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Bute, Townhead
Findspot, Settlement (Neolithic), Axehead(S) (Stone), Quern(S)
Site Name Bute, Townhead
Classification Findspot, Settlement (Neolithic), Axehead(S) (Stone), Quern(S)
Canmore ID 40377
Site Number NS06SE 13
NGR NS 085 635
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/40377
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Rothesay
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Buteshire
NS06SE 13 085 635.
(NS 0860 6351, 0856 6348, 0857 6347) Stone Axe, Pottery and Saddle Quern found AD 1911-13 (NAT)
OS 6" map (1924)
Between 1912 and 1919 evidence of a Neolithic habitation site (polished stone axe, saddle quern and rubber, pottery fragments, post holes, a hearth stone with nuts and grain, etc.) was found in a gravel pit in a raised beach, 100 feet above sea-level, "some little distance behind the Churchyard of Rothesay (NS 086 636) and parallel with the west side of the road leading from Rothesay to Kingarth". In 1929, excavations between the main road and the old pit, yielded further implements and pottery. A pattern of ditches 15 to 22 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches deep, was also found. The finds are in the Bute Museum.
J N Marshall 1930
The Neolithic settlement site at Townhead, Rothesay, produced pottery mainly of Rinyo I - Skara Brae type, but also some allied to Beacharra ware.
S Piggott 1954
Centred NS 0859 6350. The gravel-pit is now filled in and grassed, and the area of the 1929 excavation is mostly built over. In the Bute Museum, Rothesay, are the following exhibits from Townhead:-
4 lots of pottery rim fragments, 3 stone axe-heads, 1 pounder, 1 sharpening stone, 1 round-based bowl, 1 broken lower saddle-quern stone, 3 upper saddle-quern stones.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 15 January 1964.
A stone axe from 'Townhead' is held in the Bute Museum, Rothesay and has been attributed to group VI (epidotized intermediate tuff of the Borrowdale Volcanic Series from the Great Langdale and Scafell areas of Cumbria).
T H McK Clough and W A Cummins 1988.
The site of what was probably a Neolithic settlement now lies under factory units on the S side of Rothesay. The artefacts from the settlement are still in Rothesay Musem. The site is marked on the 3rd edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (Buteshire 1919, sheet CCIV. SW).
Visited by RCAHMS (AGCH, GB) 2 June 2009.
Artefact Recovery (1911 - 1919)
Excavation (1929)
Reference (12 December 1963)
(NS 0860 6351, 0856 6348, 0857 6347) Stone Axe, Pottery and Saddle Quern found AD 1911-13 (NAT)
OS 6" map (1924)
Between 1912 and 1919 evidence of a Neolithic habitation site (polished stone axe, saddle quern and rubber, pottery fragments, post holes, a hearth stone with nuts and grain, etc.) was found in a gravel pit in a raised beach, 100 feet above sea-level, "some little distance behind the Churchyard of Rothesay (NS 086 636) and parallel with the west side of the road leading from Rothesay to Kingarth". In 1929, excavations between the main road and the old pit, yielded further implements and pottery. A pattern of ditches 15 to 22 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches deep, was also found. The finds are in the Bute Museum.
J N Marshall 1930
The Neolithic settlement site at Townhead, Rothesay, produced pottery mainly of Rinyo I - Skara Brae type, but also some allied to Beacharra ware.
S Piggott 1954
Information from OS (DT) 12 December 1963
Field Visit (15 January 1964)
Centred NS 0859 6350. The gravel-pit is now filled in and grassed, and the area of the 1929 excavation is mostly built over. In the Bute Museum, Rothesay, are the following exhibits from Townhead:-
4 lots of pottery rim fragments, 3 stone axe-heads, 1 pounder, 1 sharpening stone, 1 round-based bowl, 1 broken lower saddle-quern stone, 3 upper saddle-quern stones.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 15 January 1964.
Reference (1966)
Radiocarbon Dating (1968)
Reference (1979)
Reference (1988)
A stone axe from 'Townhead' is held in the Bute Museum, Rothesay and has been attributed to group VI (epidotized intermediate tuff of the Borrowdale Volcanic Series from the Great Langdale and Scafell areas of Cumbria).
T H McK Clough and W A Cummins 1988.
Field Visit (2 June 2009)
The site of what was probably a Neolithic settlement now lies under factory units on the S side of Rothesay. The artefacts from the settlement are still in Rothesay Musem. The site is marked on the 3rd edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (Buteshire 1919, sheet CCIV. SW).
Visited by RCAHMS (AGCH, GB) 2 June 2009.
Note
Between 1912 and 1919 evidence of a Neolithic habitation site (polished stone axe, saddle quern and rubber, pottery fragments, post holes, a hearth stone with nuts and grain, etc.) was found in a gravel pit in a raised beach, 100 feet above sea-level, "some little distance behind the Churchyard of Rothesay (NS 086 636) and parallel with the west side of the road leading from Rothesay to Kingarth". In 1929, excavations between the main road and the old pit, yielded further implements and pottery. A pattern of ditches 15 to 22 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches deep, was also found. The finds are in the Bute Museum.
J N Marshall 1930
