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Excavation of Bowl Barrow at Pityoulish. 153 Excavation

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Excavation of Bowl Barrow at Pityoulish. 153 Excavation EXCAVATIO F BOWNO L BARRO PITYOULISHT WA 3 15 . X. EXCAVATIO BOWA F NO L BARRO T PITYOULISHWA , STRATHSPEY 1953N I , . RAEV S B,YMR F.S.A.ScoT. ALAD AN N, RAE, M.A., F.S.A.ScoT. Summary.—Four bowl barrows were found in a group, each having a ditch without bank (two share para ditch) f o t diametea . ,fro ft m4 2 f o r the bottom of the ditch, a height of 1 ft. 3 ins. to 1 ft. 6 ins. above surrounding turf flattenea , witp dto h dimple rectangulaa d an , r stone projecting from e topth . Total excavatio s mad wa e barronf one eo Th . w coveren a d inhumatio t fulna lt (robbedsmallengto pi a tw ln d hi empt )an y o pitsN . grave goods, pottery or domestic implements were found, but evidence showed t earlie thano e buria s th t r wa ltha n Iron barroe AgeTh d . wha not covered a hut or any representation of a hut. Five fires had purified the site. A large stone had been erected beside the burial and projected from the top of the barrow, with no carving or inscription. It was possible to trace the sequence of events in construction. Fig. 1 shows the ground pla t basicna , wit hlarge basth e chief ee o th ston fd chocean k stone pro- jected; fig. 2 shows cross-sections. Situation.—The Pityoulish estate lies alon e easgth te Rive sidth f ero Spe Inverness-shiren yi f Aviemor o milee sam2 . , th esNE d distancean e N. of Coylumbridge. Rev. William Forsyth, In the Shadow of the Cairngorms (1900), states that t circles"stonehu beed d an "sha n cleared fro mfiela d e road. fiel"te th side of th dTh e e o " th lie f so immediatel. SW e th o yt junctio e roath df no Coylumbridge—Neth y Bridge wit e roahth d ovee th r Slugan Pass to Loch Morlich (Nat. Grid ref. 28/931152). A few large stones lie by the road and in a gravel pit; one standing-stone 4 ft. 6 ins. high and 1 ft. 6 ins. square,at the base remains erect in the field. The cultivable land alluvian a , l gravel, here form wida s e terrace . abouft 0 3 t abov Rivee eth fielrw Speydlo a alon o ,banke t witg. th ft h.scar0 a 2 f po This scarp has a bluff curve, covered with silver birch and broom, just west of the field with the standing-stone, and on the bluff but hidden e wooth dy b stan e fouth d r bowl barrows described above soughe W . t the necessary permission and made a total excavation of the one nearest the road during the summer of 1953 (PI. XVII, 1). Construction.—Soil on the bluff consists of turf and dark loam to a dept ins8 f .h o restin harn go d brown gravel, whic turhn i n rest yellon so w sand; nea edge gravee th r e th slope thickonls o th i l incen n tw y a o r ;h o gravelthero n s ei , loaturd an mf restinsande th n .go 154 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1952-53. In making this barrow the builders scraped off most of the topsoil down gravelo t ; although fig. 2a (left) show t thoroughlno s thawa t ti y removed, a clear black line remaining on top of the gravel there, and being occasionally visible elsewhere. Eithe e centrth r theif eo naturaa r sitd eha l dip, with. SCALE IN F£ET Fig. 1. Plan at basic, with three stones projected. no gravel between topsoil and sand, or they scraped away the gravel in this doinn i part produced o gs an , dsaucer-lika e hollo sande l pitth Al swn .i were dug within this hollow. A ditch was dug in a rough circle, of which the diameter (from bottom of ditch) varied from 23 ft. to 24 ft. 4 ins.; the ditch bein insg9 . dee basin pi c gravel—deeper where gravel gave placo et sand (fig. 2b, right)—and of irregular width. Part of the gravel from the ditch was put along its inner lip, while the rest seems to have been used EXCAVATION OF BOWL BARROW AT PITYOULISH. 