Archaeology Notes

Event ID 657680

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/657680

NG31NE 2 3934 1636.

(NG 3934 1636) Chambered Cairn (NR)

OS 6" map, (1965)

A Hebridean type round cairn with a polygonal chamber with antichamber and short passage, excavated by Scott in 1931-2 and left open.

The cairn, of large rounded stones, has a diameter of 62' to 66' and now stands 11' in maximum height. The S side has been heavily robbed, the peristalith and facade on this side being almost entirely destroyed. Where undisturbed, the cairn is covered with turf and heather.

The peristalith, revealed in a number of cuttings, consists of orthostats set 3' to 4' apart and linked with walling. The cairn material extends some 9' beyond the peristalith.

The forecourt is V-shaped in plan and measures about 24' across by 10' deep. Five feet in front of the entrance, there are two slabs lying at right angles to the main axis, the larger being wedged up to give a horizontal surface.

Finds, most of which are in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS), included an N.4 beaker (EO 382), and from beneath an orthostat of the chamber, a possibly human foundation deposit.

W L Scott 1932; W L Scott 1934; D L Clarke 1970; A S Henshall 1972.