MHG3741 - Muirtown, shell midden
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- SHELL MIDDEN (Mesolithic - 8000 BC to 4001 BC)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
NH64NE 38 652 457.
Centred on NH 652 457. The site of a shell midden lies between 9m and 11m OD under the face of a slope which appears to represent the rear of a post-glacial shoreline. The material consists of a mixture of shells, broken and intact, of oyster, whelk, cockle and mussel with a tiny admixture of bone (a large portion of antler base was recovered). In addition to this, although as the material was disturbed when visited and is not wholly certain in its association, are quite large numbers of small rounded boulders and beach pebbles covered in what appears to be soot. The shell layer is overlain by about 75cms of similar material and topsoil. A (disturbed) sample of the shell debris was collected and is stored in Inverness Museum (Record Card NH64NW 2).
Information from R B Gourlay, Inverness Museum 23 May 1979.
No trace.
Visited by OS (N K B) 5 March 1981.
A radiocarbon date from the site was published in Patrick Ashmore's ‘A date list (to October 2002) for early foragers in Scotland’. This indicated a mesolithic date. <1>
Sources/Archives (20)
- --- SHG1136 Text/Publication/Article: Myers and Gourlay, A B and R B. 1992. 'Muirtown, Inverness: preliminary investigation of a shell midden', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 121 1991, p.17-25. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 17-25. 17-25.
- --- SHG12175 Image/Photograph(s): Shell Midden : Site B.. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG12353 Image/Photograph(s): Shell Midden Site A :. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG12785 Image/Photograph(s): Muitown Shell Midden.. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG12786 Image/Photograph(s): Shell Midden, Site A. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG1664 Text/Publication/Article: Wordsworth, J. 1987. The excavation of a mesolithic horizon at 13-24 Castle Street, Inverness. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Vol.115. 89-103. Digital (scanned as PDF). 89.
- --- SHG2673 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1979. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of North-east Inverness, Inverness District, Highland Region. . 30, No. 247.
- --- SHG5830 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown, Shell midden, Site A. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG5839 Image/Photograph(s): Midden, Canal Road, Muirtown. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG7493 Image/Photograph(s): Shell midden, site A, canal road, Muirtown. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7494 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown, shell midden site B. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7495 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown shell midden site B. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7496 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown shell midden site B. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7497 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown shell midden site B. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7498 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown shell midden site A. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7499 Image/Photograph(s): Canal Road, Muirtown shell midden site A. Unknown. .
- --- SHG7500 Image/Photograph(s): Muirtown shell midden. Unknown. .
- --- SHG9375 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council. 1979. Canal Road, Muirtown, Shell midden, Site A. Colour Slide. . Original & digital.
- --- SHG9384 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council. 1979. Midden, Canal Road, Muirtown. Colour Slide. . Original & digital.
- <1> SHG28591 Text/Publication: Ashmore, P J. 2004. A date list (to October 2002) for early foragers in Scotland, in Saville, 2004, Mesolithic Scotland and its Neighbours. The early Holocene prehistory of Scotland, its British and Irish context, and some Northern European perspectives pp. 95-158.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 6519 4569 (14m by 14m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH64NE |
| Civil Parish | INVERNESS AND BONA |
| Geographical Area | INVERNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/13390 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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