MHG3776 - Cist burial with finds - Culduthel, Inverness
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- CIST (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
A small Bronze Age square cist, containing a skeleton, beaker, eight flint arrowheads, bone toggle, amber bead, and a rare stone arm-bracer (used by archers to protect their arms from the bowstring) mounted with four large gold caps measuring about a quarter of an inch across their heads; was found on a school building site at Culduthel (NH 664 420) near Inverness on 22nd November 1975. (Information from L Wedderburn, Asst. Curator, Inverness Museum)
Information from The Scotsman 25 November 1975.
Excavated in 1976. The rivets on the bracer were of bronze or copper, capped with sheet gold. The beaker is of Clarke’s N2 (L) group. It had an impression of a grain of barley on the base. The amber bead has an hour-glass perforation towards one edge. <1>
The stone armlet with gold capped copper rivets 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. <2>
Finds listed in the NMS catalogue under Acc. Nos. EQ 843- EQ 855. <3>
Inverness Museum archive files contain photographs of the cist and list the human remains from the cist under Acc. No. 1985.024. <4>
This male burial was investigated as part of the Beaker and Bodies Project. It was dated at 95% confidence to 2280-2020 BC. Isotope analysis showed that he was from Co. Antrim in Ireland, as was a man buried at Kinaldie near Aberdeen (pp.385 & 395). He was buried with archer equipment, and the bracer was made of Great Langdale tuff (p.169). <5>
The findspot grid reference (at 266619 842240) is now known to be incorrect after consultation with the original finder and should be c.240m to the south immediately to the south of the site of the original school building which was demolished in 2016-17. <6>
NGR amended 12/10/2022 according to details in <6>.
Sources/Archives (8)
- --- SHG13444 Image/Photograph(s): Cist.. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- 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. . 13, No. 67.
- <1> SHG28009 Text/Publication/Volume: Clarke, D. V., Cowie, T.G., Foxon, A.. 1985. Symbols of Power at the time of Stonehenge. pp. 267.
- <2> SHG28012 Text/Publication/Monograph: Clark, G., Cowie, T. & Kruse, S. 2017. Feats of Clay. Cat. No. 61.
- <3> SHG28278 Dataset/Database File: National Museums Scotland. 2019. Highland Finds from the NMS Catalogue. National Museums Scotland. Digital. EQ 843- EQ 855.
- <4> SHG28371 Collection: Inverness Museum. 2019. Inverness Museum and Art Gallery Archive Files.
- <5> SHG28490 Text/Publication/Monograph: Parker Pearson, M. et al (eds). 2019. The Beaker People. Isotopes, Mobility and Diet in Prehistoric Britain. Prehistoric Society Research Papers. No. 7.
- <6> SHG29177 Text/Correspondence: Sheridan, A.. 2022. Emails regarding original findspot location of Culduthel cist burial. Unaffiliated. Digital. XY
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 6660 4200 (4m by 4m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH64SE |
| Civil Parish | INVERNESS AND BONA |
| Geographical Area | INVERNESS |
Finds (7)
- BEAKER (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- BARBED AND TANGED ARROWHEAD (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- ARM GUARD (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- BEAD (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- TOGGLE (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (3)
- http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-136-604-C& (Link to online NMS catalogue record)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/13519 (View HES Canmore entry for this site)
- https://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-136-604-C& (Link to online SCRAN record)
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