The Nanny Howe burial mound was one of a group of at least three tumuli that could be found on what is now the wooded hilltop of Coate Moor, a mile east of Great Ayton. Large and conspicuous in previous centuries, the site was described briefly in Elgee’s (1933) archaeological survey as being in association with a prehistoric settlement, which itself appears to have long since succumbed to forestation. An essay on the state of this apparent Bronze Age burial mound was written by Mr Hayes (1966), who told us:
“The kerb of the barrow was exposed and noticed by J.N Grayson whilst excavations were in progress on Great Ayton Moor. S.V. Morris, A.N. Pacitto and the writer examined the site. It was a cairn of about 30ft diameter and 3ft high in the centre, with a strong kerb of stones set on edge of 25ft diameter. Its construction, of massive stones was similar to the chambered cairn on Great Ayton Moor, one mile to the north, and very like the food vessel-urn tumulus on Danby Rigg which also had a kerb of the same diameter…
“When the heather and turf were removed on the south-east side of Nanny Howe, a mass of cremated bones with part of the rim and side of a typical Iron Age ‘B’ jar were found only 6-9in under the turf. This was clearly a secondary burial long after the cairn was built. The sherd may have been a token offering, but more probably the remainder of the pot so near the surface of the mound had been eroded. No other secondary burial was found, although almost all the cairn was removed.
“Under large boulders in the central area was a shallow pit or depression… Only minute specks of charcoal and some small burnt stones distinguished its filling from natural sand. It was about 3ft in diameter and not more than 9in deep… In it were the broken sherds, more than 80 in number, of a beaker… There were no signs of bones or cremation, although presumably a contracted skeleton had accompanied the beaker. In the acid sand all bones would perish quickly… No other relics were found in the cairn.”
To which Mr Hayes and his team concluded the Nanny Howe tomb was an example of a typical “beaker burial” as they used to like calling them, set within a ring of stones over which the cairn was piled; and long after this, seemingly the Iron Age, a secondary cremation was inserted.
Folklore
Folklore ascribed the entire settlement here to have heathen origins, with Nanny Howe also standing out with folklore of its own. As Mr & Mrs Elgee (1933) wrote:
“Half a mile east of Captain Cook’s monument…on Easby Moor is the Devil’s Court, where, according to tradition, witches congregated under the presidency of their lord and master. We therefore examined the Court and found what we expected, a typical moorland Bronze Age settlement site, with stone-walled enclosures, shallow pits, flint implements and many barrows, one of which is named Nanny Howe, after a famous witch, it is said, who also frequented Nanny Nook, a right-angled bend in a stone wall near Wayworth Farm, Commondale, marking another settlement site.”
Another tale of this legendary witch was narrated by folklorist and historian Richard Blakeborough in one of his many tomes, where he told:
“Again, old people of Great Ayton still aver that on a certain night a once noted witch, Nanny Howe, may be seen riding astride on a broomstick over Howe Wood just at midnight. This witch, so mounted, is said once to have chased the devil for miles — on this occasion the two must have fallen out ; perhaps at that time honest folk got their due. Howe Wood is near Kildale.”
Whatever the source of such stories, the respective archaeologists of Elgee and Hayes wondered if they derived from some pre-christian rites and events. Hayes asked:
“Was the person interred in Nanny Howe a famous witch? Or were the witch and the devil legends connected with the site faint echoes of ceremonials and rites held here?”
It would seem likely that the local peasant communities hereby were, thankfully, not inflicted with the empty spirituality of the christian cult when it tried taming the souls of the villagers living in and around here. The folklore would seem to reflect simple peasant gatherings and celebrations, frowned upon by those weird clergy-folk, no doubt striving to get the local children into their more demonic pastimes…
References:
Blakeborough, Richard, Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, W. Rapp: Saltburn 1911.
Elgee, Frank & Harriet, The Archaeology of Yorkshire, 1933.
Gutch, Mrs E., Examples of Printed Folklore Concerning the North Riding of Yorkshire, David Nutt: London 1899.
Hayes, R.H., “Nanny Howe, Coate Moor, Cleveland,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 164, 1966.
Travel along the Askwith Moor Road between Blubberhouses and Askwith (near Otley) and park-up at the large gritted parking post on the moor edge. Walk straight onto Snowden Moor (east) and walk a few hundred yards north until you reach the brow of the small rounded hill, scattered with small stones and outcrop rock. The settlement is all around you!
Archaeology & History
As we already know from earlier posts on TNA, this moorland region is rich in prehistoric remains, and the settlement that I’m about to briefly describe here is another excellent site – when you can see it!
