or early tenth century – which some assume dominated western Scotland and the Isle of
Man as well as northern Scotland into the eleventh century (see Etchingham 2001 for
a refutation of the evidence for lengthy Orcadian dominance of Man and the Hebrides in
the tenth and eleventh centuries). The earldom then continued under the rule of a single
dynasty until well into the Middle Ages (e.g. Morris 1985 , 1998 ; Buteux 1997 ; Hunter
1997 ; Owen 2004 ; Crawford 2004 ; Helle 2005 ). In this vision of the past, the perspec-
tives of Historia Norwegie and Orkneyinga saga survive largely intact. However, they are
augmented by the possible evidence for mixed material culture at early Viking Age
settlements such as Buckquoy, Pool, the Brough of Birsay and Old Scatness.
The potential weaknesses of this model are that it extrapolates from late sources,
it assumes the existence of an earldom of Orkney before the eleventh century (the
earliest unambiguous reference being to the death of Earl Sigurd of Orkney at the battle
of Clontarf in Ireland in 1014 ; MacAirt and MacNiocaill 1983 ) and it derives its
chronology largely from its theory. In other words, it assumes rather than demonstrates
a gradual sequence from mixed (indigenous and Norse) to exclusively Scandinavian
material culture (see Barrett 2003 , 2004 ). This progression has not been demonstrated
because of the issues clouding chronological resolution discussed above.
In sum, all of these hypotheses remain unproven. Nevertheless, the genocide and
Laithlind hypotheses are arguably the least probable, leaving the Myhre and earldom
models for further consideration. Both are problematic due to uncertainties over
chronology. Thus any future progress in our understanding of Viking Age Scotland is
likely to hinge on a better understanding of time – be it by stratigraphic excavation of
early Viking Age settlements, further typological study of poorly stratified collections,
improved archaeometric dating or a combination of all these approaches. While the
quality of the available evidence can be improved in these ways, the issues must also be
clearly theorised – with due attention to what one means by the Norse in Scotland.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI thank Stefan Brink and Neil Price for the invitation to contribute to this volume and
for their patience as editors. The paper benefited from discussions and correspondence
with Steve Ashby, Kristin Bornholdt-Collins, Anne Brundle, Colman Etchingham,
Peder Gammeltoft and Eva Thäte – some of whom have kindly allowed me to cite
their forthcoming work. Excavations at Quoygrew in Orkney were principally funded
by Historic Scotland and conducted with the assistance of James Gerrard and Jennifer
Harland.
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——( 1995 ) ‘Reindeer antler combs at Howe: contact between late Iron Age Orkney and
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–– James H. Barrett––