MHG2673 - Cairn and Cist - Balnalick
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (2)
- CAIRN (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- CIST (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
NH43SW 2 4379 3120.
(NH 4379 3120) Cairn (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)
This circular cairn 53' - 54' in diameter and 4' high at centre, is composed of small stones, with a retaining kerb of large irregular blocks 3' - 4' in length. No sign of any outer circle of standing stones was found
Excavations in July and August 1887, revealed a cist containing a collared cinerary urn, about 13" high. In the urn, which was broken on removal, was a MBA razor (now in Inverness Museum) and bones, some of which were recognisable as parts of a skull.
The cist, 2' long, had been built on layers composed of ashes, charcoal and earthy matter and fragments of bone and quartz.
A Grant 1888; J M Coles 1966
This cairn is generally as described by Grant, but no trace of the cist remains. It is now grass-covered and surmounted by small trees and the centre of the cairn used as a depository for stone clearance.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (N K B) 14 December 1964.
The razor was catalogued and photographed as part of the North Kessock & District Local History Society and Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH) collaborative 'Feats of Clay' Project, which was focused on Bronze Age metalworking around the Moray Firth. It was assigned an Early Bronze Age date. <1>
Information from the Inverness Museum archive files states that the razor was donated to Inverness Museum in 1938. It is listed under Acc. No. 1938.059. <2> <3>
Sources/Archives (7)
- --- SHG1282 Text/Publication/Article: Grant, A. 1888. 'Notice of the opening of a sepulchral cairn at Balnalick, Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire; with notes on cup-marked stones in Glen Urquhart', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 22 1887-8, p.42-51. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 42-51. 42-7; illust. 45, 46.
- --- SHG1477 Text/Publication/Article: Coles, J M. 1966. 'Scottish Middle Bronze Age metalwork', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 97 1963-4, p.82-156. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 82-156. 148.
- --- SHG1692 Text/Publication/Article: Piggott, C M. 1946. 'The Late Bronze Age razors of the British Isles', Proc Prehist Soc Vol. 12 1946, p.121-41. Proc Prehist Soc. 121-41. 135, no. 5.
- --- SHG2369 Text/Publication/Volume: Jockenhovel, A. 1980. Die Rasiermesser in Westeuropa. 41, no. 91.
- <1> SHG28012 Text/Publication/Monograph: Clark, G., Cowie, T. & Kruse, S. 2017. Feats of Clay. Cat. No. 60.
- <2> SHG28371 Collection: Inverness Museum. 2019. Inverness Museum and Art Gallery Archive Files. 1938.059.
- <3> SHG25836 Collection/Catalogue: Inverness Museum & Art Gallery. Inverness Museum & Art Gallery Accession registers. 1938.059.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 4378 3119 (14m by 14m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH43SW |
| Civil Parish | URQUHART AND GLENMORISTON |
| Geographical Area | INVERNESS |
Finds (1)
- RAZOR (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/12348 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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