Field Visit
Date June 1981
Event ID 1101596
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1101596
On a slight tree-covered terrace 280m NW of Dunchraigaig, there is a cairn of water-worn boulders measuring about 30 m in diameter and up to 2.5m in height (Campbell and Sandeman 1964, no. 95). Three stones, which probably form part of the kerb, are visible on the N, but ploughing and stone-robbing have obscured its original outline.
Excavations by Greenwell in 1864, following those of Mapleton, revealed a cist within the cairn material, slightly to the N of the centre (Greenwell 1868; Mapleton 1870). Aligned ENE and WSW and measuring 1.4m by 0.8m internally and 0.8m in depth, the cist is now constructed of five slabs, one of which is cracked, although Greenwell mentions only four. On the cover slab, which measures 1.9 m in length and 0.23m in thickness and is now partly concealed by cairn material, there was, according to Greenwell's account, an extended burial. The cist contained a Food Vessel, cremated bone and charcoal, some flint chippings, as well as a mixture of sand, gravel and clay; beneath an apparent floor of rough paving, the excavators uncovered a crouched burial with the head at the NE end of the cist. A second cist, which is not now visible, lay about 6.5m to the E with its long axis NE and SW; it measured about 0.46m by 0.38m and 0.38m in depth and was partly filled with gravel. On the surface of the gravel there was a Food Vessel, and cremated bone and flint chippings were found among the gravel. A third cist, which Greenwell thought to have contained the primary burial, lies in the SE quadrant of the cairn. Its floor was hollowed into the old ground surface and the sides are formed by roughly built drystone walls; part of the SE side has been removed. Aligned NE and SW and covered by a massive slab (3.8m long and 0.35m thick, and partly hidden by cairn material), the cist measures 2.6m by 1.3m and 1m in depth; it contained burnt and unburnt bone from eight to ten individuals with the deposits roughly separated by fragments of stone. A whetstone, a greenstone axe, a flint knife and some fragments of pottery were found among the cairn material. Traces of an excavation trench across the E half of the cairn may still be seen. The two Food Vessels are preserved in the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, but the other finds have not survived.
Visited June 1981
RCAHMS 1988
