stirling-1963-vol-1/05_095

Transcription

No. 7 -- CAIRNS, CISTS, ETC. -- No. 10

there is a round cairn known as "Fairy Knowe"; it was
excavated in 1868, when a trench 12 ft. wide was driven
through the centre. ¹ Before excavation the cairn is said
to have measured 78 ft. in diameter and 21 ft. in height,
but it now measures about 60 ft. in diameter at the base
and only 7 ft. 6 in. in height. The top is flat (Pl. 7A) and
is 18 ft. in diameter.
The excavation revealed a cist in the centre of the
cairn, laid on the original surface of the ground and
measuring 2 ft. 6 in. in the length, 1 ft. 6 in. in breadth and
3 ft. in depth. Its walls were formed partly of upright
slabs and partly of small stones laid horizontally, while
the floor and the roof each consisted of a single slab.
Within it there was a deposit, 6 in. in depth, of black
earth, charcoal and fragments of human bone among
which pieces of a skull were conspicuous. The cist was
covered by a heap of large stones, 8 ft. in diameter and
13 ft. in height, and this in turn was covered with earth,
in which there were charcoal, blackened stones, frag-
ments of human and animal bones and unctuous black
earth, Among these remains were found six flint arrow-
heads, a fragment of what was thought to be a stone
spear-head, and a piece of pine which, it was suggested,
might have formed part of a spear-shaft.
In addition to the burial in the cist, the excavators
found a Beaker ² at a depth of 2 ft. from the top of the
cairn. Fragments of another vessel, of unspecified type,
were also recovered.

796981 -- NS 79 NE -- 17 August 1952

7. Mound, Touch. This mound is situated beside the
farm road running S. from the former West Lodge of
Touch, at a distance of 300 yds. from the lodge and on
the highest point of a low, rocky ridge. It is circular on
plan, measures 65 ft. in diameter at the base and stands
to a height of 2 ft. 6 in. Now covered with fine pasture,
it appears to have been formerly under cultivation, and
the flat top measures 50 ft. in diameter. The mound may
represent a denuded cairn, and three earthfast boulders
which protrude through the turf near the W. edge may
be the remains of a peristalith. The largest stone has a
bench-mark carved on it (125·9).
A Food Vessel in the Smiths Institute, Stirling ³, is
recorded as having come from the Touch estate.

750931 -- NS 79 SE (unnoted) -- 21 November 1956

8. Cairn, King's Yett. This cairn is situated on open
moorland, a quarter of a mile W. of King's Yett, at an
elevation of 950 ft. O.D. It consists of a grass-covered,
stony mound which measures about 30 ft. in diameter
and stands to a height of 4 ft. 6 in. A rectangular boulder
which lies in the S. arc of the base of the cairn, and which
appears to be in situ, may have formed part of a
peristalith.

735891 -- NS 78 NW (unnoted) -- 23 March 1954

9. Cairn, Craigengelt. A low mound, 340 yds. ESE. of
Craigengelt farmhouse, is all that remains of the cairn
formerly known as "Ghost's Knowe". ⁴ It lies 70 yds.
from the right bank of the Buckie Burn at an elevation
of a little under 700 ft. O.D. It is reported that the cairn
was circular on plan, measured 300 ft. in circumference
and 12 ft. in height, and "was flanked around by twelve
very large stones, placed at equal distances". When the
cairn was demolished, various internal features were
observed. "About 6 feet from the centre, there stood
four upright stones, each about 5 feet in height, describ-
ing an oblong figure like a bed. Within this a coffin was
found, the length of which was about 7 feet, 3 1/2 broad,
and 3 1/2 deep." The cist, or chamber, contained a skeleton
wrapped in decayed material. Among an unknown
number of relics were, on the one hand, a stone battle-
axe and a stone knife and, on the other, a "golden horn
or cup, weighing fourteen ounces, and ornamented with
chased or embossed figures", together with a gold ring
that "had had a jewel in it, but the jewel was out; and it
was what is called chased". ⁵ The axe, the knife and the
ring were reported by Wilson to be in the possession of
the proprietor, Mr. J. Dick of Craigengelt, Provost of
Stirling, but neither these nor any of the other relics
can now be traced. The divergence between the stone
relics and the gold ones suggests that whereas the cairn
originally contained a battle-axe burial, a secondary
deposit, probably of Roman or mediaeval date, had been
made in it at a very much later time.

747857 -- NS 78 NW ("Ghost's Knowe")
-- 20 February 1952

10. Cairn, West Carlestoun. This cairn is situated in
a small plantation 200 yds. NW. of West Carlestoun
farmhouse, at a height of a little over 200 ft. O.D. An
excavation carried out in 1953 ⁶ established that the cairn
was made of earth plentifully mixed with small boulders,
and that it measured about 50 ft. in diameter and 1 ft.
6 in. in height. In the centre, on the original ground level,
there was an irregular depression with traces of fire; and
a few fragments of burnt bone and of a vessel which was
probably a Cinerary Urn were recovered. The 1864
edition of the O.S. 6-in. map states that an "urn
containing human bones" had been found at this site.
This cairn may be the structure mentioned in a note
by Pont ⁷ under the name "Carestoun", and in another
note, ⁸ by an unknown author, who writes "Carrestoun".

1 P.S.A.S., vii (1866-8), 519 ff.
2 Ibid., xxxviii (1903-4), 338 and 394, No. 105.
3 Smith Institute Catalogue, 64, AP 10.
4 N.S.A., viii (Stirlingshire), 324 footnote.
5 De Bonstetten, Essai sur les Dolmens (Geneva, 1865), 67
and pl. II, 8: pl. IV, 1; Annals, i, 405; N.S.A., loc cit.; Uni-
versity of London, Institute of Archaeology, 12th Annual Report
(1956), 53 ff.
6 T.G.A.S., new series, xiv (1956), 20 ff.
7 Geogr. Collections, ii, 369.
8 Ibid., iii, 125.

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