Excavation

Date October 2022

Event ID 1163345

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1163345

NR 91493 26851 The Carmahome passage tomb was re- examined in October 2022 with the primary aim of dating its construction and thereby testing the hypothesis that it was built by early Neolithic immigrants who originated from the Morbihan

region of Brittany. These immigrants are thought to have settled along the west coast of Scotland and Ireland and brought with them knowledge of farming as well as a distinct material culture.

Excavation of a trench through the cairn revealed how it was constructed, and confirmed the survival of a trampled buried soil beneath it. The passage tomb was originally excavated in 1924 (Mann 1925) who concluded that the central chamber had been robbed in antiquity and the original capstone(s) removed. The results of this recent excavation have demonstrated that the passage tomb was re-used for multiple cremation burials in the Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age by which time the structure had partially collapsed. Mann (1925) recorded that he and his colleagues lifted the ‘medium’ sized paving stone within the chamber and recovered a flint knife from below.

However, none of the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age cremated bone deposits discovered between the edges of the flagstones and the chamber orthostats have been disturbed demonstrating that neither of the two largest stones have been lifted. The re-examination also revealed that the chamber flagstones are not contemporary with the construction of the passage tomb but a later addition. It is postulated that these stones originated from the tomb roof but were re-arranged in the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age presumably because they had, by this period, collapsed into the chamber. Therefore, there is a possibility that the original Neolithic burial(s) and associated grave goods survive below the flagstones. It is proposed to re-visit the site when the weather and ground conditions have improved and remove the flagstones in order to excavate what lies beneath.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Forest and Land Scotland

Clare Ellis – Argyll Archaeology

(Source: DES Volume 23)