A Bronze-Age Cemetery at Ferniegair, Lanarkshire G Welfare
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A bronze-age cemetery at Ferniegair, Lanarkshire G Welfare SUMMARY Exiguous field-notes, contemporary newspaper article confusea d san d published report have been amalgamated to reconstruct the excavation of a small bronze-age cemetery in 1936 and 1939. The burials comprised four inhumation cists, four urned cremation simpla d san e inhumation. Amon artefacte gth s were a beaker decorated with finger-nail impressions, at least three food vessels, an enlarged food vessel, 'encrustedn a ' urn cordone,a containinn dur archer'n ga s bracer, some fabric woven from vegetable fibre cist-slaa d an b decorate 'passage th dn i e grave style'. INTRODUCTION In April 1936 and September 1939 sand-quarrying operations in the former Deer Park of Chatelherault uncovere smala site f th edo l bronze-age cemetery. artefacte Althougth f o l shal appea havo t r e survived substantiay an , l recorde sitth e havf y thao s ma et beee n th kep y b t excavator, Ludovic Mann, hav t beeeno n preserved thid an s, accoun draws i t n primarily from newspapee th r reports tha contributee h t timee th briet d.A a f descriptio Mille G give s A nwa y rn b in 1940 (Miller 1947), but further research, undertaken during the preparation by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland of the Inventory of Prehistoric and Roman Lanarkshire, reveales ha d that that descriptio fror fa ms completnwa contained ean d a number of inconsistencies. In the circumstances many uncertainties must remain, but the purpose of this paper is to publish the finds from the site and to attempt, as far as possible, to sketccontexe th n hi whicn i t h they were discovered. THE CEMETERY areao tw se froTh m whic e burialhth s came (NG n 73954i S RN y 740538d la ) 0an 1 g fi : gently undulating parkland at a height of about 80 m OD, less than 600 m from the gorge of the Avon Water and 2 km S of its confluence with the River Clyde. Quarrying operations for the sand subsoil have since been transferred to the NW of Chatelherault and the ground worked in the 1930 bees sha n landscape returned dan pastureo dt . firse Th Cistt cist1 , which containe inhumationn a d reveales quarry-face wa ,th n i d t a e the end of March or the beginning of April 1936, lying at a depth of about 1 m below the surface. heava covee s sandstond Th ywa rre e slab measuring 1-5 lon8 m 0-6 y gb wid 1m witd ean ha thicknes f 0-1o s (Hamilton8m Advertiser, Apri8 1 l 1936). Photographs takeJ Harriso y nb n Nationae th n i Maxwelw l Monumentno d lan s Recor Scotlanf do d show tha side th te slabs, which were describe beins da g about 0-1 thick4m , were simila charactern ri . Internall cise yth t measured length0-9n i 4m , maximun 0-3i 7m approximatn a md widtha d han e heigh f 0-4o t(ibid) 8m . These dimensions agree very roughly with those given by Miller (1947, 17-19). If it is indeed to 2 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1974-5 this cis details t thahi l tal stha d lone refead tth gn r axistheca e n, w t right-angle whica s hwa o st the quarry-face, was aligned almost exactly E-W. 'The body had been laid in the stone grave in a contracted position, tha wits ti kneee hth s well draw towardp n u remains e th chine d sth an , , while decayed and crumbling and despite a certain infiltration of sand at the north-west corner of the cist, were quite recognisable. The skull was at the west end of the tomb although the lower FIG 1 The sites of the excavations of 1936 and 1939 are indicated by cross-hatching , flak1 FI eG2 tool, Cist , 1unworke2 ; d flake, outside Cist 1(1:2) jaw was at the opposite one. About the centre of the cist were the hand, arm and leg bones. The teeth, 28 of which were recovered, were in perfect condition, showing no sign of decay or even of wear' (ibid, 18-19). inhumatioe Th examines n wa r Davi D reporte s y d d b thawoma a wa e Fyfb f d o to dt ean n approximately 25 years of age 'placed in the grave in a bent and reclining position with the head leaning towards the shoulder' (Scotsman, 15 April 1936). The transposition of the lower jaw need WELFARE: BRONZE-AGE CEMETERY AT FERNIEGAIR, LANARKSHIR3 | E not necessarily imply any disturbance of the burial other than by rodents. Close to, or perhaps