Excavation of Pictish and Viking-age farmsteads at Buckquoy, Orkney

HY 243282. Excavation revealed five superimposed farmsteads and quantities of finds. Phases I-II were Pictish, 7th to early 8th centuries, with a distinctive 'figure-of-eight' shaped house plan in II. Phases III-V had typically Norse house plans, and a final date for occupation is provided by a furnished burial made in the ruins of the Phase V house and dated to third quarter of 10th century. A degree of social integration between Pict and Norseman seems evident. Substantial quantities of data on environment and economy are the subject of specialist reports, and among the small finds are a ring-headed pin, gaming boards, and bone combs and animal-headed pins.