Ian Crawford’a Udal: The Key to Ceramic Traditions of the Western Seaboard

The Udal North, North Uist, dug by Iain Crawford has a continuous structural sequence with artefactual evidence from the late Iron Age to the end of the post- medieval period. All periods produced quantities of handmade pottery, to make it one of the largest rural assemblages in Scotland. This long and remarkable sequence from this one site has the potential to confirm and expand the pottery sequence proposed by Campbell (2002) for the Western Isles. Some of the Udal North pottery was studied about 30 years ago, but the opportunity now exists to date the assemblage scientifically and explore it socially. Research questions include examining the origins of pottery making in the region, the development of pottery making at the site, as well as the continuation of the ceramic tradition to the present day. This paper is an interim summary of what we know to date and what we hope to learn in the future.