Introduction on Banks chamber
This is a thoroughly abridged version of an earlier publication, the rather vicious attacks on archaeologists got a bit out of hand, I see that better now and have deleted most. The frustration which fuelled the polemical stance was the debacle of the excavation of the so called ‘Tomb of the Otters’ or ‘Banks chamber’, close to the tomb of the Eagles in Orkney’s South Ronaldsay. It is probably the most important untouched chamber found since Quanterness was opened in the 70’s, a wealth in data, a wealth in stratification, a wealth in preservation, (otter shit!) and a wealth of information. The excavation is halfway now and stopped, the refuge chamber in the care of Historic Scotland, but the local archaeologists are off-limits at the site, I was told by the owners, who have hired a foreign professional for clearing the passage.
What makes the chamber extra important for me personally is that it contains the best preserved and arguable evidence of my concept of the refuge-chambers, that the megalithic passage chambers were refuge places under bad weather conditions, like artificial caves in the earth, like an animal den with a tunnel; available for any one who neelded shelter. A place also did not survive and died in the chambers.
The Banks-chamber shows at least several things: the people created a new living-floor (no ‘decommissioning’, please, every layer has otter spraint), when bones and skulls were found in the chamber, they were not taken out but buried in situ under a layer of flagstones (up to 7 layers are counted in some side cells, but still seen as ‘decommissioning’ by the archaeologists) creating a new and clean living-space, for the bad weather spell they had to survive there.
The other noteworthy thing is that there is evidence that the otters were feeding on the dead bodies of those who did not survive a severe winter. It was no otter’s den, but a feeding place where they shitted all around never stopping eating in those cold winters, creating islands of spraint between the bones; it may be a gruesome scenario but I’m confident that it is close to the truth. Otters don’t shit in their dens, and they do shit when they eat like otters do, that eat about half their body weight in a day.
Another thing is that on my photos below it is clearly visible that water had been standing there for probably thousands of years. The groundwater level is locally very high, which is visible in ponds nearby. At the moment the chamber is ‘preserved’ dry, because of a wrong judgment by the professionals, they think it was flooded recently. Study the pictures, it even looks as if crystal clear water is still standing there.
It is not so difficult to see that the lower parts of these chamber cells have been in water for a very long time, not a couple of years, being visibly smoothed and coloured, it does seem as if water is still standing there, but water is at the bottom on the upper photo, the cell was excavated recently. So what has been preserved under water for 4000 years is now in a dry condition in the other cells and will probably quickly deteriorate, the loss of a treasure of data, which could tell us about family relations, intervals of use, periods of use, how many generations, climate change ; all gone within a few years. The loss of a comprehensive picture of the population of the chamber is still at stake, but it will take a lot of diplomacy to solve this stand-off with the owners, there is though not much time.
The importance of the chamber demands that it is excavated by the highest qualified professionals Britain can provide, not by unqualified people, as has been the case but I don’t think the archaeology community as a whole, is aware of the situation and what is at stake; the local archaeologists don’t see their mistake, no rescue excavation was necessary, the chamber was fine as it was found, with water in it for thousands of years. Now that the owners have taken over and keep it dry for visitors, oxygen will do its devastating work all too quick, I wonder who cares’.
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