Cist: OS Grid Reference – NR 6625 2818
Archaeology & History
Halfway between the standing stone of Tangy Glen and the cup-marked stone of Allt a’ Ghoirtein, is a rounded hill that has for a long time been turned to farming. On top of here in the 1950s, the President of the Kintyre Antiquarian Society, a Mr Duncan Colville, came across the remains of an ancient burial cist, roughly 200 yards north of Killarow Farm. A short account of the find was written by Mr & Mrs Scott (1957) based on Colville’s description. They wrote:
“The cist, 3ft 8in long by 1 ft 11in wide at maximum, and about 2ft deep, had a stone-lined bottom and was covered by a slab originally 5ft 6in by 3ft in size, but now split into two. The cover slab lay not far below the surface, and there was no sign of a cairn. The cist had obviously been rifled, for a layer of clay at the bottom contained fragments of coal and modern glass; on the other hand, a few pieces of cremated bone may have been part of the original burial.”
When the Royal Commission (1971) dudes visited the site a few years later, they could find no remains of it. The cist is believed to have been covered over and remains hidden underground.
References:
- Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 1: Kintyre, HMSO: Edinburgh 1971.
- Scott, Mr & Mrs J.G., “Argyllshire: Killarow, Kintyre” in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, 1957.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
