Lady Margaret's Cave, Ardgour House
Cave (Period Unassigned), Animal Remains, Flat Axehead (Bronze)
Site Name Lady Margaret's Cave, Ardgour House
Classification Cave (Period Unassigned), Animal Remains, Flat Axehead (Bronze)
Alternative Name(s) Ardgour House Policies; 'tigh Na Baintighearna'
Canmore ID 23337
Site Number NM96SE 2
NGR NM 9850 6357
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/23337
- Council Highland
- Parish Ardgour
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Lochaber
- Former County Argyll
NM96SE 2 9850 8357
An Early Bronze Age flint axe (Coles' type Ba) was found in a cave on the mountainside behind Ardgour House (NM 9954 6382), in which were also a large number of bones of deer, sheep, and other animals. It was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) in 1871 by A MacLean of Ardgour (Accession no: DA 52).
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1873; J M Coles 1971.
This axe probably came from the only cave known in the locality, at NM 9850 8357. It is published as "Tigh na Baintighearna" on OS 6" map, 2nd ed., (1902), but is now locally known as Lady Margaret's Cave after an ancestor of the MacLeans of Ardgour. It is a roughly rectangular platform measuring c. 5.0m x c. 3.5m, constructed in a rocky cleft, with its S edge retained by a wall of boulders, and partly overhung by a naturally fallen boulder, forming a crude shelter. The rear of the "cave" is retained by recent random stonework.
Visited by OS (A A), 7 May 1970.
(Flat axe of Migdale type). Single find, found in a cave behind Ardgour House. Flat axe, rough, green; length 144mm, butt 34mm, cutting edge 84mm, weight 375 gms. NMAS DA 52.
P K Schmidt and C B Burgess 1981.
