1016653 |
DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS |
PUBLICATION ACCOUNT |
East Bennan is the classic example of the trapezoidal and homed long cairn of Clyde-type. It measures about 34m from east to west by 6.7m at the narrow east end and 19.8m at the wider west end, but it has been extensively robbed of stone and only stands to a height of 0.9m. The sides of the mound were revetted by a kerb of boulders, a few of which are still visible. At the west end there is a semicircular forecourt, flanked by square-ended horns, and the remains of an orthostatic (upright stones) facade. At the centre of the facade the two tallest stones act as portals on either side of the entrance to the chamber. However, as they are only 0.15m apart at ground level, it is difficult to see how this gap functioned as an entrance; it is possible that they are a late addition to the cairn and were inserted during the ritual blocking of the cairn once burials had ceased (cf Monamore, no. 101). The portal stones appear to be deeply buried, and this probably indicates that the forecourt is packed with a considerable depth of blocking material. The chamber is one of the longest in the Arran neolithic cairns and consists of five overlapping pairs of stones, making five compartments which are divided by septal slabs. Like so many of the Arran chambered cairns, the chamber was excavated by T H Bryce (in 1909), but it had been cleared out before Bryce's day and all he found was a flake of Arran pitchstone and fragments of a round based pot. At the east end of the cairn there are at least two lateral chambers set at right angles to the long axis of the mound; their relationship to the cairn is uncertain and excavation would be required to tell whether they are part of an earlier cairn incorporated into the later long cairn or secondary chambers inserted after the construction of the primary west chamber. [...] |
1985 |