‘Hut circle’ at the rocky knoll
My first exploration here was in the company of Graeme Chappell more than 20 years ago, where we tried locating remains that had been described by Eric Cowling (1946) during a foray taking photographs of the cup-and-ring stones nearby. But due to an overgrowth of moorland vegetation at the time, the remains which Cowling described proved hard to find. Years later when Richard Stroud and I visited the place in May 2005, all the heather had been burnt back and much of what looked like the remains of an entire prehistoric village was in plain view for us to see. I was well impressed! This occurred again last year, enabling the bunch of us who came here a few times to see even more of the place. But — just like the newly discovered prehistoric settlement on Blubberhouse Moor a couple of miles north — once the heather grows back again you wouldn’t really think anything of worth was hidden here. In archaeological terms however — despite the lack of references and research by those who are paid to be archaeologists — we have one helluva little-known prehistoric settlement, complete with walling, hut circles, village hall (!), tombs, cup-and-ring carving and more, much of it probably dating from the Bronze Age, but some of the sites here indicate it was also much in use during the Iron Age period aswell.
Probably the best place to start exploring here is on the large flat rock on the rounded knoll at the edge of the moor (SE 1785 5129) with a simple cup-mark saying ‘hello’ on its surface, looking east down into the Fewston Valley and across lower Wharfedale, then veering up towards the hills above Nidderdale. The great prehistoric temple of Brimham Rocks is clearly visible from this spot aswell. Upon this rocky hillock we have a veritable scattering of several large, earthfast boulders and smaller rocks, from where much of the settlement expands, mainly to the west through to the south, across the open moors in front of you. On a clear day this is truly beautiful and quiet spot.
Line of ancient walling, running NELine of ancient walling, running SW
Just a couple of yards from the edge of the rocky knoll is a very good example of what would at first sight appear to a prehistoric hut circle. Its position at the top of this rocky knoll however, implies an additional function other than a purely domestic one. Also from here is a prominent long straight stretch of walling running roughly southwest for about 90 yards onto the moor, and also to the northeast, downhill off the moorland for some 30 yards before disappearing into undergrowth (we didn’t actually explore this lower section of walling running downhill, so there’s probably more to be found there). This long section of walling, mainly comprising small stones and rubble, with a number of larger uprights defining much of its length, is just one of several stretches of walls that are clearly visible hereby. There are also a number of other hut circles to be found scattered around this particular walled sections near the top of the rocky rise. When Eric Cowling (1946) came here he counted 10 of them here; but subsequent explorations have found at least 13 of them hereby.
One of the most notable remains here is the large D-shaped enclosure about 25 yards west of the rocky knoll. This very impressive archaeological site was curiously not included in the Nidderdale Archaeological survey report of sites in this region. Either they hadn’t done their homework correctly when they came here, or the heather must have been really deep; cos as you can see in the photo here, it’s a decent size! I tend to see this large stone enclosure as a sort of tribal gathering building of sorts — a bit like a ‘village hall’ so to speak. If you get here and see it all in context, it makes a lotta sense (not that it’s right of course, merely an opinion). With the exclusion of the Cowling D-shaped enclosure more than 80 yards east of here, this is the largest monument on this section of the moor, measuring some 45ft along the NW to SE axis and 20ft across the NE to SW axis. The walling in parts is quite thick aswell and the stones making up the main north, east and southern edges are anything between 12 inches to 34 inches tall. Along its northeast edge is a curious stone, with what initially looked to be a most distinct cup-and-ring carving on the outer walling, but once we’d looked and looked again, saw it seemed to be one of the oddest light-created ‘carvings’ we’d ever seen! (i.e., it’s natural)
Denuded cairn? or denuded walling?Another arc of walling (shit picture though – soz…)
A few yards from here, heading to the little peak close by, more walls emerge. On the small rise in the land about 30 yards west you’ll see an arc of stones running around the contour line of another hillock on the moor. It’s difficult to say with any certainty, but a lot of this arc of stone is certainly man-made and at least Iron Age in date, perhaps earlier; but the line of stones itself may actually run all round the very edges of the hill on whose sides this section rests (see photo). You get a distinct impression here that this small hill was actually sectioned off all the way round, so to speak, for some reason or other. The remains of at least two small cairns can be found on the top of this small enclosed rise, close to one of which Boughey & Vickerman (2003) have designated there to be a cup-marked stone. From this elongated hillock we look immediately northwest onto the flat moorland plain of the Snowden Moor necropolis …amidst which the hardworking Keighley volunteer Michala Potts recently found the Snowden Crags cairn circle.
