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Arran, Drumadoon

Clearance Cairn(S) (Prehistoric), Cursus (Neolithic)

Site Name Arran, Drumadoon

Classification Clearance Cairn(S) (Prehistoric), Cursus (Neolithic)

Alternative Name(s) Torr Righ Mor; Torbeg

Canmore ID 360276

Site Number NR82NE 36

NGR NR 89495 29987

NGR Description NR 89479 29534 to NR c.89445 30685

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/360276

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Administrative Areas

  • Council North Ayrshire
  • Parish Kilmory
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Cunninghame
  • Former County Buteshire

Activities

Field Visit (2 November 2017)

This site was identified using visualisations derived from Airborne Laser Scanning data, and subsequently visited in the field.

HES Survey and Recording 2 November 2017

Field Visit (31 October 2019)

The banks of this cursus monument were first identified using visualisations derived from Airborne Laser Scanning data and were investigated subsequently during numerous field visits between late 2017 and 2019. Much of the monument is clad in rank heather or impenetrable gorse such that its extent has been mapped largely from these visualisations. Running N and S, the cursus extends for a distance of at least 1.1km, defined by intermittent stretches of low parallel banks set between 30m and 40m apart. There is nothing to indicate the presence of flanking ditches and neither terminal is visible. The monument is situated towards the E edge of poorly drained open moorland that rises gently to the N offering extensive views inland along the valley of the Black Water. A narrow plantation of dense coniferous trees, established in the 1970s, flanks the N half of the monument and overlies much of its NW side and possibly also its N terminal, which may have been situated on a localised rise falling within its N end.

Both banks are slight in nature and barely visible on the ground, measuring at best 3.3m in thickness and little more than 0.3m in height. They appear discontinuous and to be made up of earth or turf with very few stones visible. It is impossible to say whether any breaks represent original gaps or are simply the result of natural slumping and the differential growth of peat.

The bank defining the E side first emerges about 86m S of the NE corner of the plantation to run S sinuously and discontinuously for the best part of 1.1km before curving to the SW as if to form the S terminal. Here the gorse is especially dense with open areas masked by bracken and brambles and the bank could not be traced on the ground on the last date of visit (31 October 2019).

The bank forming the W side can be followed from the edge of the plantation, beginning 110m N of the SE corner. It, too, runs S intermittently for 480m before petering out in boggy ground about 150m short of its partner to the E. Over the length of the cursus, two transverse divisions can be observed: the first 227m from the NE corner of the plantation; and the second 25m to the SE of the SE corner of the plantation. The E end of the latter has been cut by a deeply incised hollow way, now functioning in part as a drain, which is depicted as a track on the first edition of the OS 6-inch map (Argyllshire 1869, Sheet CCXLVIII). Roughly midway between these two divisions, there is a pronounced kink in the alignment of the E bank and for a short stretch it disappears. This break coincides with a scatter of small clearance cairns, one of which overlies the bank itself. These cairns are similar in character to other groups found across the adjacent moorland, many of which are associated with hut circles and fragmentary field systems.

Visited by HES Survey and Recording (ARG,AM,KM), 31 October 2019

Geophysical Survey (24 August 2021)

NR 89503 29741 The HES Archaeological Survey Team undertook geophysical (electro-magnetic) survey at Torbeg Cursus, Arran. The fieldwork was conducted on 24 August 2021. In total 0.10ha were surveyed using a CMD Mini Explorer electro-magnetic device covering a section of the monument’s eastern bank, the location of which had previously been identified through a LiDAR survey of the area. The geophysical survey has produced good quality results that have successfully contributed to the aims of the survey. There is a high level of confidence that the chosen methodology and survey strategy was appropriate to assess the archaeological potential of the survey area.

The survey clearly identified the location of the cursus bank

beneath the overlaying peat and confirmed that the chosen methodology and survey strategy was appropriate for use in peatland environments.

Archive: NRHE

Funder: Historic Scotland Foundation

Nick Hannon – Historic Environment Scotland (HES)

(Source: DES Vol 22)

Electromagnetic (24 August 2021)

Historic Environment Scotland (HES), Archaeological Survey Team, undertook electro-magnetic survey at Torbeg Cursus, Arran, North Ayrshire, Scotland, to investigate the extent and significance of potential sub-surface archaeological features within the survey area. The survey was conducted on 24 August 2021, in total 0.12 ha were surveyed with a CMD Mini Explorer electro-magnetic device. The geophysical surveys produced good quality results which give a high level of confidence that the methodology and survey strategy were appropriate to assess the archaeological potential of the survey area.

The survey results are summarised below, drawing out the main points from a comprehensive report outlining methodology and detailed results [1]. The archive also includes the unprocessed survey data and processed survey data [2].

The survey has confirmed the location of the cursus bank and the results correlate well with the visualisations and interpretation derived from the LiDAR data. The methodology was successfully able to sense the bank’s rubble core through the peat which blankets the site. This feature was more clearly identifiable in the conductivity data than the magnetic susceptibility data which was in part affected by the igneous bedrock.

The conductivity data also identified three high conductivity anomalies arranged in a row inside the cursus bank, spaced between 10m and 11m apart and running parallel with the bank. These may represent pockets of moisture trapped upslope and behind the cursus bank. Alternatively, they may represent archaeological features within the cursus monument in the form of pits or postholes.

Visited by HES Archaeological Survey (N. Hannon, L. Banaszek) 24 August 2021

[1] http://canmore.org.uk/collection/2479409

[2] http://canmore.org.uk/collection/2479422

Excavation

NR 89479 29534 The Drumadoon cursus (Canmore ID: 360276) was first identified by HES LiDAR survey in 2017. This earthwork consists of two low wobbly banks that run parallel to one another 30–40m apart and for a distance of around 1.1km. The southern end of the monument possibly has a rounded terminal. The most likely interpretation of such a monument is that is it a cursus, but this remains to be proved.

In August 2021, a small-scale excavation was carried out, with a trench 10 x 1.5m opened over the eastern bank of the cursus about 20m from the southern terminal of the enclosure. The bank had an earthen core measuring 6–8m across, formed by a mixture of soil, sediment, and turfs. This in turn may have been lined with flat local rhyolite stones either on the sides or across the whole bank, perhaps to stabilise the earthwork. The bank was more complex than expected and so was not excavated fully, but it seems likely that it is up to 1m in height. Should this snapshot be representative of the entire bank, this suggests a massive monument that would have taken huge amounts of labour and resources to build and that may have been constructed over decades. Finds of worked Arran pitchstone and flint flakes, chips and chunks within the stone and earth layers of the bank suggests that this is a prehistoric feature, although it cannot conclusively be said at this stage that this dates the construction of the monument. The missing element of this monument is an exterior ditch; hints of such a feature were revealed on the exterior edge of the bank but not investigated during this season of work.

Awakening Sleeping Giants is a collaboration between

Universities, the third sector, and local partners on Arran to explore the prehistoric heritage of the island through creative archaeologies, and promote the benefits to the local community of working with their prehistory.

Archive: University of Glasgow Funder: University of Glasgow

Kenneth Brophy and Gavin MacGregor – Northlight Heritage

(Source: DES Vol 22)

References

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