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Mid Gleniron
Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Cinerary Urn(S) (Pottery)(Prehistoric), Food Vessel (Pottery)(Bronze Age)
Site Name Mid Gleniron
Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Cinerary Urn(S) (Pottery)(Prehistoric), Food Vessel (Pottery)(Bronze Age)
Alternative Name(s) Mid Gleniron Ii
Canmore ID 61608
Site Number NX16SE 27
NGR NX 18779 60940
NGR Description Centre
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/61608
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- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish New Luce
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX16SE 27 1877 6093
See also NX16SE 14.
NX 187 609. A Clyde-type long cairn lies some 130 yds SE of Md Gleniron I cairn (NX16SE 14). Prior to Corcoran's excavations in 1963-6, it appeared as a low grass-covered mound with the upper parts of six small orthostats projecting at the S end. He showed that it was of multi-period construction.
The earlier structure is a small oval cairn which encloses a very small rectangular chamber opening from the E. A larger rectangular chamber, opening from the S, was built against the edge of the oval cairn, and its entrance was flanked by a shallow facade. The composite structure was enclosed within a straight-sided cairn, bounded by a revetment and measuring some 47' N-S by 30' wide at the S end, and 39' wide at the N end. Artifacts found included sherds of decorated and undecorated Neolithic pottery, flint and chert implements; while fragments of a food vessel were found in the area of the axial chamber which had been much distrubed prior to the excavation. They are in Dumfries Museum.
RCAHMS 1912; J X W P Corcoran 1969; A S Henshall 1972.
NX 1877 6093. This chambered cairn is generally as described and planned.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (RD) 12 March 1968
All that is now visible of this chambered long cairn, which lies in a field on the SE side of the track to Mid Gleniron 100m ESE of the cairn NX 16SE14 is a low mound with an orthostatic facade on the SSW and a small lateral chamber opening tow ards the E. Excavation has shown that the lateral chamber was originally contained within a free-standing cairn, which was subsequently incorporated into a long cairn with an axial chamber (now destroyed) opening off a shallow forecourt at the SSW en d. In its final form the cairn measured 14.3m in length and 9.1m in breadth at the SSW end, increasing to 11.9m on the NNE.
RCAHMS 1987, visited (SH) June 1986.
Excavation (1963 - 1966)
Excavated by Corcoran, 1963-6.
Source: J X W P Corcoran 1969
Publication Account (1986)
Excavation of these two long chambered tombs in 1963-6 revealed a multi-period structural sequence of some complexity and provided a better understanding of the development of Clyde cairns in general. They are in somewhat mutilated condition and their special significance is thus historical rather than visual.
Mid Gleniron I (NX 186610) originated in a small rectangular burial chamber (the northernmost), which was contained within a small cairn of probable early neolithic date. A second chamber in a small cairn was then built independently in front of it. Finally, a third chamber was set laterally between the two, all three being joined into a long straight-sided mound with a crescentic north facade. Nine cremations in cinerary urns had been inserted into the south-eastern flank, showing that the cairn had subsequently been used as a burial place in bronze-age times.
The much-ruined Mid Gleniron II, 120m to the southeast, is likewise of multi-period construction. It originated in an oval cairn with an eastward-facing small chamber. A larger, south-facing chamber was then added, the enlarged composite structure being enciosed within a straight-sided cairn with southern facade. The later chamber no longer survives.
To the south of each of the long cairns is a circular burial cairn, that to the south of Mid Gleniron II being a large circular mound about 17m in diameter and 2.75m high. Excavation brought to light a small closed box-like chamber at the centre, the whole structure possibly being contemporary with the nearby chambered tombs. The much-disturbed cairn to the south of Mid Gleniron I yielded a cremated human bone, perhaps originally contained within a cinerary urn. The finds from the excavations are in Nithsdale District Museum, Dumfries.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
Note (25 November 2021)
The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.
