Site: Burrian

Name:Burrian CISP No:BURIN
Place:Burrian Grid Ref:HY 7627 5138 (GB)   Map
Parish:North Ronaldsay Stones:1
County:Orkney (Arcaibh) , Scotland Saint(s):none
Site Type:settlement

Site Notes

Forsyth/1996, 187--189: `The Broch of Burrian is at the tip of a promontory in the very south-east of the island, overlooking a rocky shore and separated from the arable land by four earthen ramparts. ... A number of the finds are diagnostically Pictish, most famously the ox phalanges inscribed with symbols, and the pebble inscribed with a pentangle and other designs. But there are other more humdrum items. Two artefacts, the cross slab and an iron hand-bell point to ecclesiastical activity at the site. Radford claimed the site as a monastery or Christian hermitage, aview more recently supported by work on hand-bells of Irish type in Scotland. ... The subsequent history of the site is unknown, but impressive standing remains must have survived into the Norse period to have attracted the name `Burrian' (< ON borg-in `the fortress')'.

References

Stones