AN excavation in Orkney has revealed a half-destroyed by erosion structure with a history stretching back more than 1000 years, from the Iron Age to the Viking Age.
Archaeologists on Rousay island are urgently excavating the unique Iron Age roundhouse at Swandro before it’s lost to coastal erosion. The structure reveals a rare architectural evolution from Iron Age to Viking times, according to researchers.
The building was once thought to have been a broch, a type of Iron Age drystone tower, and is now understood to be a unique architectural hybrid.
Its outer walls were added centuries after its original construction, giving it the appearance of a broch without the typical features.
The Swandro team has documented since 2023 how daily tidal action, not just winter storms, is actively destroying the site as part of a global case study in climate-threatened heritage.
The Knowe of Swandro was once a large settlement occupied from around 1000BC to AD1200 and consists of Iron Age roundhouses, Pictish buildings, a Viking settlement and a Norse Long Hall.
Coastal erosion is the biggest threat to unearthing sites such as this excavation, which has recently uncovered jewellery, tools made from bone, pottery, a late Roman coin and a rare Iron Age glass toggle bead.
Dr Julie Bond, co-director and associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bradford, said: “The sea is literally sucking the ground out from under us.
“It’s a stark reminder of what coastal heritage sites around the world are facing.”
Despite the challenges, the team made a striking find this season, a nearly complete Iron Age pot, decorated with a zigzag pattern, buried at the foot of a wall inside the roundhouse. It offered the team a rare glimpse into the lives of its ancient inhabitants.
Dr Stephen Dockrill, co-director of the excavation and senior lecturer at the University of Bradford, said: “This year, we finally cracked the puzzle.
“The outer wall is a later addition, built over midden layers dating to around 800-500 BCE. That means this building was in use for centuries, until it was carefully dismantled, likely by Viking settlers who reused its stones for their own longhouse nearby.”
The excavation is supported by the Swandro-[[Orkney]] Coastal Archaeology Trust, [[Orkney]] Islands Council, Historic Environment Scotland, and the University of Bradford, along with individual donors.
