Late Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery in the Shetland Isles : a synopsis of design, construction methods and typological trends

摘要

Within the Shetland Museum’s archaeological collection are many thousands of pre-udhistoric pottery sherds. There are also many stray finds brought into the museum byudmembers of the public who have come across eroding prehistoric sites.ududThe Shetland pottery collection has never been studied as a whole; potteryudassemblages were examined at the time of their excavation, and have not beenudreviewed since. A large portion of the collection has never been investigated.udRecent archaeological excavations in Shetland, including Old Scatness, Bayanneudand Burland, have provided scientific dating of contexts containing pottery.ududThis study has reviewed eight Late Bronze Age and Iron Age assemblages.udDiagnostic sherds from each site have been analysed using a specific data setudoffering a collective narrative from across the Islands. Comparing the findings of thisudstudy with examples from scientifically dated sites, the analysis has highlightedudobvious trends in pottery manufacture and design during both periods.ududMany outstanding questions have been answered, including revised dates forudunpublished sites, Greista and Ness of Sound, which were excavated in the 1970s.udMany of Shetland Museum’s ‘stray finds’, re-assessed here are now betterudunderstood, and new information added to the Museum’s database.ududThis study has provided Shetland Museum’s first digital reference collection of theudIsland’s late prehistoric pottery assemblages. The ultimate objective of this researchudis to make this information available within Shetland Museum’s website, offering anudonline resource for a worldwide audience, enabling the Museum to offer one of itsudfundamental functions as a public service; making the collection accessible to itsudowners, the community.