112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1954-56. X. EXCAVATIONS AT CLACH NA TIOMPAN, WESTER GLEN ALMOND, PERTHSHIRE. AUDREY B . HENSHALLYS , M.A., F.S.A.Scoi., AND . STEWARTC . ME . , PH.D., F.S.A.ScoT. INTRODUCTION. e coursth n f compilinI eo ga corpu f Scottisso h Neolithic chambered cairns three outliers of the Clyde-Carlingford group had to be considered. These outliers are in Perthshire, at Kindrochat near Comrie,1 Rottenreoch near Crieff,2 and Clach na Tiompan in Wester Glen Almond. Kindrochat beed ha n examine Professoy b d r Child tha1930.n w ei t No opportunit3 y offered, it seemed desirable to excavate at Clach na Tiompan with a view to comparing its" lay-out with that at Kindrochat and establishing its structural affinities wit e manhth y variation f grouno s d plan withie th n Clyde—Carlingford group. Also it was hoped to augment the sparse series of grave goods which this grou chamberef po d cairn produceds sha thin I .s we were disappointed, as there were no relics. Clach na Tiompan would seem to be situated on the NE. fringe of the ,area occupie buildere th y db Clyde-Carlingforf so d cairns. Ther lone ear g cairns in Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire and Banffshire,4 but their structure and ritual have not yet been investigated. Westward, Clach na Tiompan othee th rd Perthshiran e example linkee sar d wit lone hth g cairn remnantr so s of long cairns on Stockiemuir,5 Dumbartonmuir,6 Blochairn' and Cardross.8 These in turn lead back to the main grouping of Clyde—Carlingford cairns in Arran, Bute, Kintyr Argylld ean . e lonTh g cairundew nno r consideratio s referre y Professowa nb o dt r Childe in 1943,9 but had previously been described by F. R. Coles,10 who also 1 P.S.A.S., LXIV (1929-30), 264-72; Ibid., LXV (1930-1), 281-93. 2 Ibid., LXXVII (1942-3). 31 , 3 See also Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 1955 (1956), 23, for a recently recognised ruined chambered cairn possibly of Clyde-Carlingford type at Dull, Strathtay. If of Clyde-Carlingford type, the siting would lend emphasis to the suggestion of a west to east penetration along Loch Tay (see infra under Discussion, p. 120). 1 P.S.AS., LVIII (1923-4) ; LI24 X, (1924-5) , 24-2621 , . BuchanT ; Field Club, xvn, n (1952); 60 , P.S.A.S., LXIII (1928-9), 34, 63. 5 P.S.A.8., LXXXHI (1948-9), 230. 6 Unpublished. 7 Ure, D,, History of Rutherglen and East Kilbride (1793), 87. 8 Council r Britishfo Archceology, report,h 9t Scottish Regional Group (1954). ,9 9 P.S.A.S., LXXVH (1942-3). 35 , 10 Ibid., XLV (1910-1), 98-100. EXCAVATION CLACT A S TIOMPANA HN , PERTHSHIRE3 11 . drew attention to the conspicuous standing-stone 143 ft. SE. of the E. end lone oth f g cairn, which traditionall pars ycircla i f o f standing-stonest eo . It seemed desirable to examine this ruined site at the same time as the long cair beins nwa g excavated (se . 122)ep . sitee some Th sli milee6 s fro heae m th f Gle do n Almon 3|d -d an mile s above Newton Bridge, where the River Almond turns S. to flow, through Lund overzooo' m® over 1000 ED over SOQ ' Fig. 1. Distribution Map of Clyde-CarHngford cairns in Central Scotland: 1. Dumbartonmuir; 2. Stockiemuir; 3. Blochairn; 4. Kindrochat; 5. Kottenreoch; 6. Cardross. Smae th ' Gle joio nRivee t abovny th Ta r e Perth (National Grid reference to the sites 27/831329). From the head of Wester Glen Almond an old right-of-way crosses the watershed to the N. and comes down on the S. shore o t fArdtalnaiga Locy s seemhTa a , If s . likely e builderth , f Clydeo s — Carlingford tombs wer som n elinkei y ewa d with early prospectin copper gfo r and tin, thesignificans i t ni t that copper occur t Ardtalnaigsa . The site situatee s ar 900e terraca th . abov n -dft o n o 0 rivee e5 ed th ran foot e hillcontour th fooe sf th o -whict t a , h ris . eManN steeple th y o yt VOL. LXXXVIII. 