Desk Based Assessment
Date 20 January 1977
Event ID 675289
Category Recording
Type Desk Based Assessment
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/675289
NM82NE 8 8799 2670.
(NM 8799 2670) Chambered Cairn (NR)
OS 1:10,000map, (1977)
This Clyde type chambered cairn is oval on plan, measuring 18 by 15 metres with the longer axis aligned NE-SW. Although severely robbed of its stone, the grass-covered remains still stand to a height of 1.25 metres. In the centre a chamber is exposed and behind it the tops of the slabs of a large cist protrude above the turf.
The cairn was excavated by the RCAHMS in 1970-1, and four distinct phases in construction were noted. In the first phase, the main burial chamber was constructed within a heel-shaped cairn. The chamber itself measures 2.5 by 1.2 metres internally and is up to 1.4 metres in height. It consists of six larger slabs roofed by a massive capstone. Two of the stones are entrance portals, the lintel stone for which was found dislodged outside the tomb. The chamber had been divided into two compartments, but though the sockets for the dividing slab survive, the slab itself has been lost. Deposits within the chamber included two sherds of Neolithic pottery, flint flakes and sherds of three beaker vessels.
In the second phase, a small cist, 0.6 by 0.4 metres and 0.3 metres in depth was inserted into a pit in front of the entrance to the chamber. Cremated bones were found throughout the gravel fillings of the cist and the pit.
In the third phase, a semicircular blocking of stones was piled in front of the tomb giving the cairn the oval shape visible today.
Finally, in the fourth phase, a further cist was inserted into a hollow dug into the existing cairn, two metres behind the main chamber. This massive cist measures 0.86 by 0.85 metres and is 1 metre in depth. Cremated bones and a food vessel were found close to the north side of this cist.
All finds from the site are now in the NMAS.
Information from OS (RMB) 20 January 1977
Sources: RCAHMS 1975 (visited August 1971); A S Henshall 1972 (visited 3 November 1962); J N G Ritchie 1974.
