Excavation of Culcharron Cairn, Benderloch, Argyll by E J Peltenburg
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Excavation of Culcharron cairn, Benderloch, Argyll by E J Peltenburg SUMMARY excavatioe Th f thino s partly preserved cairn disclose dsemicircla f smaleo l contiguous uprights grade heightn di possibl,a e false portal with cup-marked recumbent slab miniatur,a e upright associated with a pit, and a dense spread of quartz chips. There was no dating evidence and the cairn and its con- geners in Scotland remain to be placed in a chronological and cultural context. INTRODUCTION This previously unrecorded cairn stands on the SE limit of the Benderloch Gravels between Ardmucknis d Locan hy Crera Ba h913396 M e foo f (N th hillno tt a s) connecting Lorn Be a Sgurd r neaan Mo r Benderloch (fi , togetheg1) r with other, largely unexcavated cairns thae li t peripherieE d an N thif se o sth mosn o s area.1 Before excavation, rinpara f stonef go o t s could be discerned in thick bracken growth; they projected slightly above small stones in a hollow inside rine similad th gan r stones extendin slopa n i ge beyon wess it ring e n tedgde th sideO .th et a , of a ditch beside a low railway embankment, the cairn appeared to be truncated with considerable quantities of quartz chips still visible in the exposed face. Cairn material, especiall e largeyth r stones s subsequentlwa , y found incorporated into foundatioe th thif no s rail embankmen cleas i t i r d frotan m thifrod san m superficiale findth n i s remaining caire bodth nf yo tha substantiaa t sitdirectle ly projectee eth parla th f o tn yo d path Callandee th f o Obad an r n Railwa thad yan t this removes parwa t used quarra ds an d a r yfo constructioe th line th e f betweeno n 189 f thi1903.d o 8san t 16-3W expose A 2 e 5th mo t d face, disuse othee w th no n re do sid th railway f eo irregulan a , r oval mound rise heigha o st f 1-6o t 0m ground abovol e deth surfac whicn eo cair e builts hth nteswa A . t trenc thin hi s mound indicated lasorigin e a th t glaciationn i : there wer dato e n archaeologicaf ao pinkisn o lt interestse hs wa t .I ground moraine and was composed principally of small stones and gravel near its base and compact, indurated sand and gravel lenses above giving way to very loose sand nearer the surface, a consequenc f extensiveo e anima bracked an l n root disturbance hummoce Th . k clearly stood to at least this height when the cairn was built against its eastern edge, but it may be worth while noting that, given a lack of vegetation cover above 1 metre, it does not obscure a standing stone on a ridge some 600 m to the NNW or the hills of Morven on the western horizon when viewed fro presumee mth d centradjacene th f eo t cairn. EXCAVATION Taking as a guide-line the semicircular plan of the projecting stones, two quadrants and the disturbed area next to the railway ditch were exposed (pi 11 a). 64 I PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1971-2 CULCHARRON A CAIRN m. 400 i——i——i——i——i FI G1 Locatio Culcharrof no n cairn (map 3, Crown Copyright reserved) This reveale irregulare dth , kerbless perimete caire th nf ro materia l wit hminimua m diameter alonm majo5 e o1 gfth r sectionfif . Althouggo 2 B A- , h disturbe placen di s (clay pipes spadea , , glass, etc), the remnant cairn appeared to be basically intact with quartz chips lying between the cairne th suggestinf o s ,o stonep to n sgo tha largee tth r stone alwayd sha s projecte thad s dan it t total height had never exceeded c 1 m. Further excavation showed that the cairn consisted of a semicircular ring of contiguous uprights filled on the interior with large stones which had caused uprighte th tilo st t slightly outwards int externaln oa , sloping revetmen f smalleo t r stones. These essential features s wel a ,s associate a l d minor ones, were erecte two-para n di t sequencee th , evidenc r whicefo includes hi followine th n di g descriptions. The preserved semicircular ring of uprights, c 8 m in diameter, is composed of thirteen small, contiguous erratic granite boulders and one andesite block, 1-14 of fig 2, which were placed, together with packing stones and quartz round their bases, on the old land surface and not dug into sockets. Four irregularities are noticeable in this arrangement. A 25 cm deep pit under hadaddition 4 i 1 upright, higd a an o n ht 3 potass1 