MHG18482 - Keg of Bog Butter - Gleann Geal
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- FINDSPOT (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
See MHG18481 for alternative location.
A wooden keg containing bog butter was found during peat cutting at the N end of Glen Gell (Gleann Geal?), Morvern. A radiocarbon date of 1802 +/- 35bp (UB-3185) was obtained from the contents of the keg. In Royal Museum of Scotland (ME 166/ SHC 1).
W I Macadam 1882; C Earwood 1992
In May 1879 a keg of bog butter was discovered in a slanting position at a depth of 4'6"' (1.4m) during peat-digging at the N end of Gleann Geal, Glen Gill or Glen Gell, and possibly in the extensive area of peat-banks around NM 765 537. The keg was donated to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (now the Royal Museum of Scotland), and is stored under accession number NMS SHC 1 (having formerly been numbered ME 166 and SH 1).
The body of the keg has been worked from a solid trunk or large branch of alder (formerly identified as birch) to form a cylindrical body with slightly barrel-shaped sides. It measures 2' (0.6m) in height and 1'4?" (0.4m) in diameter. Two perforated lugs project to a height of 4" (102mm) above opposite sides of the upper rim and the published illustration also depicts two perforated lugs on opposite sides of the body. Both the lid and bottom of the keg fitted into grooves; the former was 'partly hollowed into a basin shape' and was perforated to allow the lugs to project. The lid (which cannot be identified in the collections) has probably been slightly domed and is illustrated as bearing adze-marks. It had a rectangular slit on one side (to retain one of the lugs), but it is unclear whether there was a slit or a recess on the opposite side.
The keg has recently been the subject of extensive conservation, including the partial epoxy reconstruction of the base, which has evidently been formed from a piece of wood larger than the body which has been so carved as to form a collar which was revealed during conservation to have been retained by small wooden pegs or dowels set into holes in the main body of the object. Internally, the workmanship is generally crude, the bottom of the vessel being uneven and having numerous marks which are probably of natural origin rather than toolmarks. Gouge marks in the exterior have presumably been made at the time of discovery.
The capacity of the vessel was apparently about 75 litres. Bog butter was found completely filling the interior, the upper surface of the mass being domed. Radiocarbon assay of a sample of this material has yielded a determination of 148 +/- 35 ad (UB-3185), which determination may be calibrated to between about 183 and 226 cal AD.
W I Macadam 1882; J Ritchie 1941; C Earwood 1992; C Earwood 1993; A Crone 1993; NMS accession register: typescript continuation catalogue; R J C Mowat 1996, visited November 1994.
Location cited as NM 70 50. Radiocarbon determination (UB-3185) cited as 120-329 AD.
NMRS, MS/996/1.
Sources/Archives (6)
- --- SHG1328 Text/Publication/Article: Macadam, W I. 1882. 'On the results of a chemical investigation into the composition of the "bog butters" and of "adipocere" and the "mineral resins;" with notice of a cask of bog butter found in Glen Gell, Morvern, Argyllshire, and now in the Museum', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vo. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 204-23. 206, 220-1.
- --- SHG1771 Text/Publication/Article: Earwood, C. 1992. 'Two Early Historic bog butter containers', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 121 1991, p.231-40. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 231-40. 232-6, 239.
- --- SHG2155 Text/Publication/Volume: Earwood, C. 1993. Domestic wooden artefacts in Britain and Ireland from Neolithic to Viking times. 109.
- --- SHG2548 Text/Publication/Volume: Mowat, R J C. 1996. The logboats of Scotland, with notes on related artefact types. 87, 112, 145, no. A24; tabs. 1 and 11.
- --- SHG50 Text/Publication/Article: Ritchie, J. 1941. 'A keg of "bog-butter" from Skye and its contents', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol 75 (1940-41), p 5-22. pp 7, 16.
- --- SHG76 Text/Publication/Article: Crone, B A (et al). 1993. 'A wooden bowl from Loch a' Ghlinne Bhig, Bracadale, Skye', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol 123 (1993), pp 269-75. p 274.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NM 7599 5299 (4m by 4m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NM75SE |
| Civil Parish | MORVERN |
| Geographical Area | LOCHABER |
Finds (2)
- KEG (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
- BOG BUTTER (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-190-004-113-C& (Link to NMS online collections database)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/85530 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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