Archaeology Notes

Event ID 643014

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/643014

HY21NW 35 242 195.

The site was discovered during sand quarrying. It consisted of a rock cut pit, 3.2m by 3.4m by 2m deep, forming a chamber against the west wall of which a free-standing stone cist, 1.6m by 1m by 1m high, was inserted. A single capstone covered the cist. A drystone wall was built against the wall opposite the cist and the space between the two roofed with capstones.

The cist contained both inhumations and cremations, one of the latter being placed in an urn. It was clear that the burials did not represent a single deposition, but that the cist had been reused at least once.

In addition to skeletal remains from the burials, the cist contained the remains of organic fibrous material, of vegetable origin. A slate pot lid was found immediately outside the N end of the cist.

Cremated human bone, along with a large deposit of vitrified material, was found in a narrow space between the west side of the cist and the chamber wall. The vitreous matter may represent funeral-pyre material. Sponsor: SDD HBM-AOC.

M Dalland 1989d.