155 a 6 156 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1952-53. during the last stage of erection; possibly the ditch was deepened in the last stages to provide material for the top of the barrow. Five exposeth e n fireo dt sli basi werw ceno exactlsoile e on th : n yi centre, a second near the place where the head of the burial pit was to be duge otherth , s markin n almosa g t equilateral triangle graveth n lo e e ditchgroune th Th f upcasinnee o .t eacth da p thesf n li rho o t e places was burnt a deep red, to a depth of 6 ins. under the heart of the fire and over an elliptical area with a greater diameter in each case of nearly a foot. The heat must have been intense rather than protracted. Charcoal was plentiful on and around the fireplaces, but no bones were found. Then two small oval pits seem to have been dug: one NE. of the central fire and cutting through its burnt earth, therefore dug after the fire was out othere W.e feex th th ;si , t o t ,awa y fro centree mformee th d Th .ha r ins.6 . diameter,ft ins.deptlatte4 e 1 . diameterd th d ;ft fthr1 1 ha an . f so s ins.9 . ,ft ins 6 dept 1 . ft insd 3 h 1 Neithe. an . 2ft thesf o r e hely dan indicatio f theio n r purpose. Althoug e formeth h r had, scatteres it n i d filling, a good deal of burnt earth and charcoal, these could well have come fro fire mth e debris through whicbeed ha n t hi cut . The saucer-shaped hollow was next filled with a grey sandy soil, so as to level the area; a depth of just over one foot being needed in the middle. As part of this operation the small pits were filled, receiving basic sand -whic comd hha e from the e gresomd mth an yf eo soil . a ins.dept4 Ato ,ft. the hof 2 buria was insn6 by dug. ft. pit l 6 , ins.7 . ,2ft fro ° witangl n ms 50 a axih it f t trueo a s e N.: placee li o dt between the two fireplaces in the middle of the hollow. After the corpse had been installed, the pit was filled with a mixture of the sand which had been take gree nth youtd sandan , y soil. The order of most events up to this point is probably as stated: because the outer fires were on upcast from the ditch, one of the small pits cut through the debris of one of the fires, the small pits were dug when the exposed whesurfacg du basis nfooa s wa ee buriac twa th sandt d pi l an , of grey beesoid ha lbasice n th lai n d.o A bloc f erratiko e grave c. sidth e gneisf W eo th erecte,s e th swa n do nearest s basedgit f e eo ins 6 bein . foo.e ft gon 2 t awayy b . s sizeit ft ; 2 , by 5 ft. 6 ins. Chock stones were wedged at each corner, the one nearest to the head of the grave being much larger than the others (fig. 2). These, and the base of the standing-stone, were sunk in the grey soil, but at no point came nearer than 2J ins. to basic sand. The stone was leaning away from the grave at an angle of 70° (PI. XVII, 2). It is likely that this was erected after the grave was dug—and perhaps filled in—rather than earlier, because the stone must have been insecure until the barrow had been raised further, would an t havdno e been left standin r longfo g with inadequate support. We looked for indications that the stone had been originally vertical; but EXCAVATIO F BOWNO L BARRO T PITYOULISHWA 7 15 . sigo n ther ns tha e baswa thrusd th t eha e choc th t k stones forwarn o d the side towards the grave and moved away from the others, or that the uppe e rston th parshifted f eha o e uppet th d r level f constructiono s t I . resemble standing-stone sth e which remain adjacenn a n si t field. More of the grey sandy soil was added all over the barrow, producing flaa t surfac buriae th f ins6 eo l .pitp abovto . e Thieth s homos soiwa l - geneous throughout t doeI t occu. sno r naturall blufe pare th f th o tn yo investigated river-depositea s i t bu , d typ probablo es foune b o ydt nearby. It was impregnated throughout with specks of charcoal, so thoroughly that the fillings of the pits—which were mainly of replaced basic sand, with only a little of the grey soil—also contained plentiful specks. Most of the flat surface was then covered with a layer of small boulders, trodden int e greoth y soil (fig. 26), wit hdozea n larger flat stones lyinn go top of them in no particular arrangement.
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