Swaites Hill

This feature is undoubtedly the remains of a denuded cairn, about 32.0m in diameter. Only the rim survives, averaging 1.0m high. Part of a cist is exposed within the E side. The faint outline of a later enclosure abuts the NE side of the cairn. The name "Hero's Cairn" could not be verified nor could the whearabouts of the finds be established. Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 26 January 1968

Situated at 958 405 there are the remains of what has been a large cairn (Fig. 20), sometimes known as 'The Hero's Cairn'. The centre has been almost completely removed and only a turf-covered peripheral fringe of stones now survives, standing to a maximum height of 1·3 m and measuring 32 m in diameter; a few large boulders, apparently dislodged, may originally have formed part of a kerb. In the E side of the surviving cairn-material a large cist is partly exposed. Constructed with the long axis aligned NE and SW, it measures1·2 m by about 0·7 m and at least 0·4 m in depth. The two end-slabs and the NW side-slab are still in situ, but the other side-slab has fallen inwards, while the capstone (A), a massive block measuring 2·3 m by 1·9 m and 0·5 m in greatest thickness, has been removed and is lying nearby. When excavated by the Commission's officers in 1976 (Stevenson 1978) it was clear that the contents of the cist had been disturbed at some time in the past. However, on the cist floor and under a layer of recently accumulated rubble there were several fragments of a Food Vessel and some small pieces of cremated bone. It is recorded (Irving and Murray 1864, i, 24) that when the cairn was destroyed, 'a large urn, surrounded by five smaller ones, was discovered, the whole being included in a stone cist'. It is unlikely that this reference applies to the surviving cist, and it is unfortunate that nothing more is known about this remarkable assemblage of grave-goods.

Abutting on the perimeter of the cairn on the NE side there is a small rectangular enclosure of no great age, measuring 13 m by 11 m within a ruined turf bank.

RCAHMS 1978, visited April 1976.

The Hero's Cairn, Swaites Hill Cist NS 958 405.

A cist that has been exposed in the Hero's Cairn for many years was excavated; it had previously been disturbed and contained only the fragmentary remains of a Food Vessel and a small quantity of cremated bone.

Information from RCAHMS (DES 1976, 83)

NS94SE 15 9588 4052.

(NS 9588 4052) Cairn (NR) (Remains of)

OS 25" map (1942)

A little S of the cairn on hill 1049 (NS94SE 13) are what appear to be the remains of a small circular fort, 120ft in diameter over all. This is probably the site of the "Hero's Cairn", a large tumulus in which was found a large urn, surrounded by five smaller ones, all in a stone cist (G V Irving and A Murray 1864). It is probably also the "Cairn (Site of) marked on OS 25" plan.

(D Christison 1890)

The remains of what has been a large cairn, sometimes known as 'The Hero's Cairn'. The centre has been almost completely removed and only a turf-covered peripheral fringe of stones now survives, standing to a height of 1.3m and measuring 32m in diameter; a few large boulders, apparently dislodged, may originally have formed part of a kerb. In the E side of the surviving cairn material a large cist is partly exposed; its capstone (A on plan) lies nearby. When excavated by the RCAHMS (J B Stevenson 1978), it was clear that its contents had been disturbed at some time. However, several fragments of a food vessel (now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS, Accession no: EE 168) and some small pieces of cremated bone were recovered from it. Irvine records other finds made when the cairn was destroyed; it is unlikely that this reference applies to the surviving cist, but nothing more is known about these grave-goods.

As stated by OS (RD), a small rectangular enclosure of no great age measuring 13m by 11m abuts on the perimeter of the cairn on the NE.

(See also NS94SW 18).

(RCAHMS 1978, visited 1976; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1979)

Information from OS (IF) 9 April 1979

Who was the cairn built for, and why?

Glancing up from the busy road that traverses the valley of the River Clyde, you can see the remains of what was once a great Early Bronze Age burial cairn silhouetted against a wintry sky. For the inquisitive visitor who steps out of their car a steep climb through the fields of the farm brings an open view of the surrounding landscape and, just as the crest of the ridge is reached, a close-up view of what little is left.

Earlier travellers through this valley surely knew the occupants of the cairn, or could at least find out – were they their buried ancestors, famous figures of local lore, landowners, warriors or even poets perhaps? And the ceremonies that surrounded their burial were perhaps also remembered with warmth and emotion: the cremation of bodies on funeral pyres; the deposition of ashes in carefully made pottery urns; the digging of pits and the construction of stone boxes (known as cists) to hold the urns; and finally the gathering of stones to create a large cairn to cover them. Yet with the passing of time these individuals and their stories have been forgotten.

An 'ignoble' past

The cairn too has suffered an ignoble recent past. Its stones, once piled high in honour of the dead, were robbed away, used to build the dykes that criss-cross the farming landscape of recent years, and a small enclosure for animals tacked onto one side. Little is left and when one famous archaeologist (David Christison) was drawn to this distant silhouette, it appeared to him as an enclosure, a place of defence rather than of burial. With this laying bare of the cairn, so it’s innermost skeletal secrets were revealed. The Ordnance Survey, when taking down the names of every local place in 1858, recorded that it was ‘an ancient sepulchral tumulus’ which ‘bears the mark of excavation’. A contemporary source recorded the discovery of a sextet of cinerary urns in a stone cist, now all lost once again.

But robbers and diggers are not always thorough and another cist, although disturbed, survived to be studied in more detail with trowels, pencils and tapes. In 1976, they found such delights as ‘whipped cord impressions’ on the pottery and cremated bones that were ‘finely comminuted’ (reduced to tiny fragments). Beyond this, however, the small excavation helped establish the chronology and morphology of burial cairns in the area. There are another 25 nearby, and the type of urn associated with them is known as a ‘Food Vessel’, broadly dated to the Early Bronze Age (2200-1750BC). The finds from the cist are now carefully housed in our National Museum and available for further study. Perhaps someday we may know more of the anonymous hero (or heroine) who gives the cairn its current name.

On the cold winter day I stumbled over the cairn, a herd of cattle huddled around a feeder full of hay, set without ceremony in its centre. Hefty with years of breeding, they too form a link with the farmers of the past, who took time from their fields and cattle to building a once prominent elegy to their most revered. Their ungulate hoofs ensure there will be more finely comminuted material for future diggers to discover.

Sources:

OS Name Book Lanark No. 16, 5; Irving and Murray 1864; Christison 1890; RCAHMS 1978; Stevenson 1979

George Geddes - Archaeology Project Manager