Inverlael

NH18NE 5 1827 8503.

In 1913 a round cairn, being demolished for road metal, was excavated by Cree.

The cairn lies about 150 yds S of Inverbroom Post Office and within a few yards of the main road from Ullapool to Garve. It is 42' in diameter and has probably been a little over 4' in height.

It is composed of two concentric setting of large rounded stones, laid on the natural ground level, the inner of which was slightly flattened to the W. Part of the inner setting to the N had been developed into a stone wall about 4' thick.

Two rectangular cists were found within the inner circle, embedded slightly into the old ground level. Both had been previously opened and the contents disturbed.

The primary cist was built of massive slabs and rubble and measured internally 3'5" x 1'9" x c. 2' deep. It contained a few fragments of unburnt human bone and two pieces of pottery, yellowish-brown in colour, well-fired and showing a slaty grey 'in fracture'. The paste had been mixed with small crushed stones and sand, and the potsherds were of a hard, compact texture.

The secondary cist, which measured internally 37" x c. 13" in breadth and depth, was made of four slabs of stone with another two for base and cover. It contained a small quantity of burnt human bones, a barbed flint arrowhead, four flint scrapers (two slightly damaged), a mussel shell, and several white quartz pebbles. The flints were all calcined. About 4' NE of the NE corner of this cist, a small quantity of charcoal, mixed with some sandy soil, lay in a small pocket amongst the stones.

J E Cree 1914

This cairn is situated at NH 1827 8503. It is generally as described above except that the cists are no longer evident. The present whereabouts of the finds could not be ascertained. Surveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R B) 10 October 1964

('A': NH 1827 8503; 'B': NH 1825 8506) Cairns (NR) (Cairn 'B' is described on NH18NE 6.)

OS 6"map, (1969)

'A': Destroyed by new road.

Visited by OS (AA) 10 October 1974