SURVEY OF PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS IN BLACK ISLE. 65 VII. A SURVE F PREHISTORIYO C .MONUMENTE TH N I S BLACK ISLE. B? ANTHONY A. WOODHAM, B.Sc., PH.D., F.S.A.ScoT. The Black Isle is in fact a peninsula, 18 miles long by 8 miles wide, bounded on the N. by the Cromarty Firth and on the S. by the Moray Firth. For the purpose of this survey the neck of the peninsula is being taken approximatel maie linth e f nth eo roas ya d joining Dingwal Beaulyd lan . Geologically the Black Isle consists almost entirely of a ridge of Middle Sandstoned OldRe s roundeit , d backbone calle Millbuie dth e runnine gth length of the peninsula and attaining a height of over 800 ft. The region contains some of the best agricultural land in the Highlands and is renowned for both crop cattled san . Greae th Situate f o t Glend importance en d . th , directlN e th t sucf ya eo h a fertile region in prehistoric times must have been quickly recognised, and we hav facn ei t abundant evidenc s habitatioit f o e n fro e Neolithimth c Period onwards. The fact that the Black Isle is the meeting-place of the Clava grou chamberef po d Orkney-Cromarte cairnth d san y group, markt si at once as deserving of the closest attention. In addition, the recognition withi single-entrancregioe o nth tw f no e henge monuments emphasisee dth necessit thorouga r yfo h peninsulstude th f y o whole a s aa . In view of the foregoing the paucity of published work on the Black Isle came as rather a surprise. Apart from two somewhat scrappy papers by Mr Angus Beaton in 1881—3, and brief descriptions of a few of the larger chambered cairns by Professor Childe in 1943—4, the Proceedings contains onl e finae reporth yth ln o excavatiot e Callachth f no y Hill cair Wy nb . MacKenzi 1907n ei . Recorded find likewise ar s e rare. Mancairnse th f yo , for example, have been robbed and their contents lost. The great Carn Glas at Kilcoy was opened in the presence of Lord Abercromby in 1906 but no report of the excavation is extant to my knowledge, and the only hint of t cami e fro presentatioe mth Nationae th o nt l Museu Antiquitief mo s many years arrow-healaten a f ro d found therein. The fertility of the soil in the peninsula, which has already been referred to, has ensured that agricultural operations have been carried on in the Black Isle from the earliest times, and must have entailed considerable loss to the archaeologist. The removal of stones in order to clear fields for cultivatio provido t d nan e materia fielr fo ld drains, dyke buildingd san s sha VOL. LXXXVIII. 5 66 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1954-56. led to the destruction and sometimes complete disappearance of cairns and doubtless other monuments. This process continues at the present time. Afforestatio comparativela s i n eviw ylne fro e archaeologist'mth s poinf o t view, causing at best the camouflaging, and at worst the complete destruction of many sites. e BlacNonth f keo Isle prehistori t schedulecye s sitea s si d for preservatio e Royath y lb n Commissio r Ancienfo n d Historicaan t l Monuments. Some monuments are, however, reasonably intact, and it was in order to list these, and at the same time extract any available information from bhe remainder before they disappear completely, that this survey was under- taken. An attempt has been made to present as comprehensive an account of the surviving prehistoric monuments as is possible. A thorough literature search combined wit ha stud f aeriayo l photograph e regioth f o ns where available inspectioe th d l recordeal an , f no likeld dan ygrounde siteth n so , has been carried out, and it is hoped that, though there will almost certainly be omissions, they wil e minoonla b lf yo r character r exampleFo . e th , identificatio smalf no l cairn hut-circled san denselsome n si th f eo y afforested regions is largely a question of good fortune. Plans are included of all sites which possessed features worth recording nearln I . l casey al stat e sth f eo preservatio e cairn th s beef no poosha o ns r that chambers only have been planned, but where the original shape and size of the cairns can be judged they have been mentioned in the text. Similarly, while the heights of individual stones have not been indicated on the plans for the reason that in the majority