Section of Snowden Carr settlement walling
Further down the moorland slope—a couple of hundred yards below Cowling’s D enclosure—are yet more remains, many of which lie outside the geographical boundaries of the “official” Scheduled Monument Record for this settlement (known as SMR 28065). We’ve located several other cairns in relatively good states of preservation; more extensive lines of another walled enclosure (again in a large D-shape), as well as several cup-marked stones.
The Site and Monuments account of this place tells us simply:
“The monument includes a cairnfield and associated concentration of prehistoric features. Included in the area are a large sub-rectangular enclosure, two smaller enclosures, at least 17 cairns of various sizes, several lengths of boulder walling, a hollow way, and at least 17 carved rocks. There is also a bare patch of ground on which lumps of lead slag survive. This was produced by medieval or earlier lead smelting.
“This concentration of prehistoric features is situated towards the north east edge of Snowden Carr, and measures c.426m x c.155m. The cairns occur throughout the area and range in size from an elongated cairn 17m x 7m down to cairns c.4m in diameter. The cairns are best preserved in the north western part of the area. The large sub-rectangular enclosure has an earth and stone bank c.3m wide and c.0.6m high. The bank is double on the east side of the enclosure. The two smaller enclosures have rubble banks 1m-2m wide and up to c.0.6m high. They are more irregular in shape than the large enclosure. The boulder walling consists of a number of approximately linear rubble banks 1m-2m wide. It is concentrated in the area immediately north west of the large enclosure, and in the area to its south. The boulder walls are interpreted as part of a field system contemporary with the large enclosure. The hollow way is located within the southern group of boulder walls and may be contemporary with them. “
There is still a considerable amount of work that needs doing in and around this settlement complex and it seems any work here is gonna be done by the like of us amateur doods. Archaeological officials don’t seem interested here. I was informed by Neil Redfern of the archaeology department of English Heritage for North Yorkshire that they are unable to support any funding that might help towards any decent analysis of this important archaeological arena, nor do they consider the important cairn circle discovered a few months ago on the northern end of this settlement worthy of financial help either, which is of course very disappointing,* but typifies their lack of enthusiasm unless money comes their way. And so this site profile entry will be added to gradually as our amateur team visit and uncover further aspects of this neglected prehistoric arena – such as the finding of another previously unrecorded ancient circle of stones not too far away!
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Acknowledgements: Many thanks for use of their photos to Graeme Chappell and Michala Potts.
* No doubt a church window somewhere will eat up a few thousand quid and weeks of their time to fit the little piece — along with all those prawn sandwich meetings that cost so much to endure. Much more important!
In days of olde this once proud tomb stood upright on the slopes below the more prominent Cliviger Laithe tumulus above. But, like many of the ancient ancestral tombs of this region, its days seem long gone. Although we’ve found what may be some traces of the outline of the cairn (further analysis required!), when the legendary Lancashire historian Thomas Dunham Whitaker (1872) wrote about the place, he was already writing about it in the past tense. He said briefly, that “this heap of stones was removed as materials for building a turnpike road” in 1763. The archaeologist Bernard Barnes (1982) told us that “a cist with an inhumation was found. In 1766 another tumulus was removed and an urn found. An axe-hammer is said to have been associated” here. The most lengthy description of this site can be found in Mr Booth’s (1899) short work where, in his summary of various prehistoric sites in this region, he told that,
“The first find recorded in this locality took place at Law House, near Mereclough, in the year 1763, when a mound was opened which covered a kistvaen, or stone cist, which, upon being opened, was found to contain a human skeleton. The information concerning this ancient burial is very meagre, and we have no information as to who were the discoverers of the mound. It may be noted that nearly 70 years before (in 1695) a number of Roman coins were found close to this barrow. The mound also contained a rude earthware vase filled with calcined bones.”
It’s unlikely that the earthworks by the walling hereby represent the denuded remnants of the monument in question, although the rise in the field here may be some remnant of the place, but without further excavation we might never know for sure. However, the recent discovery of what may be remnants of the cairn in an adjacent field requires further analysis. WATCH THIS SPACE – as they say!
References:
Barnes, B., Man and the Changing Landscape, University of Liverpool 1982.
Bennett, Walter, History of Burnley, volume 1, Burnley 1946.
Booth, Thomas, Ancient Grave Mounds on the Slopes of the Pennine Range, R. Chambers: Todmorden 1899.
Whitaker, T.D., History of the Original Parish of Whalley, London 1872.
