27 April 2013, Starts: 09:10, Ends: 17:00

Underworld: the use of caves, rock shelters and underground places during the Scottish Iron Age

Free one day conference at Council Headquarters, Inverness. Email archaeology@highland.gov.uk or call the Highland Council Historic Environment Team on 01463 702504 to book a place.

Description and Programme: 

Caves and rock shelters are places where the natural and
supernatural worlds mingle. They become doorways
to the underworld; portals in which to commune with
departed ancestors and deities. During the Scottish
Iron Age, caves and rock shelters were used and modifi ed and underground man-made structures such as souterrains and steeplystepped ‘wells’ were built.

Recent excavations at High Pasture Cave and Fiscavaig Rock Shelter  on Skye, have provided evidence to suggest that these sites formed  an important part of the wider prehistoric landscape. The sites are  located in dramatic locations. High Pasture Cave is surrounded by  striking mountain scenery, while the rock shelter at Fiscavaig is  dwarfed by overhanging basalt sea-cliffs. Both sites have provided evidence for feasting, metalworking,  craft activities including bone, antler and leather working, and the  deposition of a wide range of objects including bone and iron pins,  spindle whorls, a modifi ed human skull fragment and quern stones.

One major find from High Pasture Cave is the charred wooden
bridge from a musical instrument – the earliest such evidence from Western Europe. Human remains have also been recovered from the sites including inhumed individuals, individual bones and teeth and fragmentary charred and cremated deposits.

This one-day seminar seeks to initiate discussion with regard to
these enigmatic sites. The seminar will focus on the excavations and most recent post-excavation analyses from High Pasture Cave and Fiscavaig Rock Shelter, including a series of papers by specialists working on the site archives. Guest speakers Professor Ian Armit (University of Bradford) and Martin Carruthers (UHI Orkney) will provide a wider perspective on the use of caves and underground
man-made structures during the Iron Age.

0910 Welcome
Kirsty Cameron & Andrew Puls - Highland Council Historic Environment Team

MORNING SESSION CHAIR: Rod McCullagh - Historic Scotland
0915 Introduction       Rod McCullagh - Historic Scotland
0920 Through the mouth of hell: caves, heads and cosmology in Iron Age Europe
-Professor Ian Armit - University of Bradford
0950 Dark and inaccessible: High Pasture Cave and the Fiscavaig Rock Shelter, Skye
- Steven Birch - High Pasture Cave/Fiscavaig Rock Shelter Projects
1020 Sediments and micromorphology at High Pasture Cave, Skye
- Dr Jo McKenzie - University of Bradford
1050 Charcoal: small fragments of a bigger picture
- Dr Mike Cressey - CFA Archaeology Ltd
1110 Morning Tea & Coffee
1125 Refuse or Ritual: the animal bones and burnt plant remains from High Pasture Cave
- Dr Carrie Drew - University of Durham
1155 Bringing home the beef: the animal bone from the Fiscavaig Rock Shelter
- Dr Jacqui Mulville - University of Cardiff
1225 Burnt animal bone and isolated human remains from High Pasture Cave
- Sheena Fraser - University of Edinburgh
- Dr Kath McSweeney - University of Edinburgh
1255 The human remains from High Pasture Cave
- Dr Laura Sinfi eld - University of Edinburgh
1320 Lunch Break. Please note that lunch is not provided

AFTERNOON SESSION CHAIR: Professor Ian Armit - University of Bradford
1420 Isotope data from the skeletal material
- Dr Mandy Jay - University of Durham
- Dr Janet Montgomery - University of Durham
- Julia Beaumont - University of Bradford
- Professor Jane Evans - NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory – BGS
1450 The pottery from High Pasture Cave and the Fiscavaig Rock Shelter
- Dr Ann MacSween - Historic Scotland
1515 A material world: people, life and craft on Iron Age Skye
- Dr Fraser Hunter - National Museums Scotland
1545 Afternoon Tea & Coffee
1600 An Uamh Binn – The Sweet-sounding Cave: a musical artefact in context
- Dr Graeme Lawson - University of Cambridge
- Dr John Purser - University of Glasgow
1630 Underground traditions: the archaeological and social contexts of built underground places in the Scottish Atlantic Iron Age
- Martin Carruthers - UHI Orkney
1700 Discussion
CHAIR: Rod McCullagh - Historic Scotland
1730 Close