of cases only the upper portions are visible, those of special interest are referred to in the Inventory. All compass points indicate True North. The report commences wit inventorn ha monumentse th f yo , whice har classified as cairns, henges, forts, enclosures and miscellaneous sites. The items are numbered consecutively and their positions indicated on the map. Their exact positions can be found from the map references which are provide evern di y case brieA . f discussio somf no e point interesf so t follows, and the paper concludes with two appendices listing recorded cist burials and small finds from the Black Isle. The former are numbered in order to allow of their incorporation in the map. INVENTORY. CAIRNS. Group I.—Round or oval, chambered. CARNTJRNA1 N (Nat. Grid Ref. 28/566523). The remains constitute the skeleton of a Clava type chambered cairn—almost certainly the only one in the Black Isle, and the most northerly so far recognised. The small cairn stones have been completely removed for building purposes, THE dCfl BLACK ISLE O DIN C W A IL H cw bd CAIRNS t-< CAIRNFIELDS f> VANISHED CAIRNS o FORTS ENCLOSURES MISCELLANEOUS SITES HtNGE MONUMENTS CIST BURIALS Pig. 1. Map of the Black Isle. C6 68 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1954-56. leaving onl largee yth r kerbstones resul e ,idea n etca Th s i t.l ground pla thif no s type of cairn. A central ring of kerbstones marks out an oval chamber 14 by 11 ft., and this is surrounded by another ring forming a peristalith 37 ft. in diameter joinee chambeth passaga o dt y . widb rft e2 e (bearing 210° froe mth centre of the chamber). Three lintel stones are lying in proximity to the passage. Surroundin circla free-standin 8 s i f el o gal g upright diametern i . ft 0 nints7 A . h stone must have originally stood in the gap now existing on the SW. Of the remainin thesf hav4 o , e gdisplaces 8 ei on falle d nan d somewhat fro s trumit e position. This displaced fallen stone is omitted from Beaton's plan (see below), and Childe, who doubtless accepted this plan, also mentions only 7 uprights. As is usual in cairns of the Clava type, the tallest uprights are to be found on the arc adjacen entrancethe cup-markto t No . s were noted on'an stonesthe yThe of . cairn is situated on the very summit of the Millbuie at a height of just over 500 ft. above O.D. In a report of the Rhind Excavation Fund Committee in 1868, the brief reference indicate presens sit than i cair e s tth ndenudewa d for t thama t date. Old Stat. Ace., xvii, 350. Report on the Rhind Excavation Fund, P.S.A.S., vil, 301. Beaton, P.S.A.S., xvi (1881-2), 478. Childe, P.S.A.S., LXXVIII (1943-4), 37, No. 1. 2. KILCOY I, "CARN GLAS" (Nat. Grid Ref. 28/578522). This cairn is the most northerly of a group of three situated on ground sloping gently to the SE. at a height of 400 ft. above O.D., on the Kilcoy estate. It is approximately circular, and a section of kerb preserved on the SW. perimeter indicate originan sa llargese diametetherefors th i f t o I te f . abouo on erft 0 8 t round cairns in the Black Isle, and it is perhaps surprising that the chamber visible in its centre is the smallest and most compact of any of those which are exposed. cis e flus w th beets f hslabno o ha n wite t p I openesar to h e refilledd th d an d an , caire th n surface which reache . ft Compose heighsa 4 3- f o t largf do e flat angular slabs set on edge, the chamber measures 9 ft. in length by 5 ft. in width and is aligned due E.—W. It is divided into two compartments of unequal size by trans- verse slabs having a gap between them of 1J ft. The W. section is 5 ft. long and the other 3| ft. The slabs forming the cist-like chamber have more or less flat tops, wit whicexceptiod e hth en headston. e h th haW f e symmetricansa o th t ea l standd pointean p s d to . 2highe ^ft r tha otherse nth triangulaA . r capstonr eo linte . lon ft 3bas. s widy ^lg6 it ft b t eea lie . scornechambere acrosth NE f e ro sth , and the side slab beneath it has split lengthways under its •weight. There are slight indication a passag f o s e approachin furtheo gtw r transverse slabs which t abou . apart se detaile chambe e ft e 1 th tTh ar f t thi.so a d for d sEran e m.en th point are somewhat obscure and excavation is needed to prove the presence of the passage completely.