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Kirklauchline
Axehead (Stone), Hammerstone, Polished Axehead(S)
Site Name Kirklauchline
Classification Axehead (Stone), Hammerstone, Polished Axehead(S)
Canmore ID 60611
Site Number NX05SW 10
NGR NX 04 50
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/60611
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Stoneykirk
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX05SW 10 04 50.
A polished felstone axe, measuring 13 ins by 3 3/4 ins across the cutting edge, was found about 1858 some 5 ft down in a peat bog on Kirklauchline farm (NX 0351) by the farmer, Mr D Aitken. Another similar type of axe, also from Kirklaughline, measuring 11 1/4 ins by 3 5/8 ins across the cutting edge, found before 1858 was given by Mr Aitken to a friend, and both were subsequently donated to the NMAS. (The former is AF 34: the latter could not be located).
G Wilson 1878; H Maxwell 1885; NMAS 1892
A third axe, of claystone, from Kirklaughline, measuring 11 1/4 ins by 8 ins, was owned by Mr McIlwraith of Kirklaughline in 1885, and a hammer-stone from the same locality was given to the NMAS in that year (AK 133). Axe AF 34 is listed as Group VI by Williams, who also lists a utilised fragment of a Group VI axe from Kirklauchline, in Glasgow Art Galleries and Museum (Acc No: 1955-96ng). (Group VI comprises objects of epidotized intermediate tuff of the Borrowdale Volcanic Series from the Great Langdale and Scafell areas of Cumbria).
J Williams 1970; T H Mck Clough and W A Cummins 1988.
Field Visit (13 May 2012 - 28 May 2012)
NM 819 002 (centred on) The overall aim of the research project is to identify prehistoric copper mining in Scotland. The survey began, 13–28 May 2012, by visiting sites where probable hammerstones have been found. Sites visited included Barhullion, Balcraig, Kirklauchline and Wanlockhead all in Dumfries and Galloway, an area where the discovery of a copper ore (bornite) outcrop in a recent quarry at Kirklauchline was of particular interest.
Several other copper mining districts in SW and central Scotland were also visited, including the Tullich Mine at Loch Tay (Perth and Kinross), different sites in the mining district of Wanlockhead/Leadhills (Dumfries and Galloway/South Lanarkshire), Mary’s Mine/Tonderghie (Dumfries and Galloway) and the Kilmartin Copper Mine (Argyll and Bute). Around Bridge of Allan in the Ochill Hills are several copper outcrops where the late medieval Airthrey Hill Mine spoil heaps (Stirling) are easily accessible and still contain a good quantity of copper ores. In Argyll and Bute the mining remains of Abhain Strathain/Meall Mor, at Kilfinan (Murder Lode) and Castleton/Castletown (SE of Lochgilphead) revealed good ‘grey copper ores’, especially at Castleton where the mineralised vein outcrops are easily seen on the shore. In addition the 2012 survey discovered another ore vein along Kilmartin Glen, at the Duntroon Hillfort. The mineralisation is very interesting because of its proximity to numerous archaeological sites.
Further investigation is planned in the area and on other old mining sites in Scotland for 2013. A collection of ore samples has been stored at the National Museums of Scotland, which will hopefully be enlarged in the future to provide a reliable database for investigations, such as the comparison of trace element and lead-isotope ratios in the samples with those found in prehistoric metal objects.
Archive: National Museums of Scotland
Funder: German Archaeological Institute, Department Rome
Daniel Steiniger, German Archaeological Institute, Department Rome
2012
