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Field Visit
Date 1 November 1974
Event ID 568129
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/568129
The centre of cairn 'H' was dug into and virtually destroyed by Younie (J L M Younie, Garbeg) in July 1974. He found a fragment of a sandstone slab immediately under the turf in the centre which bears part of a crescent and V-rod incised symbol, now in Inverness Museum. The remainder of the cairn has been subject to an excavation since then by Wedderburn, proving the ditch to be circular.
Wedderburn (L Wedderburn, Inverness Museum) has also partially excavated cairn 'J'. This has proved to be square. At each corner is a small upright boulder. The four sides are marked by shallow ditches all stopping short of the corner stones. Centrally placed in the interior is a rectangular area delineated by contiguous stones, apparently formerly on edge, c. 6' x 3', with the centre filled with rubble stones. There are possibly indications of a ditch joining the NE corner with cairn 'H', but this has not yet been proved. Wedderburn asserts that there are more cairns in this group but although there are one or two suspicious humps in the vicinity of the 17 already recorded, the only other one that can be definitely identified is in isolation, 82.0m N of hut circle 'B'. This appears as a stony mound 3.5m in diameter and 0.4m high, placed centrally on a circular platform 0.1m high, surrounded by a slight ditch 7.8m in diameter between its centres. The WSW arc has been destroyed by a track which cuts through it. There is no associated enclosure wall as stated by Wedderburn. The walls he refers to are part of a pattern of field walls apparently contemporary with the field system, and the enclosure formed by these walls in which the group of cairns occurs measures c. 250.0m NE-SW by 120.0m NW-SE.
There is no evidence to indicate that the remains of the agriculture (denoted by stone clearance heaps) within this enclosure is contemporary with the cairns.
Visited by OS (A A) 1 November 1974
