Unstan - Finds

Of all of the finds from Unstan, perhaps the most significant was the pottery discovered there. The remains of at least 35 pots were retrieved, the most found
 at any Orcadian cairn. To put this quantity in perspective, the remains of only 6 pots were recovered from the much bigger chamber of the
 enormous Midhowe cairn.
Nearly all of the sherds recovered at Unstan were from shallow carinated bowls of a particular form, and with a particular style of decoration.
Although similar bowls were also found at other Orcadian sites, this type of bowl is now known universally as "Unstan ware".

As all of the original Unstan ware finds were broken and partial, here is a photo of our own intact Unstan bowl from Orkney.
A reproduction of course, but made on Orkney and hand-moulded. The originals would have been fired in directly in wood fires,
not a modern kiln, so they would have a darker tone from the smoke and ash.

Originally thought to have been exclusively used for funerary purposes, Unstan ware has more recently been found in several
domestic settings such as the Knap of Howar farmhouse on Papa Westray. Perhaps it mainly being found in cairns is due
to enhanced preservation in those settings, rather than a large bias toward its selective use in them.

There is a theory that two distinct cultures may have coexisted on Orkney during the tomb building period. One tradition having
Unstan ware pottery and placing its dead in Orkney-Cromarty cairns, the other employing Grooved ware pottery and utilising
Maes Howe chambered tombs as its funerary monuments. The distributions of the pottery and tomb types on the Orkney islands
do partially support this idea, but it is by no means definite.

Here are illustrations of some of the original finds from Unstan shown in Clouston's paper (1) describing his excavation.

Note the frequent use of parallel slanted lines in the decoration on the bowls. The stones of the outer casing of the cairn
at Unstan were laid in a slanted way, this is thought to have been a decorative feature and may echo the motifs
seen on the pottery found within.

Although the majority of sherds recovered were from characteristic Unstan bowls, some fragments of a plainer form were found.

1. Clouston, R.S., Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 19, p.341-51,1884.

As usual, our sincere thanks to the Society for allowing use of material from its most excellent Proceedings.

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