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Cultoquhey

Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Leaf Arrowhead (Neolithic), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)

Site Name Cultoquhey

Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Leaf Arrowhead (Neolithic), Unidentified Pottery (Neolithic)

Alternative Name(s) Glenlea

Canmore ID 25459

Site Number NN82SE 38

NGR NN 8924 2348

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/25459

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Fowlis Wester
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Perthshire

Archaeology Notes

NN82SE 38 8924 2348.

(NN 893 234) A chambered cairn, possibly of Clyde-Carlingford type (though this is by no means certain) is set into the edge of a very large mound, densely overgrown with rhododendrons, to the east of a sandy ridge surmounted by a fort (NN82SE 20). The flat top of the mound, which is 14ft in diameter and varies in height above the surrounding land from 16 to 26 feet. The cairn is defined, on the south, by the remains of a peristalith, best preserved about 37ft SSW of the chamber where, over a distance of 10ft, there are five contiguous split slabs, the larger 2ft in height. Two other possible stones of the peristalith suggest a diameter of rather over 200ft for this cairn.

The chamber lies some 50ft E of the top of the mound. It is 10ft 2 ins in length, divided into two compartments each about 5ft in width. The head stone of the inner chamber stands about 3ft above the upper edge of the chamber walls. In 1957 the chamber was cleared out to slightly below ground level and was still open in 1961 when visited by Miss Henshall (information from A S Henshall field notes, 1961). The inner compartment of the chamber, excavated by Mr Ian Roy and Harrison Maxwell in 1957, contained a crouched inhumation, a leaf arrowhead and sherds; of Lyles Hill ware according to Piggott.

A S Henshall 1972; S Piggott 1962

Generally as described above although the overall dimensions appear to be c.42.0m E-W by c.30.0m N-S. There is no doubt in J H Maxwell's (115 King Street, Crieff) mind that this is a Clyde-Carlingford type cairn. The human bones are in the anatomy department museum in Edinburgh University, the sherds are with Miss Henshall, while the leaf arrowhead is in Maxwell's possession.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 12 December 1966.

Activities

Field Visit (18 August 1942)

Mound, Cultoquhey.

A short distance E of the promontory fort described above [NN28SE 20], and likewise very close to the Crieff-Perth road, there stands a wooded mound which cannot be classified with any certainty. The N side, which is the most convenient for one measurement, rises some 20ft in a horizontal distance of rather over 60 ft, the slope being interrupted by two terraces, 8 ft and 6 ft wide respectively, where the gradient is reduced to about half that of the steeper stretches. The summit is nearly flat, circular in shape and 15 ft in diameter. The S side descends steeply, but its profile has been obscured by fairly recent excavation or quarrying. It is possible that the mound may be largely natural and that the features described may be the work of a landscape gardener.

Visited by RCAHMS (AG) 18 August 1942.

Note (3 December 2020)

There is a C14 date that Professor Rick Schulting obtained for human bone from the tomb some years ago. The bone was transferred to NMS from Edinburgh University Department of Anatomy in the 1990s, and was dated as part of research that Rick Schulting and Alison Sheridan were doing on dating Scottish Neolithic chamber tombs (publication forthcoming).In addition, the flint arrowhead, which had been retained by one of the men who explored the chamber tomb, is now lost; the man died and his daughter (his only child) died young. If she passed it to her husband, then his and its current whereabouts are unknown.

Information from Professor Alison Sheridan, 3 December 2020

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