This little known site, long since destroyed during the construction of Keighley Railway Station, was found in a curious spot, close to the bottom of the Aire Valley. Most (known) prehistoric burials occur on the higher grounds in this area. And though we don’t appear to have the exact location of the find, it was pretty close to either side of Keighley’s old railway station (which is shown as 100 yards to the other side of the road of the present station on the 1852 OS map). This may position the site as being on the grounds opposite and below St. Anne’s Church; otherwise it was getting closer to where the River Worth runs by. In Keighley & Holmes’ early (1858) work they told that,
“Whilst excavating for the Railway within about a hundred yards of the Keighley station, one of the labourers discovered three urns containing a quantity of human bones. Two of them were unluckily broken, one being large enough to hold eight or nine quarts. The one brought away whole, and seen by the present writer, may hold about a quart; it is somewhat distastefully designed, moulded by hand out of the common clay, without glaze, and rudely ornamented on the outside by some sharp implement. The once animated contents of each urn were covered by a square flat stone.”
This final remark seems to indicate the urns were located in a cist (a small stone grave), but we don’t know whether this was found within the remains of a denuded tumulus or stone cairn. However, considering the lack of any remarks about a large pile of stones (which would have been very noticeable) covering this burial site, it would seem more probable that this site was originally an earth-covered tumulus, whose visibility and knowledge had long since diminished in this part of Airedale.
References:
Keighley, William & Homes, Robert, Keighley, Past and Present, R. Aked: Keighley 1858.
To be found a couple of hundred yards west of Askwith Moor Road, head towards the bottom of the row of grouse-butts, following the fence that runs into the moorland across from the dusty car-park.
Archaeology & History
Single cup-marked stone
This single cup-marked stone — list as carved stone no.529 in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey — was reported when some English Heritage doods came here and found this small upright stone (probably part of a larger prehistoric monument, e.g., walling or cairn) and gave the cup-marking their “all clear” stamp and thought it authentic. But if memory serves me right (which it doesn’t always do these days!), I’m pretty sure Graeme Chappell came across this possible carving in the early 1990s during one of our many forays over these moors. It’s a cute little thing — though only for the purists amongst you perhaps — but, of course, needs to be seen in the context of its proximity to the many other prehistoric monuments across this moorland plain.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Follow the directions to reach the Dumpit Hill A circle. From here walk about 100 yards ENE till you see an arc of small upright stones. If the heather’s in full growth it’s highly unlikely you’ll see anything; but if the heather’s been burnt away, the site’s worth looking at.
Archaeology & History
As with the small companion Dumpit Hill A circle more than 100 yards to the southwest, this site of similar dimensions was first reported by Arthur Raistrick in 1963, and then described — albeit briefly — in H.G. Ramm’s “Yorkshire Archaeological Register” for 1964, as “33ft in diameter. One third of the circle robbed but other stones standing.” And apart from that (with a repeat of the same info in Burl’s [2000] magnum opus) little else has been said. But there’s quite a bit more to this place than what our mentors have written…
Northern arc of circle, with stones A, B, C & DDumpit B Stone Circle (white sticks showing position of stones)
In a team visit to the site last week, it was Paul Hornby who called our attention to Dumpit Hill B. Thankfully the heather had been burnt back several months earlier, fortunately allowing us a better assessment of the place than Mr Raistrick’s initial survey forty years ago. Instead of just the 3 stones that he found here, we uncovered a near-complete ring of eight stones, arranged in a pretty decent circle (Alexander Thom would have classed it as a Type 1 circle). Paul’s attention was first drawn to an arc of three obvious upright stones and another laid down along the same arc. This arc then turned out to be a semicircle when he found another stone laid half-covered in the peat.
Western stones D & EStone F
But then it seemed, if this was an authentic stone circle, we were gonna struggle to see the rest of it as the deep heather had grown up over the southern side of this semi-circle of stones. But thankfully, with just a little bit of stomping on the ground in the right areas, three other stones of similar size and stature were located and within just a few minutes this small arc of stones had become a full prehistoric ring — except perhaps on the eastern side, where there was a distinct gap in the monument. Michala Potts and Paul did come across a couple of stones in this “missing” section, but they were just small rocks and didn’t account for an expected 9th stone. If such a stone ever stood at this eastern point in the circle, it remains unfound.
Two of the stones (G & H) that were initially covered in heather, after we’d carefully peeled the vegetation back, had what seems like small packing stones at one end, where it seemed obvious they had stood upright. It was tempting to carefully stand each stone back up into position, but we managed to overcome the temptation! None of the stones are higher or longer than 3 feet. At least three of them seemed to have been set along their longer axis rather than being set in the tall upright position — but again, this needs verifying by excavation. (With good evidence, some students posit that upright stones are male; rounded, wider stones are female — though such a lay-out here seems unlikely)
Stone GStone H
An additional curiosity was found in the middle of the circle, where there was a small but distinct scattering of stones, very much like a denuded cairn. If this turns out to be the case (as seems likely) it’d mean a new classification for this monument. We could do with having another look at this place the next time the heather’s been burnt away, enabling us to find out more about its nature and function.
