Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 118 (1988), 95-98, fiche 2:F1-11

Cairn 3, Acharn, Morvern, Argyll J N Graham Ritchie* and lain Thornbert

ABSTRACT Describes possiblea Iron-Age cremation burial inserted into Bronze-Agea cist.

The interesting groups of Bronze Age cairns in the Aline valley were the subject of a paper in volum thesf o 6 e e10 Proceedings followin r worgou t Acharnka , Clagga Kinlochalined nan , under- taken during the preparation of volume 3 of the Inventory of Argyll by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (Ritchie & Thornber 1975; RCAMS 1980). At Locf Acharo ease d h th Arienaen tt na grousa cairnf po s occupie terracsa littlea e abov levee eth f lo loce somd th han e 300m north-wes f Acharno t ; cair platfora , n3 m cairnbese th ts i ,preserve f do these, measuring about 13-5 m in diameter and 0-6m in height with almost the complete circuit of kerbstones still intact. Nothing furthe knows rwa n whe surveyes site nth ewa 1974n di . centraA l cist was, however, uncovere that a s t stag wa 197 dn d i e7 an excavate Thornber M y db r and its contents stored; in May 1984 the cist was plotted on to the earlier plan (illus 1) and in 1985 the contents were transferred to Edinburgh to enable sorting and identification of the bones and other artefacts to take place. The capstone is a large triangular slab (l-4m by l-05m and 0-2 m thick) coverin gtrapeze-shapea d cist, which measures som 0-e y internall0-6b m 7m depth n 0-i d 4ym e an ;th cist appear havo st egroun n beeo t nse d level rathe immediate rth that pita bu n ,i e surroundingf o s the cist were not examined. The cist was full of debris to slightly below the level of the side-slabs, material thicklthas wa t y penetrate brackey db n roots cise tTh . filled with excavatioe wateth s a r n progresse basae th d l layerdan s were baled out. Therscattea s crematef ewa ro d material throughout cise th t contents definita t ,bu e concentration, accompane flinty db smala , l round smooth pebbld ean sherd potteryf so founs smala ,wa n measurint di lpi g some 250m diametemn i int g subsoile ordu th . Also at the bottom of the cist, but close to one of the side-slabs, there were two little deposits of white quartz pebbles. In 1985 the loose soil and small stones that formed the filling of the cist were sieved, using a 3mm mesh, and further sherds, bones and pottery were recovered. sherde Th s have been examine drawd dan Mis Henshaly nS b sA tine th y ll sherd(illuAl . s2) s probably bees belon pote ha n t I possiblon . go t reconstruceo t tprofile s parit f to , althoug angle hth f eo the wall is uncertain and the base is missing. The pot is small with more or less straight walls and with a rim diameter of about 100mm. The rim, from which four sherds survive, is simple and slightly flattened along the edge. The walls are about 7mm thick, being slightly variable due to the pinching which has left the surfaces uneven. At the lower part of the largest piece there is the suggestion of a cordo morshoulderr o no n e eb thay t thi locan,bu sa ma l irregularity fabrie Th hard.s ci , wit finha e texture but including a few quite large grits; it is dark grey with a buffer outer surface. The walls have

* RCAMS, 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7HF t Knock House, Morvern, Oban, Argyll PA3U 45U 96 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1988

ILLU S1 Plan centrad f cairso an n3 l cist

ILLUS 2 Flint and pottery from cist

broken cleanly alon buildine gth g joints, indicating tha uppee tth r part consiste narroo tw f dwo rings of clay fabrie t appropriatno .Th s ci pre-Iroa r e fo pot e assessmenn nAg a , t that accords well wite hth radiocarbon date obtained fro charcoae mth l (see below), thoug circumstancee hth buriae th a f sn o l i cist in a cairn are certainly notable. Lack of material of comparable date in the area inhibits further comment. The flint and quartz were examined and illustrated by Miss Sinead McCartan (illus 2, nos 2-3; for note cataloguo st fiche ese e 2:F3). 1 Two inner chunks; grey-white; burnt, crazed and pitted; lightly corticated; lightly patinated. 2 Secondary chunk; grey-white; burn crazedd an t ; corticated. 3 Quartz; inner irregular flake; broken; distal surviving. 4 Inner flake; retouching flake; grey-cream; lightly corticated; 12:7:1 (illus 2, no 2). *5 Inner flake; pale yellow; patinated; distal and laterals retouched; 33: 19: 5; L, 52; R, 43; D, 81; scraper (illus 2, no 3). Six pieces were thus recovered from the cist, five of flint and one of quartz. The three flakes with surviving platforms suggest the use of direct percussion with a soft hammer. The outstanding piece is scrapee th rdistae 3)(illu laterao d n .Th , lan s 2 l edges have been modified with regular scalar retouch. Other pieces includ irregulae eon r quartz flake, three burnt chunk retouchina d san g flake. Although, unusual, knapping debris is not unknown from such contexts (Clarke et al 1985, 170). RITCHIE AND THORNBER: CAIRN 3, ACHARN, MORVERN, 7 ARGYL9 | L

