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Later Norse Houses, Brough of Birsay, Orkney
This complicated maze of walls along the cliff on the seaward side of the later church represent several building phases extending throughout the Norse period from the ninth to the twelve century, although most of the upstanding walls can be dated to the tenth century from the artefacts associated with them.
Several later buildings were removed in the course of excavation and traces of earlier structures remain beneath the ground surface.
This rectangular building with the kerb stones of its long hearth still visible, represents the last of the four major phases of occupation spanning both Pictish and Norse times.
This small building has a kerb of upright stones which may have supported wooden benches round the walls. Its purpose is uncertain but a hundred pebbles were found on the floor, perhaps for heating in a brazier and then dousing with water to create a sauna.
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