8 114 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1954-56. hillock f morainio s c materia noticeable ar l e valleth n yeo floor botd an ,h sites were buile foun b thin o o tt ds moraine material which consistef o d yellowish sandy clay with pebbles of various sizes. The excavations were carried out during a remarkably fine week in April and a wet week in September/October 1954. Clach na Tiompan is a scheduled site, and excavation was sanctioned by the Ministry of Works. Ministrye Outh Societe o t r th e thank o ,t Antiquariedu f y o e sar Scotlanf so d fo generoua r s grant towards the. cos excavationf o t Major-Generao t , r Si l John Whitaker, Bart.s hi r , fo ownee site r permissiod th fo ,f an o r g di o nt kind interest r WilliaSi o t ,m estatn Rootea e allowinr eus sfo roa o t ds gu for access to the site, to Mr D. A. P. Downs who drew the plans in the field, l thos provideo al an o dewh t necessare dth y labour. Kg. 2. Map of Wester Glen Almond. DESCRIPTIO E CAIRNTH F N.O lone W.d Th gan 1 . cairalonE rivee . ngth ft extendr0 terrace19 r sfo . Beyond the road which runs along its southern margin the ground falls steeply to the river. To the N. there is a peaty hollow before the hills rise. The cairn has acted as a dam, to the water draining off this hillside, and as a result water has collected along the northern margin before seeping gently through and round the cairn. This fact caused considerable trouble when excavatin buriae gth l chambers caire bees Th nha n. severely robbed, mainly for road metal. t I . endE . e . width ft t 8 ea 3 d an d en . W Th e . wideth ft cairt 0 ea 2 s ni rises graduall materiae caire Th heighn yi th roun. f s ni o lE t o t frod . mW water-worn boulder stoned san s among whic ha numbe r wer quartzitef eo . There was very little accumulation of earth, and as a result much of the cairn was free of turf. Before excavation the inner ends of three large cists 1 Althoug lone hth g cair actualls ni y orientated SE.-NW. easr descriptiof ,fo e o bees ha n t n i treate d as lying E. and W. EXCAVATION T CLACA S TIOMPANA HN , PERTHSHIRE5 11 . or chambers were visible, with their main axe t righsa t anglemaie th no st axis of the cairn, but a fourth chamber, shown on Cole's plan, had been totally destroyed. EXCAVATIO F THNO E CAIRN—SECTIONS THROUG E CAIRHTH N MATERIAL. Three partial sections were cut across the cairn (fig. 3). The first, . froins 6 ft apparene . m2 .th ft 1 wide 4 s 2. lon 5ft d wa , gtan easterf o d nen cairnprimare e th Th .existence y th tes o r purpost s tfo f ewa o thif t eo scu a chamber orientated along the axis of the cairn and entered at the eastern t Kindrochata end s a , sigo f sucN no .ha chambe e founds th t wa r bu , section was instructive in showing how the cairn material had been made ./>r«tnt tdgi »( c SITE PLAN "- ~ J H$ fter "x CLACH NA TIOMPAN ° ' '• "——^°f'" '°'"f^'"' Fig. 3. up. There was earth and some vegetation on the top, and earth occurred intersticee inth s betwee stonee nth s immediately abov naturae eth l moraine material. Between these layers there were considerable air spaces between the stones. At the bottom along the medial line of the cairn there were large boulder siza f eso that could onl handlee yb d alone with considerable effort . structur y retainina trac o f an Thern cair e o f s r eo th nen wa no ei g wall at the edge. secone Th d sectio carries nwa d from beyon bace dth keasterne slath f bo - most chambe northere th o t r n cairne edgth f eo . Her generae eth l picture was the same. Immediately behind the back slab of the chamber the stones were more angula werd an re carefull closeld an y e northeryth laidt A .n sectioe th en f spacee do n th s betwee e stonenth s were filled with vert ywe black clayey earth which had accumulated due to the drainage conditions of the site. The third section was between the back of chamber 3 and the northern e cairncaire edg th t thiTh a f n eo .. s narrowft point1 2 onld o an ,t ysa couple of feet behind the end of the chamber inward slanting slabs were found appearanc e whicth d hha beinf eo grevetmena t wall (fig PI, 6 . XXV, 2). The slabs lay in a double row. The inner row were slightly bedded in the 6 11 PROCEEDING SE SOCIETYOTH F , 1954-56. natural subsoil. The outer row were lying on cairn stones and were resting increasen a t a d angle. Over these slabs were large stoneusuae th f slo cairn materia considerabla d an l e admixtur f broweo e nnorther th earth n O n.