The charcoal from the cist was examined by Mrs Camilla Dickson, Department of Botany, Universit Glasgowf yo reporteo wh , d tha comprisedt i t : Alnus (alder), Corylus (hazel Quercusd )an (oak). The sorted charcoal, which weighed some 8-0g, was submitted to the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Universit f Glasgoyo determinatioa d wan 125±8d a f no 0 (GU-2070) resulted. This confirms Miss Henshall's discussion of the potsherds. The cremated remains, which have been examined by Miss Mary Harman and Dr Dorothy Lunt and are described in detail in fiche 2:F10, were thos youna f eo g person aged abou years0 2 t boneo N . r teet so duplicate e har thud dan s onle yon individual was present. The excavation adds several new pieces of information about this interesting cairn group: the perhaps cistwa s useoccasions o buriar dtw fo n lo earliee th , r deposit being represente flinte th y ,db crematioe latee th th y verrb a sherdsf d yo n an smale thion f I . s soi ls s i numbet ,i Irof buriale ro nAg s identified in the west of Scotland. It also gives us the opportunity to note an early reference to the cairn group brough attentior ou Ir FlemingFo C t M y nb Archaeologian I . Scotica, (18574 ) Donald Gregory describe Hebridee visis a coasth e o th tt Argyl f td o san l whic undertooe hh 1831kn i . Gregory describes the kerb-cairn at Achabeg and then notes the cairns at Kinlochaline, Claggan and finally Acharn. neighbourhooe th n I castle th Kinlochalinef f deo o norte th hn loche o sid th d f ,e o an , ther fiela s ei d called Auchindruineach, translate Druid'e dth s Field whicn ,i stone circlw a s hlo i f eso simila thao rt t above described. In a field called Dalnagairn, translated the Level Field of Cairns, about a mile inland from Kinlochaline seee completo b stile ntw ar o ,t l e stonescirclew lo f so , sucI hav s ha e already described perhapt bu , s rathe same rth largeren i field dan ; there were several more circles, which havnearlw eno y disappeared t AcharnA . , upward mila f so e farther inland than Dalnagairn, leveana dn i l plai considerablf no e extent, ther immensn a es i e collectio cairnsf no , non thef eo m very high, evidently pointin site f somth eo t egou grea remaine t th battle vera w f sa syo I .larg e stone coffin, in which an urn with ashes was found. This coffin was discovered in taking away the stones cairnse th f o fro . e Manmon y more have been founsame th en di way whicf ,o traceo hn lefte d sar an ; ther doubo n s ei t that wher cairne eth s hav t beeeno n disturbed, there mus mane tb y still remaining. Near this remarkable spot is a pretty large circle of stones of no great height. Among those with whom conversedI coulI , d fin traditioo dn n relativ collectioe th o et cairnf no Acharnt sa . (Gregory 1857, 363.) possibls i t I e tha 'coffine th t ' shoul linkee tha d 'prettb e an th t cair o d2 t yo n n larg e circlf eo stone greao n f sto height indees i 'Inventory e th f do cair3 o nn account .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS writere Th r permissioRaveindebtee F he s ar r nMr fo o dt undertako nt e fieldwore th n ko Ardtornish Estatealse ar o e indebte.W mane th yo dt specialist havo sewh provide reporte dth s that have been incorporated into this account Miso t d s Carolinan , e Wickham-Jone r helhe n pi r fo s allowing GR to sieve the material from the cist at the Artifact Research Unit, Royal Museum of Scotland. Copyright. The illustrations are Crown copyright: Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments, Scotland. Illus 1 by D R Boyd and illus 2 by Miss A S Henshall and Miss Sinead McCartan.

REFERENCES Clarke, D V, Cowie, T G & Foxon, A 1985 Symbols of power at the time ofStonehenge. Edinburgh. Gregory, D 1857 'Notes regarding various Remains of Antiquity, both of the Earlier and Middle Ages, observed during a recent visit to the Hebrides', Archaeol Scot, 4 (1857), 362-5. | SOCIET 8 9 ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1988

RCAMS 1980 Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll: an inventory monuments, e oth f volum , Mull,e3 Tiree, CollNorthernd an Argyll. Edinburgh. ThornberRitchie& G N ,J I , 1975 'Cairn Aline th n esi Valley, Morvern, Argyll', Proc SocAntiq Scot, 106 (1974-5), 15-30. Shepherd, W 1972 Flint: its origins, properties and uses. London. Wickham-Jones, Caroline R 1983 The industry of flaked stone from the henge monument at North Mains', in Barclay, G J, 'Sites of the third millennium be to the first millennium ad at North Mains, Strathallan, Perthshire', Proc Antiqc So Scot, (1983)3 11 , 122-81. Wickham-Jones, C R & Collins, G H 1978 'The sources of flint and chert in northern Britain', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, (1977-8)9 10 , 7-21. This paper publishedis granta of from Royalaid with the the Commissionthe on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland