Archaeologists are to probe two mounds on a Scottish island in the hope they may be Viking boat burials.
Specialists and volunteers will begin work on the suspected barrows’ secrets this month with a ‘keyhole’ trench which will hopefully shine a light on their secrets.
Opinion is divided over whether the grassy knolls are natural features, or relics of the time when the Hebrides was under Norse control between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
The area surrounding the mounds, at Lephin on the Isle of Mull’s Glengorm Estate, is already known to be home to a former Viking farmstead, showing that the northmen settled the area.
Viking boat burials are incredibly rare on the British mainland, but one was uncovered in nearby Ardnamurchan in 2011.
The Norsemen would inter high-status individuals inside boats dragged ashore, laying grave goods such as swords and shields inside before covering the grave with a mound of earth.
Argyll Archaeology has been involved in several community projects on Mull
The Mull Museum and Argyll Archaeology project, which will be led by archaeologist Dr Clare Ellis, also hopes to unearth further Viking and Norse artefacts and structures at the Lephin farm site.
Dr Ellis said: “It’s very speculative at the moment. We have been doing a dig at Lephin and uncovered these structures which date back to the late 10th century (and Viking times).
“We do not have much evidence of Norse settlements in the west and in Argyll, like we do on Orkney and Shetland, so this was a really exciting find.
“We’ve looked at the idea that these mounds might be Viking boat burials. I’m not so sure, but there have to be more burials out there and you never know - the one at Ardnamurchan was originally thought to be a cairn of stone refuse.”
Remains of the antler comb found previously found at the site
The Viking farmstead at Lephin was occupied for around three centuries and would have been home to a large extended family.
Far from the bearded raiding berserkers of legend, the Vikings of Mull would have been sedentary farmers who had come to colonise what would one day be Scotland due to the scarcity of arable land in Scandinavia.
Finds uncovered so far include a rare antler comb similar to those found at other Viking settlements in the Northern Isles, a large hearth and several ‘midden pits.
It is also thought the farm buildings were surrounded by a wooden palisade.
The project has been fundraised locally and people from the community will help with the dig, which begins on Sunday.
If the mounds prove to be boat burials, further fundraising will be necessary to excavate them fully.
Dr Ellis added: “It will be great if these turn out to be burials, but it’s just a ‘look and see’ what might be in there at the moment.”
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