6.6 ft) in places, and calculations suggest an original volume of at least 200 cubic metres (7,100 cu ft). It consists primarily of shattered stone, charcoal, and ash. Artifacts recovered from the mound include hammerstones,
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pot lids and pottery. These items, combined with the tank and hearth found in the building, suggest that the site was used for cooking. Burnt bones of goat and sheep support this interpretation, which was put to the test with an experiment in
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sites, as at Liddle, which might seem unusual for a cooking site. This has been explained by the soils being too acidic for the bone to be preserved, but it would seem unlikely that all of the soils relating to
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49:
The Liddle Burnt Mound is located on Liddle Farm; the farmer, Ronald
Simison, had been using the mound as a quarry for road metal until he came across stone structures in 1972. He alerted
37:, Orkney. The site consists of the remains of a building and a mound that surrounds it on three sides. The purpose of the site is controversial, but most investigators believe
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were so acidic that no bone survived, particularly as the pH of the soil will vary considerably from site to site. There are examples of
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represent temporary hunting camps used for cooking joints of meat. However, bone is only occasionally reported from
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Dating of materials excavated from the mound indicate that the site was in use between 1200 and 500 BC.
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Barfield, L H; Hodder, M A (1987). "Burnt mounds as saunas, and the prehistory of bathing".
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O'Kelly, Michael J (1954). "Excavations and experiments in ancient Irish cooking-places".
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on neutral or basic soils, without bone being apparent. It has also been suggested that
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Ovrevik, Sandra (1985). "The Second
Millenium and After". In Renfrew, Colin (ed.).
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Liddle Farm is also the site of
Isbister Chambered Cairn, popularly known as the
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Burnt Mounds & Hot Stone
Technology (ed) Hodder, M A & Barfield, L H
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Remains of an ancient building, uncovered beneath the burnt mound.
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Barfield, L H (1991). "Hot stones: hot food or hot baths?".
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where a leg of lamb was cooked in a stone tank heated by a
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The
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
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hosted a "domestic function", perhaps related to cooking.
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A guide to
Isbister Chambered Tomb and Liddle Burnt Mound
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were saunas or used in salt or leather preparation.
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335:The Prehistory of Orkney BC 4000-1000 AD
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92:. They are also found throughout the
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303:. The Isbister and Liddle Trust.
139:Timeline of prehistoric Scotland
653:Archaeological sites in Orkney
337:. Edinburgh University Press.
80:There are more than 200 known
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549:Wideford Hill chambered cairn
356:. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.
658:Bronze Age sites in Scotland
88:and almost as many known in
459:Blackhammer Chambered Cairn
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96:. O'Kelly suggested that
76:Alternate interpretations
509:Quoyness chambered cairn
299:Hedges, John W. (1985).
121:Isbister Chambered Cairn
539:Vinquoy chambered cairn
499:Midhowe Chambered Cairn
529:Unstan Chambered Cairn
352:Ritchie, Anna (1995).
53:who was excavating at
33:site on the island of
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447:Other Neolithic Sites
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479:Holm of Papa Westray
454:Barnhouse Settlement
219:Ovrevik 1985, p. 146
173:Ovrevik 1985, p. 145
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410:World Heritage Site
237:Ritchie 1995, p. 95
189:Ritchie 1995, p. 94
663:Prehistoric Orkney
629:58.7457°N 2.9174°W
585:Burroughston Broch
524:Tomb of the Eagles
438:Stones of Stenness
402:Prehistoric Orkney
354:Prehistoric Orkney
228:Hedges 1985, p. 21
210:Hedges 1985, p. 19
201:Hedges 1985, p. 18
164:Hedges 1985, p. 17
144:Prehistoric Orkney
127:Tomb of the Eagles
27:Liddle Burnt Mound
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494:Links of Noltland
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575:Broch of Burrian
570:Broch of Borwick
565:Brough of Birsay
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115:burnt mounds
111:burnt mounds
107:burnt mounds
98:burnt mounds
82:burnt mounds
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39:burnt mounds
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632: /
534:Unstan ware
469:Cuween Hill
102:burnt mound
55:Quanterness
45:Description
647:Categories
617:58°44′45″N
600:Tankerness
433:Skara Brae
328:: 105–155.
285:: 370–379.
271:References
31:Bronze Age
620:2°55′03″W
595:Mine Howe
504:Mor Stein
279:Antiquity
150:Footnotes
418:Maeshowe
294:: 59–67.
133:See also
90:Shetland
668:Mounds
519:Rousay
360:
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86:Orkney
69:fire.
63:Orkney
514:Rinyo
29:is a
358:ISBN
339:ISBN
305:ISBN
67:peat
84:in
649::
326:84
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283:61
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194:^
178:^
157:^
129:.
394:e
387:t
380:v
366:.
347:.
313:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.