154 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 14, 1929. 1 : • • I. ON A JET NECKLACE FROM A CIST AT POLTALLOCH, ARGYLL. B . YHEWAJ T CRAW, P.S.A. SCOT. The villag f Kilrnartino e , Argyll, standapee triangulaa th f xo t sa r area of low-lying ground some three miles in length. At its base is the level stretch of Crinan Moss, and on either side rise the rugged hill f Argyllso . This delta is bisected by the Kilmartin Burn, which flows to meet Rivee th r Add t geologistbu , s tel s tha e valletimu e l th as ton te ywa traversed by a much larger river, when a lobe of ice blocked the Pass of Brander e waterth d f Locdischargee so ,an hAw d into Crinan Loch.1 The course of this river may still be seen at parts, and further evidence of early conditions e forexist th f gream o n i s t bank f gravelo s a , hundred feet above the present sea-level. These extend along either e valleyth sidspea d f a timeo e an ,f ko when Knapdal Kintyrd ean e were e waveislandth f Locd o s san h Crinan rolle whero t d e Kilmartin villag standsw eno . When the sea receded to its present level, the district now traversed Crinae th y b nKilmartie th Cana d an l n Burn must have becom- im n ea portant thoroughfare thio doubtlesT s si . face th tparo e than sdu t n i t of Scotland are there to be found remains of greater interest, dating from early prehistoric dow mediaevao nt l times. These monuments have frequently formed the subjects of papers in our Proceedings, and have been elsewhere described.2 Dr Christison dealt s givee witdistrict e fortha th n accounth hf na d e o s th an , f o t work done by our Society at Dunadd, when by the kindness of Colonel Malcolm, C.B., of Poltalloch, our museum was enriched by the addition of ove object0 r30 s found durin e excavationsgth cairne d theiTh .an s r excavation have been described by Canon Greenwell and Dean Mapleton, whil r JosepeD h Anderso gives nha accounn n a urne th sf o tdiscovered . The standing-stones have received the attention of Mr Romilly Allan, Professor J. Y. Simpson, and Dr Christison. A very remarkable alignmen f cairno t standing-stoned an s s extends from Kilmartin throug e wholth h e e valleycoursth f o e; severaf o l these f moro cairn e ar stha n usual intereste largth en I cair. t a n Kilmartin f thiGlebenorte o sth d linefouns t h en t necklacea , je wa , da , whic he traced b canno f thio w s.p no tcairn to Fro e mth , whics hwa 1 Memoirs of the, Geological Survey—Sheet 37, p. 3. r BibliographyFo 8 Appendie se , . xA JET NECKLACE FROM A CIST AT POLTALLOCH, ARGYLL. 155 only partially excavated d whican , h originally measure fee0 n i 11 dt diameter and 13£ feet in height, one can see the next three in the serie n exaci s t alignment secone Th . d seem havo st e been untouched. The third was unfortunately recently removed. The fourth, at Nether Largie, contains a megalithic segmented chamber which has been figured by Professor Bryce.1 In this cairn Canon Greenwell found the beautiful e Britis(non th ur wn i h Museum) whic s bee hha ofteo ns n figurea s a d type of neolithic pottery. The cairn is situated 1200 yards from No. 1 of the series. Continuing southwards the line passes a standing-stone, having close to the east a remarkable group of standing-stones, and to the west circla f twelveo e stone smala n i s l wood. Beyond Hi Cruie nth line passes over the site of a cairn which contained three cists. In two of these the side slabs were grooved for the reception of the end slabs fro d thire s takean ,mth dunique wa nth e slab bearing sculptured representation f axe-headsso f whico , h r museum.ther ou a cas s n ei i t 2 Continuing e linth ,e passe n successioi s n three buriaa l sited an s standing-stone withi a distancn f abouo ea halfd a mild tan , an e eventuall t Islandada yd crosseAd e dsth Bridge . This remarkable line, 4J mile n lengthi s , probably mark e coursn earlth a s f yo e trackd an , n faci s ti closely followed to-da a road y b y, except wher t i passee s throug e groundth h f Poltalloco s h, House. E. JE t I