Ardmore Point

NS37NW 6 3151 7872

A large rock-shelter at the south end of Ardmore Point, NS 315 785, was investigated in March 1958.

Below sterile loam and rock-fall there was an occupation deposit, 12 inches deep, mainly of limpet-shells and carbonised wood. The occupation floor was examined and a central hearth of flat stones and much charcoal, with a sherd of tentative Iron Age date and the partial remains of a red deer, were discovered.

J M Coles 1958.

At NS 3151 7872 there is a cave, the only feature in the vicinity of Ardmore which could be called a rock-shelter, 6.0 metres above the base of the cliff, near the western end of the NW side of the Hill of Ardmore.

The mouth of the cave measures 4.7 metres wide at the base and 2.5 metres high, and the cave itself is 4.5 metres deep. 1.7 metres in from the entrance there is a retaining wall of mortared rubble masonry, with a drain at its base, which is probably of a late date. This wall, 1.0m above the inner ground level of the cave, reduces the floor area to an equilateral triangle with sides of 2.7m. No sign of a central hearth is to be seen, but there are indications that the cave has been excavated. Visited by OS (RDL) 23 January 1963