"Tantalising" Bronze Age building could have been used as prehistoric healing sauna, say archaeologists

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Speculation surrounds Bronze Age hot house discovered on Orkney

Archaeologists say a steam house in the middle of a “very rare” Bronze Age building, discovered in Orkney among the remains of 30 houses constructed between 4000 and 1000 BC, could have been used for spiritual ceremonies, rites of passages or as a sweat house.

Working at Noltland, on the island of Westray, where the earliest depiction of a human face, the Westray Wife, was found in 2009, the Historic Scotland excavation uncovered a building with a “very specialised function”. Its finders are speculating that it could have been a sauna used for healing and cleansing or as a birthing centre.

“We know this was a large building with a complex network of cells attached to it and a sizeable tank of water in the central structure which would likely have been used to produce boiling water and steam – which could have been used to create a sauna effect,” says Rod McCullagh, the Deputy Head of Archaeology Strategy for the group, calling the site “beautifully preserved” with “lots of tantalising clues”.

“What this would have been used for we don’t know exactly but the large scale, elaborate architecture and sophistication of the structure all suggest that it was used for more than just cooking.

“Whether its purpose was for feasting, rituals, important discussions or maybe just for the same reasons we use saunas for today is something we don’t yet know.

“This is just the start of an exciting but painstaking process of analysis and research work, but one which gradually adds to our understanding of what activities occurred here 4,000 years ago.”

Natural erosion had threatened the future of the site, which will now be backfilled as a protective measure against the harsh Orkney winter. It could be re-excavated in Spring 2016.

Historic Scotland is merging with the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland this week, forming a new heritage body called Historic Environment Scotland.

A Bronze Age sauna? Possible uses of the site

• The building is have included a ‘burnt mound’. Early analysis revealed a fireplace and a pile of burnt stones which would have been roasted on a hearth before being used to boil the water and produce steam for activities such as bathing, brewing or textile working.
  
  
• It could have been a place where the sick and elderly could go to die, or where bodies were taken before burial.
  
  
• In Scandinavia, saunas represented 'safe' places associated with cleansing and healing. They were also places where deals were done and important discussions conducted.
  
  
• In Native American traditions, the architecture of the sweat lodge is heavily prescribed and rituals concerned with the spirit world are enacted.
  
  
• An underground building filled with fire and steam could have been an attractive proposition in the cold conditions of Bronze Age Noltland. Archaeologists say it may even have been consciously designed as a stage for ritual activity – perhaps in the form of a cult house or sanctuary.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Three places to discover prehistoric Scotland in

Skara Brae Prehistoric Village, Orkney
When a wild storm on Orkney in 1850 exposed the ruins of ancient dwellings, Skara Brae, the best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe, was discovered. The excavated farming settlement dates back 5000 years.

Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge, Stenness
The Standing Stones o' Stenness were originally laid out in an ellipse. Although it is commonly written that the monument was once made up of 12 megaliths, excavations in the 1970s suggest that the ring was never "completed", with at least one - possibly two - of the 12 stones never erected.

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow
Current exhibition Cradle of Scotland, until January 3 2016, combines original artefacts found by the University of Glasgow’s Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot project with replicas and visualisations, creating a stunning exhibition that explores the archaeological history of Scotland.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art538051-historic-scotland-orkney-sauna-healing-hot-house-cooking-prehistoric