h content (Appendix, t Sample2) Pi , d an 1 s perhap residue initian th sa f eo l clearanc e areath f a sof,e o t severad filan l l packing stones. Evidently, some effort was made to keep the tops of the uprights at consistent levels and so it BALLACHULISH restored perimeter of upright circle limi cairf o t n material ::::;Tj scatter of quartz chips on old ground surface STONES DISTURBEY B D 'carpet of quartz chips RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION d grounool n d surface 1 ' iron pan level y lumpx, f o quarts z m x o CDLCHARRON O CAIRN. AEOYLL ag O Z RAILWAY FENCE w O s FIG 2 Plan and section of Culcharron cairn o\ 66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1971-2 may well be that the pit here was intended as a socket to redress the visible height of 14, which t 1-0a 4 tallese mth higs t huprighwa t uncovered otheo N . r remains were foun thin di s t pitbu , unlikels i t i y that organic material suc inhumes ha d bone would surviv thesn ei e soil conditions. Between 10 and 11 is a gap sufficiently large for another upright, but the lack of a depression groune inth thin di absence s outlin y spacth an d f quartf ean o eo packerd zan s (normall- yde limiting the base of any removed upright) indicates that this was an intentional gap, though the reason for this is not clear. To the south is a thick, rectangular slab-like andesite block, 4, whic falles hha n outward angln a 38°f o st eo . Beyon greenisa , d1 h schist slab impinges upoe nth roundee th f o dc ar uprights. METRES 1- GROUND n LEVEL I- GROUND LEVEL UPRIGHTS 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 ga0 1 1 p1 9 8 7 FI G3 Grap columd han n char heightf to widthd san remaininf so g upright t standarsa d distances from each other; total restores heighi 4 f o t d Despite these inconsistencies rine uprightsf th ,g o carefue th y b ,l selectio similaf no r local granite boulders, represent moderatelsa y successful attemp creato t t esmoota h external facade and a balanced elevation (pi lib). The former was achieved by facing the long, flat sides out- wards alon perimetere gth lattee th ,gradually b r y increasin height e uprighte gth th f so s from 60 cm (= 10) and 78 cm (= //) on either side of the gap just mentioned to 96 cm ( = /) and 88 cm furthese th t a ) t preserve14 = ( d uprights. This arrangemen shows ti n graphicall fin y i gwher 3 e eth height uprighte th f so measuree sar land frool d e prone surfacmth th d e eandesitan e blocs i k4 given its restored total height. The balanced heights of the uprights and the flat outer fa?ade with uneven faces turned to the interior indicate a deliberate intention to create an external ring-wall with unwieldy material. Although onl ysemicircla e coul recoverede db , enough stones, including types suitable for the ring, were noted in the railway embankment to infer that there once may have existed a regular circle restoree th , d circumferenc f whico e . Suc 2 shows hi g hfi stonen ni s were only railwae useth n di y track foundation immediate th n i s e vicinit caire thed th easile nf an yyar o y distinguished from foundation material recovered elsewhere alon tracke gth . What may have been a false portal with a cup-marked recumbent slab is situated in the ringe SSth Wf , o immediatel y adjacen railwae th o t ty ditch (pi 12a) t consistI . thia f nso slab of greenish quartz schist set with its long edge along the circumference of the ring of uprights and flanked on the outside by two erratic granite boulders, 80 and 74 cm in height. Opposite this slab is another of the same stone, but larger and recumbent on the old ground surface. limitee th n I d area define thesy db e four stones, onl normae yth l cairn materia f smalo l l round PELTENBURG: EXCAVATION OF CULCHAKRON CAIRN, BENDERLOC7 6 | H stones and quartz was found with minor superficial disturbance (jam jar), and so the possibility tha eccentrin ta this irregulad swa can r burial cist seemexcludede b o st . The recumbent slab may originally have stood elsewhere, but this appears unlikely as it was incorporate foro dt mpaia r wit onle hth y other quartz schist slab that excavation revealed: both are placed on the old ground surface, surrounded by quartz and covered with cairn material. It differs from its partner however in possessing cup-marks on both sides, the elaborately decorated side face dow obviousld nan t visibleyno .