Kintyre Nurseries, Campbeltown

NR72SW 24 721 200

For 1991 discovery of a cist at NR 7201 2003 see NR72SW 45.

NR 721 200. Cists, Kintyre Nurseries (Site): In October 1970, when levelling ground for new houses at Kintyre Nurseries, a cist (Grave 1) was found. A second cist was revealed at the same site during building operations in December 1971. Both cists were located near the crest of a low but prominent hill overlooking Campbeltown Loch, nearly 182m from the Highland Parish Church in Campbeltown.

Grave 1: This cist was disturbed by the bulldozer, and it was not possible to reconstruct its dimensions. Oriented N-S, it probably measured over 1.35m by 0.80m. It contained an inhumation accompanied by a flint blade and a crescentic jet necklace. A scatter of shells was located near the opened S end of the cist. Since comparable shells occur irregularly in the surrounding terrace deposits, it is not certain if they once formed part of the grave goods. (See plan {Peltenburg 1979}). Grave 2: According to Miss McGrory, this cist was found on the 14th December 1971 when a bulldozer split its capstone and exposed a Food Vessel. No other finds were reported and measurements were subsequently taken of the cist slabs which had been left for inspection. Their maximum measurements indicate a much smaller cist than Grave 1, but there is no record of its shape and orientation. It was situated about 3m W of Grave 1.

An area adjacent to the cists was excavated in advance of further development (see plan {Peltenburg 1979}). An area of about 200m sq was cleared, but only a relatively recent deposit of stones, probably a dump, which included some modern articles, was located. Work was abandoned when the old ground surface had been reached throughout the area.

The Food Vessel from Grave 2 is in the possession of Miss McGrory, who intends to deposit it in Campbeltown Museum where the jet necklace and flint knife are both on display.

Information from the 'Oban Times' 26 August 1971; Information from Miss A McGrory; E J Peltenburg 1979.

In May 1991 a third cist was found at NR 7201 2003; emergency excavation was carried out by a team funded by the National Museums of Scotland. However, partial disturbance had occurred before excavation, and the contents had been removed by the finder.

The simple four-slab-plus-capstone structure measured about 0.9m from E to W by between 0.66m and 0.51m transversely, and was apparently made from local stone set into a construction pit measuring about 1.6m by 1.35m.

No evidence was recovered for the former presence of a cairn or covering mound.

The cist had apparently contained a crouched inhumation with the head

at the NE corner and an upright food vessel at the NW. The body apparently lay on its right-hand side. The long bones of a further two (female) adults were found; as was the scorched thoracic vertebra of an immature cattle animal. The food vessel is a fine example, which may be classified as either a tall Tripartite bowl or a Yorkshire vase.

The three cists probably represent an elongated flat cist cemetery spread out along the undulating gravel ridge. The pre-excavation disturbance precludes the elucidation of the precise relationship between the three cists, but the nature of the finds indicates a broad contemporaneity. Cist 3 is of a type commonly found in Argyll.

Information from Dr A Sheridan, typescript, November 1992.

NR 7201 2003. The capstone and one of the side stones of a short cist were dislodged by JCB driver Eddie Brodie on 11 May 1991, during earthmoving for new hospital premises. He removed the collapsed side slab and cist contents (bones and fragments of a Food Vessel), and reported the find to local antiquarian Norman Newton. An NMS team excavated the site on 13 May.

The cist, orientated E to W, was slightly trapezoidal, 90cm long and 66cm and 51cm wide at its E and W ends respectively (internal dimensions). It was constructed of four side slabs of mica schist, the tallest 70cm high, with an irregularly shaped capstone c92cm by 65cm by 20cm and an unlined floor cut into the glacial sand and gravel subsoil. The construction pit was c160cm by 135cm at capstone level; its depth below the original land surface is difficult to estimate, but some 150cm of overburden had been stripped by the time the capstone was discovered. Packing and levelling stones were present. There appeared to have been no deliberate cist fill, but some silt had filtered in.

The original disposition of the contents is not known for certain; according to the finder, there had been a crouched inhumation (subsequently identified as a male over 30 years old), his head in the NE corner. Differential dissolution of the bones suggested that he had lain on his R side. A Food Vessel had allegedly stood upright in the NW corner, just below the knees; a stain on its interior, however, suggested that it may have been tilting or on its side. Subsequent examination of the bones revealed the presence of parts of two further bodies, represented only by unburnt long bones: these were thought to be female, adult or nearly so. In addition there was a fragment of a partly-burnt thoracic vertebra of an immature cattle beast, assumed to be part of the grave goods. The bones were in a generally poor condition.

The pit could be described as a tall Tripartite Bowl Food Vessel but it is perhaps more useful to regard is as un unlugged Yorkshire Vase, as it has strong formal and decorative similarities with this type of Food Vessel. It has fine-toothed comb decoration in a herringbone pattern all over its exterior and on the rim bevel. The narrow middle section has, in addition, at least three lozenges integrated into the herring-bone pattern. A dark stain, sampled for organic residue analysis, is present over much of one side of the interior.

The cist is c150m WNW of the two short cists found in 1970 and 1971 (See NR72SW 24). It is not inconceivable that all three formerly belonged to a single flat cist cemetery, strung along a glacial ridge overlooking Campbeltown Loch. The intervening area has been thoroughly disturbed, so further discoveries are unlikely.

Sponsors: NMS.

A Sheridan 1992.