pointy b . N s being parallee e Kilmarticourse th th th f o l o t elal no t Burd an n ridge valley d districte noticeabla an sth s i n t i sI . e fact thaaxee th t s of practically all the Bronze Age graves in the district point in approxi- mately the same direction. Another lin f standing-stoneo e d buriaan s l sites extends froe mth modern cemetery north of Lochgilphead to Dunadd, a distance of about 2f miles. About half a mile north-east of Poltalloch, the low-lying triangular area above referre boundes i wese gravea o t dth y b tn do l bank some 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxxvii. p. 60. 2 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. viii, 378. parp , . t2 Opinio divides ni d whether thes moulde ear r so mere representations lattee Th .r woul correce dth seee b tm o interpretationt similas ,a r carvings occur on the slabs of a burial chamber in Brittany. There the shafts of the axes are also shown, thed accompaniede an yar curioua y b s figure resemblin heae rakea g th f do . This figur alss oewa carved on one of the Kilmartin slabs, suggesting to Dean Mapleton "large Ogham letters." See Proc. Boy. Irish. Acad., vol. viii, 1861-64, p. 398. There can be no doubt, however, that the figures in question are the debased representations of boats with rowers, such as have been found carve bouldern do . Madsen'P n Denmark i s. A e sSe Alfbildninger. af Danske Oldsager og Mindesmaerker: Broncealderen II. (1876), p. 49, pi. xxxvii. The same motif appears on knives of the Bronze Age in Denmark (Ibid.: Broncealderen I. (1872), pi. xxiv.). Mr George Coffey describes ha d these "ship-figures Grangew Ne t "a , near Drogheda draws ha d n an ,attentio o nt their similarity to Scandinavian rock carvings. He does not seem to have known, however, e Scottisoth f h exampl t Poltallochea Trans.e Se . Roy. Irish Acad., vol. xxx . 30-3pp . 7 (1892), also New Grange, Coffey, p. 60 (1912). 6 15 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH . F O S . , JANUAR , 1929Y14 . -,.; . 50 fee yard0 t 60 n length—thhig i sd han e 100-foot beac f pre-glaciaho l e norttimesth o h T thi. s bank endpromontora n i s y abov Norte eth h e hamleLodgth d f Slockavullino tean a.somewhas s souti it d t hen A . t similar promontory, roun e bas f th dwhico e h curve a smals l stream. The crest of this southern promontory has been used as a gravel pit for many yearsknows i t I s Brouc. na Drummin ha n (thee brath f eo ' ''' Y0 4 W 0 3 0 0 2 10 Fig. 1. Plan of Gravel Pit. elder bushes), but the old name is said to have been Kill y Kiaran : (the cel r burying-grounlo t Kiaran)S f do . e Ooccasio nth e visi th f member o f t no e Ancien th f o s t Monuments Commission to this district in April 1928, their attention was directed a shor e pito t e edgeth t. th f cis o Thit beed a t ha sn opene n 191i d 0 by Professor Bryce, but was found to contain nothing save a few fragments of bones. A slight examination led to the discovery of the ends of other slabs projecting from the gravel, and Sir lan Malcolm Donalr inf.x E 1M d Campbell, Poltalloch. KiaraIrisn a s h Sainn wa live o dwh t A.D. 515-548. JET NECKLACE FROM A CIST AT POLTALLOCH, ARGYLL. 157 decided to excavate the site. In the third week of August I went to Poltalloc helo ht p wit worke hth . A plan of the gravel pit is shown in fig. 1. Some 11 yards to the north stand smonolita fee5 h inche6 t s abov e grounfee2 th e d t an d by 1-Jt foot at ground-level. Its major axis points north by east (fig. 2). Abou yard0 1 t s farthe re trace b norte fainn th dca ht remaina f o s mound whice promontory th s bee f ha h of n s onlt i raise cu t yI .o t d som inchee6 elevation tracee si b fee4 n width2 n di ca t y fronb d man , steee nea edge th th pf r easte o ban t curveth I .o kt s wit hwesterla y Fig . Grave2 . t fro Northe Pi l mth . cours r abouefo yard0 7 t s untis losi t ti l when turning south, som0 e2 yards to the south-west of the monolith. The area cut off by this mound measures about 100 yards north and south by 70 yards east and west.