MHG497 - Stone Working Site, Acharn Farm
Summary
Prehistoric stone working site.
Type and Period (1)
- LITHIC WORKING SITE (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC? to 551 BC?)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
A number of mesolithic flints, found in the vicinity of Acharn farm, were donated to the NMAS in 1975-6 by I Thornber, Ardtornish, Morvern. They can not be closely dated within the mesolithic period (RCAHMS 1980). RCAHMS locates the find area at NM 6975 5048.
I Thornber 1974; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1978; RCAHMS 1980.
The lithic assemblage collected by Mr Thornber was derived from two localities at Acharn within 30 m of one another, in an extensively ploughed field. The material from site A consists of 42 worked pieces, 47 blades, 457 flakes and 86 cores and bashed lumps. Flint constitutes 96.68% of the raw materials and other stones represented are quartz, mud-stone, quartzite, chert, bloodstone and granite. Of the 42 worked pieces, six are microliths, two are micro-burins ten are scrapers and one is a possible borer.
From site B, 227 pieces were collected, consisting of 10 worked pieces, 18 blades, 190 flakes and 9 cores and bashed lumps. Flint constitutes 97.35% of the raw materials; other stones found are quartzite, quartz, mud-stone and pitchstone. Patina and workmanship is similar to that of the assemblage from site A. The 10 worked pieces consist of one microlith, four scrapers, and five pieces with miscellaneous retouch. The presence of microliths and microburins would appear to point to a mesolithic complex. However, taking into account the fairly rich evidence for later prehistoric activities in this area, a post-mesolithic element might well be expected.
J N G Ritchie and I Thornber 1977.
The NMS catalogue lists microliths, flakes, blades, scrapers, end scrapers, a borer, a chisel, cores and chips from Acharn, Morvern Listed under Acc. Nos. ACA 262- ACA 303 and EQ 829. <1>
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SHG1510 Text/Publication/Article: Ritchie and Thornber, J N G and I. 1977. 'Small cairns in Argyll: some recent work (i) Cairns in the Aline valley, Morvern, Argyll', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 106 1974-5, p.15-30. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 15-30. 27-30.
- --- SHG2660 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1980. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 3: Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll (excluding the early medieval and later monuments of Iona). . 4.
- --- SHG597 Text/Publication/Article: PSAS. 1978. 'Donations to and purchases for the Museum and Library', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 107 1975-6, p.333-40. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 333-40. 333, No. 5.
- --- SHG90 Text/Publication/Article: Thornber, I. 1974. 'Acharn, cairn, flint/scraper, cairn, cairns', Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1974, p.19-20. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland. 19-20. 19 (flint/scraper).
- <1> SHG28278 Dataset/Database File: National Museums Scotland. 2019. Highland Finds from the NMS Catalogue. National Museums Scotland. Digital. ACA 262- ACA 303, EQ 829.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NM 6975 5047 (20m by 20m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NM65SE |
| Civil Parish | MORVERN |
| Geographical Area | LOCHABER |
Finds (9)
- CORE (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC to 551 BC)
- MICROLITH (Mesolithic - 8000 BC to 4001 BC)
- MICROBURIN (Mesolithic - 8000 BC to 4001 BC)
- END SCRAPER (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC? to 551 BC?)
- SCRAPER (TOOL) (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC? to 551 BC?)
- FLAKE (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC? to 551 BC?)
- BLADE (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC? to 551 BC?)
- BORER (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC to 551 BC)
- CHISEL (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC to 551 BC)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/22481 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
Comments and Feedback
Do you have any more information about this record? Please feel free to comment with information and photographs, or ask any questions, using the "Disqus" tool below. Comments are moderated, and we aim to respond/publish as soon as possible.