Irish-Scottish connections in the first millennium AD: an evaluation of the links between souterrain ware and Hebridean ceramics

Abstract:Although some limited consideration has been given to the possibility of links between the early medieval ceramic traditions of the Western Isles and the souterrain ware of north-east Ireland, these have tended to be framed in the context of supposed Dalriadic cultural influence flowing from Ireland to Scotland. A re-evaluation of the possible relationships between these pottery styles suggests that souterrain ware might instead be seen as part of a regional expansion of western Scottish pottery styles in the seventh-eighth centuries AD. This raises the question of what social processes might underlie the cross-regional patterning evident in what remains a vernacular, rather than a high-status, technology.