In the farthest reaches of the Western Scottish mainland, a fullyfurnished Viking boat burial (Figure 25.1) was excavated in 2011 as part of the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project (Harris et al. 2012). Although the Western Isles are rich in Viking burial remains, the adjacent mainland has mere hints of contemporary activity. A study of the place-names by Anne Bankier (2006) has demonstrated a Norse presence in the immediate area and indeed the place-name of the burial location, Swordle, is ON in origin (ON svör r (m), gen svar ar, ‘svard/turf’ + dalr, ‘valley’= turf valley: Simon Taylor, pers. comm.). This is, however, the first tangible archaeological evidence for the period in the area.

A low-lying cairn, with edges defined by earth-fast stones and oriented in a west-south-west–east-north-east direction, was identified on an old beach line in close proximity to a massive Neolithic burial mound (Claidh Aindreis) (Harris et al. 2012: 334). The water-worn boulders of the cairn, 5.1m x 1.6m in extent, had collapsed inwards onto a small wooden boat, surviving as an impression with 213 in situ iron rivets and containing several distinctive Viking grave goods. The detailed excavation of the small boat, roughly 5m in length, is described elsewhere (Harris et al. 2012). It is clear there was no defined inner chamber within the boat, as found at both Westness (Kaland 1993: fig. 17.7) and Scar (Owen and Dalland 1999: 27, fig. 23), and that the items had been placed within the grave not only at various stages of the burial process, but also throughout the western and central area of the vessel itself.

Due to the acidic soil, two molars were the only surviving human remains, but enough to suggest the body was laid with its head to the west end of the boat. Strontium and lead isotope analysis of the teeth suggests a childhood with a maritime diet spent a distance away from the burial location, with eastern Ireland, north-eastern mainland Scotland, Norway and Sweden all contenders (fully discussed by Janet Montgomery in Harris et al. 2017: 198–200 and accompanying material).