Arran, Dunan Beag

NS03SW 8 0267 3299.

(NS 0267 3300) Dunan Beag (NAT) Cairn (NR) Human Remains and Part of Jet Necklace found AD 1909 (NAT)

OS 6" map, (1924)

Dunan Beag: Clyde group, long cairn: When seen by Pennant (1776) in 1772, "It was large, oblong composed of round stones, with several great stones at one end, some extending beyond the cairn". It has been heavily robbed, the cairn material left in grass-covered hummocks up to 3ft high; its edge is clear, except round the N end. It is 140ft long by 67ft wide in the centre, 55ft wide across the S chamber, the S end being rounded, and spreading to about 80ft wide at the NE end. At the end the cairn tends to merge with the hillside, and the NE corner has been much spread during its desturction. The precise plan of the N end is not evident, but there can be little doubt that there has been a concave forecourt with a facade of orthostats - seen by Pennant - and square-ended horns, the total original width of the cairn being about 70ft.

When Pennant visited the cairn, the chambers were fairly complete, with some capstones in place; they had been removed by 1909 when Bryce (1909) excavated the chambers. The N chamber, 16ft long, is divided into 3 compartments while the S chamber, 9ft long is divided into 3 compartments.

Artifcats found by Bryce, now in the NMAS (Acc Nos. EO 309-16, 322) included pottery fragments, pieces of jet necklace, beaker fragments, flints and pitchstone, and a fragment of decayed iron were found in the outer compartment of the S chamber, and a small piece of burnt bone came from the N chamber.

Sources: A S Henshall 1972, visited 1962; T Pennant 1776; T H Bryce 1909.

NS 0267 3299 This chambered cairn, now situated within an area of afforestation, is as described by Henshall. It has been severely mutilated and is now almost completely covered in heather and Braken. The edge is difficult to identify and some of the stones of the chamber, noted by Henshall, are no longer visible.

The name, Dunan Beag, could not be confirmed.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (B S) 25 October 1977.