Achnagoul
Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Site Name Achnagoul
Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)
Canmore ID 23368
Site Number NN00NE 8
NGR NN 0616 0561
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/23368
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Inveraray
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NN00NE 8 0616 0561.
(NN 0616 0562) Cist (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1900)
This Clyde-type chambered long cairn has been much robbed and reduced, particularly on the SE; it now measures about 150' by 37'. The NE end has been robbed so that the original form of the cairn is unknown, and there are no signs of a facade. Along the NE half of the cairn the sides are steep, 4' - 5' of cairn material remaining, but from the back of the chamber down the centre of the cairn the deep trench dug by Phene in 1871 remains open. About the centre of the NW side of the cairn several large boulders may be seen near the present edge and may represent the original edge of the cairn. About 100' from the NE end, the cairn is reduced in height, and the SW end is covered by field clearance, but probably the original cairn extended below this. The main chamber is at the NE end. It has been cleared out, and now contains rubbish and stony debris; outside, the cairn material reaches the toops of the side stones. The entrance is between a pair of pillar-like portal stones 1'2" apart. Outside the entrance there lies a large stone, presumably displaced from the chamber. The chamber is 14'6" long, with four side stones. The backslab is relatively low and above it is a large slab laid horizontally. This slab and two of the side stones support a massive capstone. The chamber is divided into two compartments by a septal slab 3'8" by 1'9" high, stretching across it. There has been a lateral chamber opening from the SE side of the cairn, 22' behind the main chamber. All that remains is the back-slab, 2'8" high, a side slab on the SW, 3' high, and a transverse slab set 4' 10" from the back slab. Phene's account of the excavation and schematic plan are unsatisfactory, and should be treated with caution. The two chambers appear on his plan in much the same form as they are today. His interpretation of other chambers which he thought existed between the present entrance and an upright boulder still to be seen 25' SW of the lateral chamber is erroneous, the slab probably being part of the cairn material. In his trench down the cairn centre, and in the axial chamber he found pottery fragments, charred wood and portions of bones - it is implied that they were cremated. The artifacts are now lost.
A S Henshall 1972; Phene 1873; J H Craw 1932; M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964.
Generally as described.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (D W R) 14 March 1973.
Field Visit (June 1979)
This cairn is situated in a gently sloping field 300m NE of Achnagoul and 190m S of the chambered cairn Achnagoul 2 (NN00NE 9) (Campbell and Sandeman 1964). Although severely robbed to provide material for the nearby head-dyke, it is still an impressive mound of stones measuring about 34m in length, 10.5m in greatest breadth and up to 1.2m in height, with three large boulders belonging to the kerb visible at the SW end. There are two chambers, the main one at the NE end facing up the slope, and a lateral chamber on the SE side. The cairn was excavated by Phene in 1871, and his deep trench may still be seen running down the centre of the mound (Phene 1873).
The NE end of the cairn has been particularly heavily disturbed, but one upright stone appears to belong to what was probably a crescentic forecourt, from which most of the blocking material has now been removed. The portal stones flanking the entrance to the main chamber stand 0.3m apart and up to 0.9m in height. The chamber is divided by a septal slab into two compartments, the inner of which retains its massive capstone. The roofless outer compartment is 2.2m long and at least 0.8m broad, with a very large slab forming each side, that to the NW being 0.95m high and the other 0.82m. The displaced slab (1.8m by 0.8m and at least 0.4m thick) that lies just outside the portal stones is presumably one of the capstones. The septal slab measures 0.77m by 0.3m and stands to a height of 0.55m. The inner compartment is 2.1m long by 1.1m broad and about 1m high. The end-slab (0.95m by 0.3m and 0.55m high) is lower than the side-slabs, but an additional slab, some 0.3m thick, which is set on top of it, helps to support the capstone (3m by 2m and at least 0.5m thick).
Three slabs of the lateral chamber survive to indicate that it measured 1.4m by 1m, but the precise relationship between the stones and the edge of the mound is not clear.
The excavation of 1871 was unsatisfactory in many respects, and a discussion of Phene's interpretation has been given by Henshall (Henshall 1972). From the main chamber and from the central trench Phene recovered pottery fragments, charred wood and earth, which contained 'portions of bones', but the objects are now lost.
Visited June 1979
RCAHMS 1988
Measured Survey (20 June 1979)
RCAHMS surveyed Achnagoul 1 chambered cairn on 20 June 1979 with plane-table and alidade producing a plan at a scale of 1:100. The plan of the cairn was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:250 (RCAHMS 1988a, 37)
