The BBC reports on 26th April 2006 of a 2,000 year old possible murder (
select for full news story) in the Orkney Islands at Mine Howe, Tankerness (
select for map).
Select for more information on the Orkney Heritage website.
Analysis of multiple cut-wounds to the skeleton suggest a high velocity spear or arrow injury to the man's left shoulder from behind, followed by slashes to his left-side ribs, shoulder, hand and arm. These seem to have been delivered by a sharp, metal weapon, probably a short sword or long dagger, wielded with some force. The cuts were probably the cause of the man’s death, the position of the marks on the bones implying damage to his thorax, left lung and left kidney. The emphasis of attacks on the left-side suggest that the man was right-handed and armed.
The body was then buried in a shallow grave that was barely large enough to contain his body. Indeed, his right toes were bent back and protruded out of the side of the pit, with a number of toe bones found behind his back.
Readers may remember that Channel 4's Time Team visited Mine Howe for
a couple of Christmas specials in 1999 and 2000. It's a pity geophys didn't detect this skeleton or it might have resulted in an episode of Time Team when they actually found something interesting (only joking Tony, Mick and Phil, keep up the good work).
Mine Howe is certainly an enigmatic place. It seems to be a centre for iron-working on an island where Iron Age remains are very scarce. The main surviving structure is best described by the Time Team website:
"In a mound, which from its external appearance looks largely natural and no different from a scatter of similar mounds in the vicinity, an extraordinary underground structure was revealed. A flight of 17 stone steps descend to a half-landing where they turn back on themselves and a further 11 steps descend to a chamber.
This chamber is only about 1.3 metres in diameter but is over four metres high with a corbelled roof. The bottom step into this chamber is 0.9 metres high and gives it a cistern-like appearance. At the half-landing two subsidiary chambers/passages open out, one above the other . . . Most of the structure is lined with beautifully built dry-stone walling."
This reminds me of the many examples of Iron Age souterrain found across the Celtic world; a womb-like space deep within the earth. Are they ritualistic spaces? Or bolt-holes to hide from attackers? Or maybe they suited the acoustics for Iron Age musical gigs? Whatever, the fascination of altered perspectives from being deep underground is one that we can all feel to this day, and one still used by artists such as James Turrell, most recently with his Deer Shelter Skyspace at the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
This is
the second skeleton found at Mine Howe. The other one was by contrast formally interred, a female body buried in the floor of what appears (from the other extant artifacts) to have been a smithy. Two decorative bronze toe-rings were found on the feet, while a piece of deer skull/antler, drilled with six holes, lay on the chest. Why was she buried in the floor? One wonders about the 'magical' nature of iron-smiths in the Iron Age. Was she a sacrificial victim? A shaman who had the magical power of working metal? Was the speared male a less enthusiastic sacrifice? We can only speculate, but if you ask me it has all the makings of a Celtic who-dunnit.
Ian Rankin, are you listening?! Enough with the Rebus already!
