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MHG932 - Chambered Cairn - Tulloch of Assery B

Summary

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Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

A well-preserved chambered round cairn (Cat 70), probably later one of two chambered cairns known as Tullochs of Assery. (See also ND06SE 9) Before excavation by Corcoran in 1961 in advance of raising of level of Loch Calder, it was a large circular, grass-covered mound, c110ft diameter and over 12ft high with no evidence of a chamber. The excavation revealed an eccentrically set chamber with an entrance passage in SE, a massive internal revetting wall and an outer wall-face of good quality masonry. Corcoran regarded cairn as being of one build but Miss Henshall suggests two phases. Finds from excavation in NMAS.

The site was Scheduled in 1938.

The cairn was excavated by J.X.W.P. Corcoran in 1961 for the Ministry of Works in advance of raising of level of Loch Calder. The excavation revealed an eccentrically set chamber with an entrance passage in the southeast, a massive internal revetting wall and an outer wall-face of good quality masonry. Corcoran regarded cairn as being of one build. <1>

Cairn resurveyed at 1:25,000 Visited by OS 3 November 1964.

See also A S Henshall 1972

Corcoran's excavation remains open but otherwise cairn is well-preserved although water of loch lap its margins and have caused some damage.
Visited by OS 17 August 1981.

See link below for radiocarbon dates. They were first published (uncalibrated) by Sharples in 1986. The excavations where the samples were taken were undertaken in 1961, however, as radiocarbon dating was expensive and time consuming at this time, it was not until 1980 that radiocarbon dating samples from this site and the two others excavated was again considered. The close proximity of this site, Tulloch of Assery A and Tulach an t'Sionnaich and also the great difference in both architecture and burial deposits meant that some chronological guidelines for these three sites could result in a picture of the changing use of chambered tombs in the British Isles. <2>

A radiocarbon date from an adult female sample from this site was obtained and published in 2016 for the GENSCOT Ancient DNA project. This indicated a Neolithic date of 3703-3655 BC, calibrated to 1 sigma. <3>

The radiocarbon date and DNA sample information were also included in the 'A summary round-up list of Scottish archaeological human remains that have been sampled/analysed for DNA as of January 2019', available online through DES. This also includes references to where the DNA results have been published. <4>

The NMS catalogue lists a leaf shaped flint arrowhead, flint scraper, 25 flakes, blades and broken pebbles of flint and a portion of bone. Under Acc. Nos. EO 1094, EO 1095, EO 1104, EO 1105 A-B. <5>

Human remains from the site are with NMS collections. <6>

Human remains from the site were amongst those analysed as part of a study into the genetic relatedness of 22 individuals whose remains were placed in five Early Neolithic tombs in Caithness and Orkney and published in Antiquity Vol. 100 in 2026. Although it was only possible to obtain Adna sequences suitable for analysis from a subset of the osteological minimum number of individuals (MNI) in each tomb, this was sufficient for the determination of multiple genetic relatives. Rattar East (see MHG2268) contained the remains of two brothers, while a father-son pair and a maternal uncle or half-brother to the father were found in the tomb at Holm of Papa Westray North on Orkney. The remains of three males in a father-son-grandson genetic relationship were placed next to one another at Tulloch of Assery A (see MHG981), while a fourth male who was either an uncle, halfbrother or grandfather to the first of these males was entombed at Tulach an t-Sionnaich (see MHG926). One female fourth-degree relative of this latter male was entombed at the Holm of Papa Westray North, while another fourth-degree relative of this same male was entombed at Tulloch of Assery B. Two of the females entombed at Holm of Papa Westray North were fourth-degree or fourth-to-fifth degree genetic relatives of the male at Tulach an t-Sionnaich, suggesting their genetic ancestry connected both of those males. Thus, these two females were genetically related within five degrees to males from groups who used the tombs at Loch Calder, while not being related (closer than the sixth-to-seventh degree) to any of the three closely related males at Holm of Papa Westray North. Both the similarities in architecture observed across the tombs and the biological relationships identified through Adna demonstrate a web of connections among the entombed individuals, suggesting they were members of a small interwoven community sharing both architectural and mortuary practices. <7>

Sources/Archives (13)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 0677 6186 (42m by 39m)
Map sheet	ND06SE
Civil Parish	HALKIRK
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

Finds (10)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

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External Links (6)