Craigbirnoch
Burial Cairn (Bronze Age), Cremation (Bronze Age), Short Cist (Bronze Age), Food Vessel (Pottery)(Bronze Age)
Site Name Craigbirnoch
Classification Burial Cairn (Bronze Age), Cremation (Bronze Age), Short Cist (Bronze Age), Food Vessel (Pottery)(Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 61403
Site Number NX16NE 5
NGR NX 1765 6925
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/61403
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish New Luce
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX16NE 5 1768 6923.
('A': NX 17656925 and 'B': NX 17706920) Cairns (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map (1957)
A neatly paved short cist was uncovered during robbing of the more northerly of two dilapidated cairns ('A' and 'B'), for road metal in 1914. Anderson examined it in 1916 and recovered fragments of a food-vessel and evidence of cremation. He describes the cairn as being about 37 feet in diameter one half being reduced to ground level except for a low marginal ring. The other half retained the foundation layer of large stones arranged in concentric circles close together, sparsely covered with small stones. Only at one point did it reach 2 feet high. Anderson presented the food-vessel to the NMAS in 1916. (EE 106)
R S G Anderson 1916
Cairn 'A' is 13.0m in diameter and almost denuded of stone. Its strong rim, 0.4 m high has been entirely obliterated on the NE. There is no sign of a cist.
Cairn 'B' is 13.5m in diameter with a maximum height of 0.7m. It has been robbed but still contains a large quantity of stones.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 8 March 1968
These cairns remain as described in the previous field report.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (BS) 5 May 1976
Not found (1:50000 survey)
Visited by OS Reviser January 1985
A robbed cairn is situated on the E side of the public road from New Luce to Barrhill 280m NE of its junction with the farm track leading to Craigbirnoch. It measures 12m in diameter over a ring of cairn material 0.5m in maximum height. The edge of the cairn has been broken through on the NE and the cairn material at the centre is no more than 0.3m high. On the W the edge of the cairn is overlain by a later field-bank. Nothing is visible on the central cist that was uncovered when the cairn was robbed in 1914. Fragments of a food vessel (EE106) accompanying a cremation were discovered when the cist was emptied in 1916. The cist, which was aligned from NE to SW and had a paved floor, measured 558mm by 355mm by 380mm in depth.
RCAHMS 1987, visited (SH) 25 October 1985
