Unstan Ware

Definition

The type was defined by Stuart Piggott on the basis of findings from Stalled cairns of Orkney and named after the Unstan Cairn on Orkney Mainland. Here the characteristic 35 bowls were found.

Piggot understood by Unstan goods undecorated rundbodige bowls with straight or retracted edge and shells with break and a grooved or pierced ribbon-like ornament between transition and edge. Audrey Henshall narrowed the definition to ornate shells with break Piggots first type is now usually referred to as "plain bowls ".

Ceramics

The only form of Unstan goods is a wide rundbodige shell, which is usually sharp in two parts and has a perpendicular or slightly conical shoulder, which is sometimes lifted by a slight bulge from the vessel body. Only the upper half of the vessel is decorated. The patterns, lines, triangles or filled angle rare bands are stung, scratched and bitten. In addition, undecorated vessels occur.

Dissemination

Unstan goods were found only in the northern and north-western Scotland, in the Orkney Islands at Knap of Howar, in Stone Hall and Midhowe Cairn, on the Calf of Eday and on the Wideford Hill Cairn, in the Hebrides in the Crannog of Eilean Domhnuill in the hole Olabhat / hole Olivat and Eilean Tighe on to North Uist, and Northton on Harris. On the Scottish mainland, it was found in Skitton, Caithness and Urquhart, Morayshire, Kenny's Cairn in Caithness and North Sutherland Ord. The ornament of Neolithic vessels from Balbridie shows certain similarities to Unstan style, the shape is quite different.

Burials

The Unstan ceramics often occurs in the " stalled cairns " of type Orkney - Cromarty. It is elongated passage graves, may with side chambers, but then refer to hybrids. Unstan itself has a side chamber, Isbister and Banks tomb in South Ronaldsay have three. The hills are round or oval. The entrance is at the other plants of the type on the longitudinal axis of the chamber ( Knowe of Yarso on Rousay ). In some cases, it lies lateral: Unstan, Banks and Isbister. The graves contain a striking number of burials.

Dating

The relatively short-lived ( easily breakable ) ceramic is for archaeologists, an important tool (called index fossil ) if they are to determine the time position of a find or find the place. The u.U. datable by the Thermolumineszenzmethode ceramic can possibly be divided into different styles of shorter or longer duration. Thus, the development of ceramics ( in material, shape and decoration ) and the age of the different findings may be determined in the ideal case. The Unstan ceramic is to be set according to Alison Sheridan between 3600/3500 BC ( Knap of Howar ) and 3200.

On the Unstan goods follows the Orkney Grooved Ware, which was found among others in Skara Brae and Maes Howe, but is often on the British mainland.