River Tay
Spearhead (Flint)(Period Unassigned)
Site Name River Tay
Classification Spearhead (Flint)(Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Abernethy; 'gattaway'
Canmore ID 27930
Site Number NO11NE 24
NGR NO 19 18
NGR Description NO c. 19 18
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/27930
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Abernethy (Perth And Kinross)
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO11NE 24 c. 19 18
A flint spearhead, with stem, 2 3/4ins. long, found on the farm of Gattaway (name: NO 193 161), Abernethy was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities in 1871.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1873.
(Relocated to NO c. 19 18). There is some doubt surrounding the exact findspot and origin of this flint spearhead. The present NMRS data entry (above) states that the spearhead was found on the farm of Gattaway (name: NO 193 161), S of Abernethy, but the PSAS reference that it cites makes no mention of the farm. It states instead that it was donated by D Bennet, salmon fisher, through Alexander Laing, that it measured 2 3/4 ins (70mm) in length and that it had a broken point.
The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) catalogue of 1892 lists a flint spearhead (AD 585) with exactly the same characteristics, it having been donated by D Bennet in 1870. The catalogue states that the spearhead was found in the River Tay at Abernethy, but raises some doubt over its exact origin, suggesting that it may be of North American manufacture.
Information from RCAHMS (JRS), 25 November 1996.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1873; NMAS 1892.
