Chambered Cairns Research Articles

All Mixed Up: Investigating Mortuary Practice and Processes of Disarticulation Through Integrated Histotaphonomic Analysis at the Knowe of Rowiegar, Neolithic Chambered Cairn, Orkney, UK

The Neolithic site of the Knowe of Rowiegar chambered cairn, Orkney, was excavated in 1937 as part of a campaign that saw the excavation of various chamber cairns on the island of Rousay, Orkney (Davidson & Henshall, 1989). Osteological and isotope research undertaken in recent years has reignited interest in the site. The research presented here focuses on mortuary practices, principally through histotaphonomic analysis. Human remains at Rowiegar were characterised by disarticulation, disorder and fragmentation (Hutchison et al., Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 145, 41–86, 2015), as is commonly observed in Neolithic Orkney. In recent years, histological analysis has become more widely used in reconstructing mortuary treatment. This relies on the degree and nature of bacterial attack, often termed bioerosion, and other modifications to bone microstructure as a proxy for early post-mortem treatment. Histological analysis was undertaken on 13 of the 28 individuals from the Rowiegar site. The results presented diverse patterns of bioerosion in the bone microstructure suggesting different mortuary practices. Furthermore, these results suggest that remains were placed in the chambered cairn at different stages of decomposition, with some individuals buried immediately after death and others likely subject to a more complex, multi-stage mortuary rite. There remains uncertainty about the origins of bacterial bioerosion in bone, and future experimental work may necessitate interpretative revision. However, based on current understanding, the research provides a new perspective on mortuary practice at Rowiegar, evidencing diverse, and sometimes complex, pre-depositional mortuary practices.

The Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Embo, Sutherland

The Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Embo, Sutherland

The Chambered Cairn at Beacharra, Kintyre, Argyll

The burial chamber of the Clyde-Carlingford cairn at Beacharra, Kintyre, Argyll, was excavated in 1892 by members of the Kintyre Scientific Association. The finds, consisting of six pots, a jet slider or belt-fastener and a utilized flint flake, were placed in Campbeltown Museum. A newspaper account of the excavation appeared at the time, and with the aid of this and of information from Mr A. Gray, who had been in charge of the excavation, T. H. Bryce was able to compile the first proper report upon the excavation. This he incorporated in the first of two papers on the cairns of Arran. A sketch plan of the burial chamber, prepared in 1892 by Mr P. Mackay and now in the records of the Kintyre Antiquarian Society, is reproduced (fig. 1).The importance of the pottery from Beacharra was fully recognized by Bryce, but it was not until 1929 that it was related by J. G. Callander to Scottish Neolithic pottery as a whole. Subsequently this evidence was analysed and placed in its British and European context by V. G. Childe and S. Piggott. In 1935 Childe introduced the term Beacharra to describe the pottery from sites of the Clyde-Carlingford culture in Scotland. The term was retained and the classification developed into Beacharra A, B and C by Piggott for the Clyde-Carlingford culture as a whole. More recently, and inadvisedly in the present state of knowledge, it has been suggested that the use of the term Beacharra, at least insofar as pottery from Ireland is concerned, should be discontinued.

The Chambered Cairn at Dyffryn Ardudwy

The chambered cairn at Dyffryn Ardudwy is one of the principal tombs in a group of six surviving monuments that stand at medium altitudes above the sea coast in this vicinity which lies midway between Harlech and Barmouth. The cairn stands close to the village school in Dyffryn Ardudwy, and the questionable safety of the capstone of the larger chamber was the principal reason for undertaking excavation and consolidation. The work was carried out by the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology of the University of Liverpool on behalf and with the close assistance of the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments for Wales. The monument has been well-known since Crawford's plan of 1920, and has been described by Grimes and Daniel in so far as surface inspection would allow.

The Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Kilcoy, Ross-shire

The Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Kilcoy, Ross-shire

The Excavation of the Chambered Cairn at Brackley, Kintyre, and Argyll

The Excavation of the Chambered Cairn at Brackley, Kintyre, and Argyll

Notes on a Chambered Cairn and a Working Gallery, on the Beorgs of Uyea, Northmaven, Shetland

Notes on a Chambered Cairn and a Working Gallery, on the Beorgs of Uyea, Northmaven, Shetland

Re-Excavation of the Chambered Cairn of Quoyness, Sanday, on behalf of the Ministry of Works, 1951-2

Re-Excavation of the Chambered Cairn of Quoyness, Sanday, on behalf of the Ministry of Works, 1951-2

The Chambered Cairn of Clettraval, North Uist

The Chambered Cairn of Clettraval, North Uist

A Possible Pedigree of Long Barrows and Chambered Cairns

The case here presented is in a sense ‘special pleading’ and does not profess to give a complete explanation of the very complicated plans provided by the few long barrows and chambered cairns which have been excavated with any degree of care and completeness.It may, in fact, be likened to an attempt to prove a single line of descent in a complicated pedigree; but, in my opinion the line is the principal one leading up to the common ancestor of a vast family of cousins of different degree.One difficulty is the selection of a starting point in the family tree (to continue the metaphor); Mr O. G. S. Crawford would take the pedigree back to the house, a thesis it is much to be hoped that he will develop. I would, however, enter the caveat that in the particular case he cites the possibility of a reversal of the process of development should be considered. In a paper read to the Society of Antiquaries Mr Stuart Piggott suggested that an elongated chamber found by Mortimer under a round barrow at Kemp Howe was a house converted into a tomb. I would rather believe it to have been constructed for a burial chamber, and claim it as another link in the line of evolution from burial cave to barrow which I am trying to establish.

External Features of Rudh' an Dunain Chambered Cairn

External Features of Rudh' an Dunain Chambered Cairn

Excavations in a Chambered Cairn at Kindrochat, near Comrie, Perthshire

Detailed description of a long cairn with two exposed chambers. Both had been disturbed. One was empty and the other contained a partial skeleton and a leaf-shaped arrowhead.

Examination of a Chambered Cairn by the Water of Deugh, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright

Excavation revealed two chambers, each with a passageway below a circular cairn. No burials or artefacts were recovered.

Excavation of a Chambered Cairn at Ham, Caithness, and of a Hut-Circle and Two Earth-Houses at Freswick Links, Caithness

Excavation of a round cairn at Ham revealed a single chamber and an entranceway. The presence of only limpet shells and fish bones within the chamber suggested that it had been re-used as a habitation. A stone-built hut circle had an entrance, a paved floor and a possible hearth. Two earth-houses lay side by side and were of broadly similar form with two chambers and an entranceway. Limpet shells were found in both structures. The larger earth-house also contained the skull and mandible of a child, a saddle quern and rubber. A few sherds of pottery were found outside. One of the lintels in the chamber of an earth-house at Crichton Mains has the carved figure of a pegasus or winged horse.

Exploration of a Chambered Cairn at Achaidh, Spinningdale, in the parish of Creich, Sutherland

Exploration of a Chambered Cairn at Achaidh, Spinningdale, in the parish of Creich, Sutherland

An Account of a Chambered Cairn and Cremation Cists at Taversoe Tuick, near Trumland House, in the Island of Rousay, Orkney, excavated by Lieut. General Traill Burroughs, C.B., of Rousay, in 1898

An Account of a Chambered Cairn and Cremation Cists at Taversoe Tuick, near Trumland House, in the Island of Rousay, Orkney, excavated by Lieut. General Traill Burroughs, C.B., of Rousay, in 1898

Notice of a Chambered Cairn at Kewing Hill, in the Parish of Firth, Orkney

Notice of a Chambered Cairn at Kewing Hill, in the Parish of Firth, Orkney

Notice of the Excavation of a Chambered Cairn in the Parish of Farr, Sutherlandshire

Notice of the Excavation of a Chambered Cairn in the Parish of Farr, Sutherlandshire

Notice of the Excavation of a Chambered Cairn of the Stone Age, at Unstan, in the Loch of Stennis, Orkney

Notice of the Excavation of a Chambered Cairn of the Stone Age, at Unstan, in the Loch of Stennis, Orkney

On the Chambered Cairns of Caithness, with Results of Recent Explorations

The author explains the two different types of chambered cairn found in Caithness: round and long cairns. He goes on to describe two long cairns at Thrumster that were recently excavated including their size and shape, their internal layout, and the finds that were discovered in each cairn. These cairns are then compared to the cairns at Ormiegill and Camster, also in Caithness. He concludes that it is too early in the study of these sites to confidently assess when they were built or their significance.