dc.description.abstract | The extensive collection of Iron Age pottery from antiquarian investigations
of Atlantic Roundhouse sites in Caithness, Sutherland and the Small Isles
(Inner Hebrides) provided an ideal opportunity to address several gaps in the
academic understanding of pottery sequences outwith the Western Isles
(Outer Hebrides). Until now no work of this kind for Caithness or Sutherland
has been conducted, and the material culture of Skye and the Inner Hebrides
has been subsumed largely into the broader sequences of their more westerly
neighbours.
The aim of the thesis is twofold. Firstly, to establish pottery sequences for
three sub-regions of Atlantic Scotland; Northern Mainland, Western
Mainland and Skye and Small Isles, using both antiquarian material and
pottery from recent excavations. This comprises the first five chapters of the
thesis. And secondly, within the following three chapters, utilizing two pieces
of experimental research and a series of case studies, the author explores the
social narrative of the ceramic assemblage, ultimately to better understand
technological and cultural aspects of pot making and use. | en |