| Corpus Refs: | Forsyth/1996:6.3 |
| Site: | BIRSY |
| Discovery: | arch excav, 1980 Morris, C. |
| History: | Forsyth/1996, 85--86: `...unearthed during the summer of 1980...The stone had been re-used in an area paved with large sandstone flags. No other finds were recovered from this context which was sealed `by one of the rubble spreads between sites E and S' [Morris 1981: 36]. Calibrated radiocarbon dates obtained for this context were in the range 560-769, centering on c. 648. Thus the secondary context of the ogham can be dated approximately to the seventh century, plus or minus 50 years'. |
| Geology: | Forsyth/1996, 86: `Local- Stromness flag series (orange brown calcareous siltstone, ferric rich)'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.31 x 0.35 x 0.06 (Forsyth/1996) |
| Setting: | unattch |
| Location: | other Forsyth examined the stone in the Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow (Forsyth/1996, 85). |
| Form: | other Forsyth/1996, 86: `A parallelogram-shaped building stone'. |
| Condition: | complete , good Forsyth/1996, 86: `Flag intact'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Forsyth, K.S. (1996): | [M][A!][B!]--]QQHO[B!][- Expansion: -][MAB]QQHO[B!][- Expansion: --][MA]QQHO[B!][-- |
| Orientation: | vertical up |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; inc ; other Forsyth/1996, 86: `...runs roughly parallel with the long edge, wavering slightly...the ogham stem is not placed medially, but only about a third of the way up the narrow edge'. |
| Incision: | incised Forsyth/1996, 86: `...sharply and fairly deeply incised with a blade, the stem a little more substantially carved than the letter strokes'. |
| Date: | - 600 (Forsyth/1996) See above for the archaeological context which dates this stone to before the seventh century. |
| Language: | name only (ogams) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | none |
| Legibility: | some Forsyth/1996, 86: `Only middle section of inscription survives. Some individual strokes badly worn, top of third letter lost in spall'. |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |