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MHG7705 - Burial cairn - Shieldaig

Summary

A burial cairn at Shieldaig, excavated in advance of council development in 1978.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

A burial cairn at Shieldaig, excavated in advance of council development in 1978.

A possible stone circle in the centre of Shieldaig village, consisting of two concentric rings, 41 ft (12.4m) and 28 ft in diameter, a leaning central stone and a setting of three stones in a row to the E. The interior of the ring has been filled in. (Letter from Dr Fidler (Shieldaig) 7 May 1977). This may prove to be remains of a chambered tomb, and site is threatened by a proposal of local council to build houses in area. (Letter from H A W Burl 9 May 1977).

Burial cairn NG 814537 Excavation of this burial cairn, was carried out by M Hedges in 1978 in advance of the building of council houses. The mound was on a raised beach, in the NE corner of a field. Before excavation the grass grown mound appeared to be 12m in diameter and 2m high with a slight projection to the E. Three large boulders were visible at the end of this projection. There was a central depression in the mound. Large boulders were visible at the perimeter. A kerb of undressed boulders with foundations 0.5m above the level of the raised beach was found. It incorporated a saddle quern in the outer face. Stone packing was found in the central area above a layer of redeposited beach material. A modern rubbish pit had been dug into the mound, and some iron, perhaps an artifact, was found on the NE of the mound. Charcoal, cremated bone fragments, quartz flakes and 'clinker' were found at the base of the redeposited material. A grave pit oriented NS was found near the centre of the monument. Charcoal and cremated bone were in the pit, as was a lump of corroded iron. A second grave pit, found 5m to the SW of the first grave, was a shallow scoop containing human teeth as well as charcoal and cremated bone. On the E were parallel lines of boulders, forming an 'entrance passage', in which were fragments of cremated bone and charcoal. The outer wall of the mound blocked the end of the 'passage'. N of the passage and beside it and the mound was a small cairn, at first thought to be a field clearance cairn. The cairn covered a dense patch of charcoal and some burned stones, a few specks of cremated bone, and some badly crushed sherds of coarse-gritted dark brown to black fabric, quite hard, including one rim. The cairn, presumably of Bronze Age date, has features common to both ring cairns and kerb cairns. <1>

Archive material relating to 1984 excavations by M Hedges is held by Historic Scotland. Info from L Linge, Historic Scotland, 15 March 1992.

The excavation does not appear to have ever been formally published. The council houses (now former) are at NGR 181488 853763, GIS spatial data amended from NGR 181545 853827 to that location [IS-L 10/07/2024].

Sources/Archives (1)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 8148 5376 (40m by 40m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG85SW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	APPLECROSS

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