Stanydale Temple is a
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
site on
Mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
,
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, Scotland. It is located in a field to the south of the modern village of
Stanydale, roughly by road northwest of
Lerwick
Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...
, to the northeast of the village of
Gruting. Once a roofed building, all that remains is a large, walled enclosure. There is uncertainty about the original purpose of the building, but its unusual size indicates some communal purpose, or that it was possibly the home of an important person.
It is designated a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
Location and origins
The building lies within a field of about almost completely surrounded by a
dry stone
Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...
wall.
The field contains two smaller stone houses and about 30 mounds of stone.
The stones would have been cleared from the field to enable cultivation.
The settlement may well have been established in 2500–2000 BC, when Neolithic farmers first came to Shetland.
Pottery
sherd
In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well.
Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...
s show that it was also occupied in the late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(1000–700 BC) and early
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
(600–400 BC).
Structure
The smaller houses both have a large central space and some small rooms.
The main building is heel-shaped with a concave facade, as are other neolithic buildings in Shetland.
It has a shallow crescent-shaped forecourt.
An alcove outside the door may have been a guardroom.
The building is entered from the forecourt via a short, dog-legged passage.
The building's walls enclose an oval area about with six shallow recesses.
Excavations have found two post holes along the axis of the oval that each contained the carbonized remains of a spruce post in width. The species of spruce, ''
Picea abies
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...
'' (Norway spruce), is not native to Scotland; the posts were presumably driftwood carried across from Scandinavia. The floor of the building also contained charcoal from
Scots Pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...
. The building most likely had a wooden ridge roof. There would have been few if any trees on the island when Stanydale was built, but driftwood must have been plentiful since it would have taken of timber to construct the roof.
Usage
Charles S. T. Calder explored the site in 1949. He thought that Stanydale was a temple, a name that has stuck,
with a design originating from Mediterranean temples.
He saw a strong resemblance to these structures, saying, "It is almost impossible not to assume that the Maltese temples are the prototypes from which Stanydale is derived and which solve the question of its purpose."
Other archaeologists have cast doubt on the "temple" theory, but agree that the building is unique in Shetland of the period in apparently being designed for communal use or for a high-status person.
Excavations have found sherds of
Beaker pottery and flat-based pots.
Burnt barley grains have been found, as well as the remains of sheep and cattle.
One of the buildings at Stanydale contained saddle-querns and grain-rubbers, which would have been used to grind the barley.
Gallery
File:Stanydale Temple 20080820 02.jpg
File:Staneydale 2 - nz willowherb.jpg
File:Stanydale Temple 20080820 01.jpg
File:Stanydale Temple 20080820 03.jpg
References
Citations
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External links
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{{Prehistoric Shetland
Neolithic Scotland
Archaeological sites in Shetland
Historic Scotland properties in Shetland
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Shetland
Mainland, Shetland