Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017473
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017473
Excavation of these two long chambered tombs in 1963-6 revealed a multi-period structural sequence of some complexity and provided a better understanding of the development of Clyde cairns in general. They are in somewhat mutilated condition and their special significance is thus historical rather than visual.
Mid Gleniron I (NX 186610) originated in a small rectangular burial chamber (the northernmost), which was contained within a small cairn of probable early neolithic date. A second chamber in a small cairn was then built independently in front of it. Finally, a third chamber was set laterally between the two, all three being joined into a long straight-sided mound with a crescentic north facade. Nine cremations in cinerary urns had been inserted into the south-eastern flank, showing that the cairn had subsequently been used as a burial place in bronze-age times.
The much-ruined Mid Gleniron II, 120m to the southeast, is likewise of multi-period construction. It originated in an oval cairn with an eastward-facing small chamber. A larger, south-facing chamber was then added, the enlarged composite structure being enciosed within a straight-sided cairn with southern facade. The later chamber no longer survives.
To the south of each of the long cairns is a circular burial cairn, that to the south of Mid Gleniron II being a large circular mound about 17m in diameter and 2.75m high. Excavation brought to light a small closed box-like chamber at the centre, the whole structure possibly being contemporary with the nearby chambered tombs. The much-disturbed cairn to the south of Mid Gleniron I yielded a cremated human bone, perhaps originally contained within a cinerary urn. The finds from the excavations are in Nithsdale District Museum, Dumfries.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
