III.

BEAKER FRO MA CIS T MILA T L FARM, RATHBN, NEAR FRASERBURGH, A CIS D T AN , CREMATION INTERMENT AT URY, , PROFESSOY B . R ALEX. LOW, M.A., M.D., F.S.A.ScoT. BEAKER FROM A CIST AT MILL. FARM. This very fine specimen of a beaker or drinking-cup urn was un- e Mil th 193y earthe lt a Ma 4Farm n i d , Rathen, near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. While one of the fields was being prepared for crop- ping e cultivatoth , r displace dlarga e fla removintn o stone d an , g this, the farmer's son, Mr Patrick Catto, discovered the beaker. After an interva somf o l e days . DouglaintimatioW r sens D fine sth o wa dt f no Simpson, Librarian, University of Aberdeen, and together we visited the farm. In the meantime what was evidently a stone cist had been covered up. The site of the discovery is on the top of a natural knoll or mound in a field about 800 yards north-west of the farm buildings. The agais cis flae twa nth t uncoveredstonew sa e sw tha formed d ,tan ha d cisa t with internal measurement approximatel inche4 2 y s lon fully gb y 12 inches broad and about the same depth; there was no trace of bone. There was some evidence that the cist may have been disturbed at some previous time. Bearin e indebte ar r Georg n thie M o g w so t de Dawson, Fingask, Fraserburgh, for the following information. Mr Dawson was for many years tenane Milth lf o s Farmfathert hi e say s s alsH a ,s . owa tha t about fifty-five years ago, whilst his father was having the "mound" BEAKER FROM CIS RATHENT TA , ABERDEENSHIRE3 38 .

levelled a ston, e cist urno -watw s d openeweran ep du found ; there were no bones but probably "ashes." On the suggestion of the pro- prietor e theth , n Lord Saltoun—grandfathe e presenth f o r t peer—the urns were re-interred in the mound. Both urns were said to be chipped, and so it is doubtful whether the beaker now unearthed is one of these urns n 191 I e Bucha. th 4 n Field Club obtained permission froe mth late Lord Saltoun to investigate e moundth e t owinth bu , o t g t Europeano r s thiwa Wa sn undertaken. The beaker (fig. 1) is a perfect specimen and is formed of a hard reddish-brown ware. Em- beddee clae smalth ar y n i dl glistening particle micaf so t I . is very symmetrically made and measures 7 inches in height, 6 inches in diameter at the mouth, 5f- inches at the neck, 6j inches at the bulge, and 3^ inches acros e base e averagth s th ; e thicknes e walth s ff i -l o sinch , and the capacity is 67 fluid ounces. e outeTh r surfac s decori e - ated with three- zoneim f o s pressed linear ornamentation, Pig. 1. Beaker from Cist at Mill Farm, Rathen. one round the rim |- inch broad, another roun e necd shouldeth d an k inche3 r se thir th broad dd an , roun e loweth d r part barel 3 inchey s broad e uppermosTh . t zone consists of a narrow band of lattice design, the middle zone shows a band of elongated triangles, the triangles being filled in alternately with lattice desig obliqud nan e lines e banth ;f triangle do borderes si d belo y threwb e horizontal straight lined witan sh four similar lines above lowese th ; t zone repeat versa y similar patter ornamentationf no , e triangleth t e invertebu ar s d with apices pointing toward e baseth s . Further, the inner surface of the everted rim (fig. 2) shows a carefully executed band of ornamentation; the band is 1^ inch broad and consists of radiating lines enclosed above and below by a horizontal double chevron design. A band of ornamentation on the inside of the rim of the urn is a 384 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MARCH 11, 1935.

rar ef interes o feature s i o nott t tI . e . GrahaJ tha r M t m Callander

recorded the finding, in a cist a x t Upper Boyndlie, Tyrie, the neighbour- ing parish, of an urn with a similar broad band of ornamentation on the inside of the rim. The impressed pattern e Ratheth n o sn beake e fille ar rwitn i d ha white powder-like material whic he ornamen bringth t ou s - tation samplA . thif eo s white powder was removed from the impressions and submitted to chemical examination,2 and the analysis show e powdeth s o t r consis larga f o te proportiof no phosphate a smal, l amounf o t calcium, and traces of carbonate. A similar white powdes wa r presen impressee th n ti d patterns on a beaker from a stone cist t Johnstona , Leslie, Aberdeen- shire,3 and chemical analysis showed this powder to consist of a large proportion of phos- phate, a small amount of cal- Fig . Beake.2 r from Cis t Mila t l Farm, Rathen, showing ornamentatio insidn no rimf eo . cium d tracean ,f carbonato s e chlorided an . Mr Peter Catto e proprietoth , Milf o r l Farm, Rathen s presenteha , d the beaker to the University of Aberdeen.

