Revisiting Knap of Howar, Papa Westray, Orkney

Abstract

The Neolithic stone houses at Knap of Howar (Papa Westray, Orkney) are acknowledged as among the most complete in Northwest Europe. The site, a Property in Care, was first investigated in the 1930s and subsequently by Dr Anna Ritchie in the 1970s. The interpretation of the buildings as an Early Neolithic ‘Unstan’ settlement has been under review for some time, however, and fieldwork commissioned by Historic Environment Scotland provided the opportunity for reassessment and updating. Supported by new radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic information, activity in this area is attested potentially from the Mesolithic period through successive phases of Neolithic farming and settlement, culminating in the construction of the stone buildings in the latter part of the 4th millennium BC. This final phase occurred during a period of significant transition which saw the emergence of stone houses and Grooved Ware pottery, features which subsequently came to define the Orcadian Later Neolithic. The early adoption of such innovations on an outer isle illustrates that change was not restricted to the Orcadian Mainland. The final abandonment of this long-lived settlement is thought to have occurred sometime before 2900 BC and to have been linked to increasingly adverse environmental conditions which affected coastal locations across Orkney. The role of environmental change in reshaping both landscape and society at this time is likely to have been significant but remains yet to be fully investigated. The project was commissioned and funded by Historic Environment Scotland.

Canmore ID: 2848