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MHG4687 - Pictish barrow cemetery - West Croftmore

Summary

No summary available.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

NH91NW 15 centred 931 152; standing stone 9325 1521.
(Area NH 931 152) A group of 4 bowl-barrows is situated on the lip of the slope to the Spey, hidden by birch and broom, and beyond the field bordering the road immediately to the SW of the junction of the road Coylumbridge to Nethy Bridge with the road over the Slugan Pass to Loch Morlich. Each has a diameter of 24', height 1'3" - 1'6", a flattened top and a rectangular stone projecting from it. The one nearest the road was completely excavated in 1953 and revealed an extended inhumation in a pit beside the projecting stone, and two small empty pits. No grave-goods, pottery etc. were found, but the discovery of a few fragments of iron and the rust-mark vestiges of a possible knife suggested that the burial was not earlier than the Iron Age. The burial pit had previously been robbed by sinking a vertical shaft. Professor Piggot suggested the possibility that the excavated barrow was, in reality, two, a later one being imposed directly upon the earlier. A standing stone 4'6" high and 18" square at the base stands erect in the field between the barrows and the road. <1>

Mr Ferguson (Mr Ferguson, Auchgourish) indicated the area (centred on NH 932 152) where the excavation had taken place. The barrows are situated in dense afforestation, planted since the excavation took place. Perambulation failed to reveal any trace of the barrows.
Visited by OS (R L) 14 November 1966.

In the area centred NH 931 152, now afforested, the only surviving feature is the standing stone, at NH 9325 1521. The precise site of the barrows is not known locally.
Visited by OS (R L) 22 September 1969.

The standing stone, formerly included alongside the barrows, is now recorded as NH91NW0071.
J Hooper, 19/1/00

Access to Archaeology Audit - See Assoc. Docs. File
J Aitken : 15/3/04

The barrows were scheduled by Historic Environment Scotland in 2016. <2>

A radiocarbon date was obtained from the burial under the slightly oval bowl barrow, which had a standing stone erected at one end of the grave. This was done as part of Juliette Mitchell's doctoral research into early Medieval barrows and cairns in Scotland, and was published in 2017 as part of the National Museum of Scotland's radiocarbon dating program of their collections. This indicated a Pictish date of 435-582 AD, calibrated to 1 sigma. <3>

Human remains from the site are within NMS collections. <4>

Sources/Archives (4)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 9315 1529 (30m by 30m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH91NW
Civil Parish	ABERNETHY AND KINCARDINE
Geographical Area	BADENOCH AND STRATHSPEY

Finds (1)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (0)

External Links (2)