CIST CREMATIO URYT NA . On 28th March 1934, while workmen were engaged taking out the foundatio electrin a r nfo c Wese pyloth n tni Findlaystone e Parkth n i , policies of , Stonehaven, they uncovered a small stone cist. Dr Ogg, Director of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen, who was using the opportunity of obtaining samples of soil for investigation, recognise e interes arranged e finth d th an d f o t d with the engineer in charge to have the cist left undisturbed till next day.

I visite d e sitan dth eg nexDOg r t morning t unfortunatelbu , t yi Proc.1 Soc. Ant. Scot., vol.. xliii76 . p . For this analysis we are indebted to T, Harold Reade, M.A.(Cantab), M.Sc., Chemistry Depart-

ment2 , Universit Aberdeenf yo . 3 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. Ixiv. p. 218. CIST CREMATION INTERMEN T URYA T . 385

had been necessar e workmeth r fo y o proceet n d wit e excavatiohth n and thecarefulld yha y remove s contents—thit d e cisdth an t e contents had been placed in a box and the slabs forming the cist arranged against the neighbouring garden wall. a gravell Thn o e cise s th i sitt y f o eknol steepln o l y rising ground in a field about 300 yards from the . Wite enginee e helpossibls th hth f pwa o t i robtaio et na recor f o d the dimensions and structure of the cist. The cover of the cist lay

Pig . Content3 . f Ciso s t Cremation Intermen t Urya t . Piece1 : f flao s t bone f craniuo f s o d man jaws with milk teeth, child 3 to 5 years. 2. Pieces of flat bones of cranium and part of left orbit, adult. 3. Articular ends of lower limb bones. 4. Pieces of shafts of upper limb bones. 5. Bone handf so feetd . Flin6 san . t implement (imperfect) . Charcoa7 . clayd an l .

about a foot under the surface of the ground and was formed by a relatively large irregular slab of sandstone which measures 4 feet 4 inches in its greatest length; 2 feet 4 inches in breadth; and about 3 inches in thickness. The sides and ends of the cist were made of smaller slabs edge—thn o t se o sidtw e slabs being inserte dd slabs withien .e th n One side slab measure inche3 2 s n lengthi s , 13^- inche n depthi s d an , inche3 thicknessn i s e otheth ; r side slab measure inche0 2 s lengthn i s , 15 inches in depth, and 1^ inch in thickness. One end stone measures 23 inche lengthn si inche2 1 , inchedepthn 2 si d thicknessn an i s, e th ; othe stond en r e measure inche0 2 s lengthn si inche7 1 , n depthi s d an , \\ inc locathicknessf n hi slabo e e th l l sar sandstone Al . . Fro markinge m th e slab internae th th sn o s l dimension e cisth t f o s 5 2 VOL. LXIX. 386 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , MARC , 1935H11 .

coul determinee db d fairly accurately—internal length, 20inches; breadth, 9 inches; depth inches2 1 , . Clad beeha yn use o clost d e jointeth s between the slabs. The floor was not paved or covered by clay. The small cist contains the bones—for the most part in small pieces —from a burial by cremation (fig. 3). Quite a number of the larger pieces can be recognised as belonging to an adult human skeleton— pieces of flat bones of cranium as "well as parts of upper and lower jaws with tooth sockets; pieces of vertebrae; ribs; and numerous pieces of limb bones varying in length from \ inch to 2 inches. Several of e smalleth r e han bone d footh e als f dan ar to s present e endf Th o s. l completelal thes e ar e y ossified (i.e.) remain f adulo s t bones. Mixed wit e numerouhth s e adulpieceth f to s skeleto e piecenar se fla.oth ft bones of the cranium and the upper and lower jaws with milk-teeth, indicatin gchilda , perhaps yearabou5 o agef t so 3 t . Thus ther evidencs ei e tha cise th tt containe crematee dth d remains a youn f o n adul bota gd f childan ho e bonet Th .s show evidencf o e being very thoroughly cremated. Among the pieces of cremated bone was found a "worked" flint implement which had been subjected to fire and unfortunately is not complete, the pointed end having been broken off. The implement shows secondary chipping alon s margingit .measured an s s 1^- incn i h length by ^ inch in breadth and ^ inch in thickness. Mr H. McLaren, e UrFactoth yr Estatesfo r s moswa , t helpfun i l providing e facilitexaminatioth obtaininn r i fo ye d cis th an te f no gth permission of the proprietor, Lord Stonehaven, to have 'the contents e cisoth ft remove e Anatomth o dt y Department, Aberdeen University, for detailed examination.