smala y la l flake-toounderw ja e th , lighf o l t gre outsidd corneyE e an flinS th ) e f 1 ter o th , (fi2 g cist an unworked flake was found (fig 2,2). Perhaps in the confusion of retrospection Miller states that the body had been covered with a 'shroud' of moss fabric, a fact that may cast doubt upon his description, since whico Cist , make2 te hh referenceo sn , certainly contained suc hfabrica . Apri7 largo n O tw le cinerarBurials2 d an 1 y urns, each inverte surrounded dan fouy db r small slabs, were discovered. Their position is not recorded other than that they stood about 10 m away from Buria d Cisan 2 t(se 3 l e below; Scotsman, 15 Apri twoe cordonea th ,l f 1936)o e dOn . urn (fig 3, 3), is of special interest since it contained a cremation and an unburnt archer's bracer FI G3 Buria l 1:3, cordoned urn , archer';4 s bracer (1:3) (fig 3, 4; Scotsman and Glasgow Herald, 17 April 1936: Mann MS notes in Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum). The second cremation had been placed in an encrusted urn: there appear to have bee furtheo nn r associations , 5;(fi4 g photograph Nationan si l Monuments Record). Neithen rur was lifted intact t eac sincs bu , hha e been restored. Morrison (1968, 118) wrote tha encrustee th t d beet no nur d cremationusea nha r dfo , presumabl basi e statemena th f so n yo Millery tb : 'Another vesse founs lwa dt associate whicno s hwa d wit tala grav y f lho an burialslender s eo wa t .I r shape quite differen othee th f tr o fro urny foor man so d vessels. Unfortunatel t crumbleyi d into frag- ments soon after exposure' (1947 encrusteonle e recordee , th 20) Th yon s i . n dur fro site mth e that might answer such a description, but in view of the other, more positive evidence, together with the discrepancies found elsewhere in Miller's report, this statement appears to have no substance. Cist 2 A week later, on 14 April, a second inhumation cist was unearthed, again at a depth of approximatel detail o cise N th t. havf sm o y1 e been publishe photograpa t dbu Nationae th hn i l Monuments Record shows it in situ after excavation. Any covering stone that may have existed has been removed seee b side e t threnn th eacbu ,f s ca e o havo ht e been constructe thif do n slabs, witformino htw fourthe gth . Therphotograp e scalo th n n s ei i t somhbu e ide f sizao give s ei n invertee byth d enlarged food vesseforegroune th n li d (Buria lbelow) e 3:se : from thi internae sth l PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , 1974-5 , encruste5 FI G4 d urn, Burial , 1foo6 ; d vessel, Cis (1:32 t ) WELFARE: BRONZE-AGE CEMETERY AT FERNIEGAIR, LANARKSHIRE | 5 dimension estimatee b cise n th ca t f t approximateldso a lengtmyn 1 i 0-d 5han mwidtn i d han depth axie Th s. appear havo st e been aligned roughly NE-SW. The scanty details of the newspaper reports were confined to the contents of the cist. 'The bones wer remarkabla n ei y fine stat preservationf eo spinae ,th l cord being especially well defined. The jaw bones and dental arrangements were also sound, and the leg and arm bones were in good condition. Unfortunatel skul e desiccates yth lwa littld dan e remain . Besideit f so bone e sth s was found an urn which, it is believed, had been filled with food. .. The urn was well preserved moves wa d d withouan t serious damage' (Scotsman, 15 April 1936; Hamilton Advertiser, Apri8 1 l 1936). Mann's manuscript labels and notes preserved with some of the finds in Glasgow Art Galler Museumd yan , Kelvingrove, identif 'urn e fooa yth s a d' vessel (fig 4,6) statemene .Th t that this had been filled with food was not prompted by the term applied to the pottery type, for Mann later reported that 'Traces of a black substance which was found adhering to the interior of the vessel bees sha n show chemicay nb l remainanalysie th e b som f so o s t e cereal food whic slowls hha y carbonised' (Scotsman, 20 July 1936; also Mann 1937). In view of Mann's usual speed in releasing to the press the more unusual features of his recent work, it is surprising that none of the earlier newspaper reports mention the fact that the skeleto wrappes Cisn i wa r covereo 2 t n lengtda i y d b fabrif ho c woven from moss (Scotsman, 20 July 1936), fragments of which are preserved in Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove.