Mackay Cave, Oban
Cave (Period Unassigned), Human Remains (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Flint(S) (Flint)
Site Name Mackay Cave, Oban
Classification Cave (Period Unassigned), Human Remains (Period Unassigned), Unidentified Flint(S) (Flint)
Alternative Name(s) Burnbank Cave
Canmore ID 23058
Site Number NM83SE 4
NGR NM 8595 3059
NGR Description Centred on NM 8595 3059
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/23058
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilmore And Kilbride
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM83SE 4 centred 8595 3059.
(Approx NM 8595 3059) A cave opening was disclosed in 1869 at the north end of Breadalbane Place and Strathaven Terrace during building operations. A sloping passage 4ft high and 9ft long led to a clay slate chamber 11ft high and 11ft deep. Finds included skeletons of a grown man, and a child of about eight. The cave is known as the Burnbank or Mackay Cave.
Information from the Oban Times, 26 August 1933.
The Mackay Cave: The earth in this cave provided evidence of the Mesolithic mode of life, possibly Obanian. Dog bones were found with the skeletons of a man and child. The flints, now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS), exemplify the best flint work of the Oban caves. (Accession no. HL 362-377).
A D Lacaille 1954.
Destroyed by blasting operations, this cave was situated on the corner where the north end of Nursery Road joins Breadalbane Street.
OS 6"map, annotated by Dr Ivor Campbell, 1933.
Unable to site more accurately than the reference given in the Oban Times.
Visited by OS (W D J) 3 December 1964.
