18th century brooch pin and 15th century bronze buckle mounting found on Balevullin machair.
Brooch pin and bronze buckle mounting found on Balevullin machair before 1953. Examined and identified by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in Edinburgh (pre-1953). The pin is thought to have been made during the 18th century, whilst the buckle was thought to be made in the 15th century because “leaf shaped terminal did not appear until after 14th century”. Includes photocopy of historian`s notes.
Dr Euan MacKie , archaeologist and leader of the excavation of the broch at Vaul, giving a talk there in July 2000.
Dr MacKie excavated Dun Mor Vaul in the 1960s. The broch measures 9.2 m in internal diameter with dry-stone walls up to 4.5 m thick and once probably 8 m high. Built around the middle of the 1st century AD, the absence of a permanent central hearth suggests it was used originally as a temporary refuge. The upper storeys of the broch were subsequently dismantled and a round-house, possibly an aisled wheel-house, constructed in the interior. It housed a flourishing community engaged in mixed farming, iron-working and bronze-casting. A number of worked bone, pottery, metal and worked stone artefacts were discovered during excavation and are now held in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. Radiocarbon dating of organic material indicates that the site was inhabited from the late 6th or 5th century BC to the 2nd or 3rd century AD, though perhaps not continuously.
Wooden case (550 x 325 mm) containing 66 pottery shards collected by George Holleyman from a sand-hill site at Balevullin during 1941-3. Documented on E00033. Reviewed by Dr Euan MacKie in summer 2000 (see 2000.167). Items further identified by Dr Ewan Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology in Glasgow, in July 2018: Norse ‘platter; early medieval; 16th-18th century.
Wooden case containing 60 Iron Age pottery shards.
(Documented on E00033) Wooden case (350 x 300 mm) containing 60 Iron Age pottery shards collected by George Holleyman from a sand-hill site at Balevullin during 1941-3. Two shards are accessioned separately with photos: 2000.91.12 & 2000.91.13