…And if you walk west down the slight slope, over the couple of small drainage-ditch streams (which they really should stop cutting into our moorlands) and then up the slight slope towards the trackway, stopping some 20 yards before it, you’ll find you’ve walked right into the middle of a previously undiscovered Bronze Age enclosure, or settlement: the Dumpit Hill enclosure. It’s pretty impressive aswell! (more on that in due course)
References:
Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
Ramm, H.G., “Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1964,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 163, 1965.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Huge thanks again to Dave Hazell, Paul Hornby and Michala Potts in seeking out & helping with this and the adjacent sites!
From Grassington, head east along the B6265 road for a mile or so, thru the hamlet of Hebden and, once up the hill on the other side of the village, take the track up your left and walk up until the land just about levels out and the moorland opens up on the right-hand side of the track. If you’ve got the trackway which takes you to Scar Top House on your left (where the walling breaks), head straight into the heather and walk about 150 yards NE, keeping your eyes peeled for a singular upright, less than 3ft high. Once here, check the small overgrown ring you should be stood in!
Archaeology & History
A relatively small site that can be difficult to see when the moorland heather’s in full growth — but it’s in a lovely setting, with a hidden view of the hills for nearly 360°, yet quietly hidden from prying eyes until you’re all but upon the place. Although it has a likely Bronze Age pedigree (it aint yet been excavated), it was ignored by the confines of written history until Arthur Raistrick brought it back to life in a brief note in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal of 1965 when Mr H.G. Ramm told what he’d found, described it simply as,
“32ft in diameter, 5 stones still stand leaving spaces where other stones have been taken for walling. A large stone is flat at the centre.”
Alignment east: ring, outlier, human, hill!
And that’s that! No doubt the remarks about some stones taken from here to be used in some walling were told Raistrick by a local, but he says no more about this.
The main feature to see in this small ring is the flattish, wide upright, less than three-feet high, on the eastern side. A smaller upright stands in half-boggy Juncus grasses as you spin round towards the north, with a smaller stone laid on the ground in between. Originally it appears there were at least eight standing stones making up this circle. If you walk around it you’ll make out several of the other stones laid down. About 30 yards due east of the tallest upright in the ring is another small outlying standing stone. And, less than 100 yards northeast from this outlier, we come across the equally small, little-known stone circle of Dumpit Hill B…
References:
Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
Dixon, John & Phillip, Journeys through Brigantia: volume 2 – Walks in Ribblesdale, Malhamdale and Central Wharfedale, Aussteiger: Barnoldwick 1990.
This was another example of the many giant cairns that scatter the upland moors on the Pennines, but much of it has been destroyed, with some halfwits in recent years cutting a track right through whatever remains there might have been! It was first described in John Watson’s (1776) essay on the local antiquities of Bradfield and district where, in relative conjunction with the curious Bar Dike, he told that “this is not the only curiosity on this common.” He continued: “there is on one part of it a large carnedde, called by the country people the Apron-full of Stones”, where he conjectured there laid a British tribal chief after he’d been slaughtered by the Romans. This might have been the folklore of the place, but we know such places were thousands of years earlier than the Romans.
It was later described in Joseph Hunter’s Hallamshire (1819) as a giant barrow, or ‘vast carnedde’, even then in the past tense; but some recent investigation here found “a few small stones and some lumpy turf which looked to be covering a few clumped stones.” The site requires further investigation by local people to assess the state of damage inflicted on this once great tomb.
Folklore
Said to have been the site of a local battle in ancient times; this is also another site which, as A.H. Smith (1961) tells, “is explained in folklore by tales of the devil undertaking some major building project and tripping up, only to deposit his apronful of stones” here. Does anyone out there have any more info on this place?
References:
Hunter, Joseph, Hallamshire: The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York, Lackington: London 1819.
Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Cambridge University Press 1961-63.
Watson, John, “An Account of some Hitherto Undescribed Remains of Antiquity”, in Archaeologia, volume 5, 1776.
Many ways to get here, but you’ve gotta amble off-path through the woods to eventually find it — but it’s not difficult. From Kilmartin village head to Slockavullin and walk up the winding track which takes you towards the Ballygowan cup-and-ring stones, but follow it into the woods instead. The OS-map’s gonna be your best guide here. I first visited this spot from the south and ambled about, aimlessly at times for several hours, after I’d first been to the great ruined mansion of Poltalloch. Well worth checking out if you enjoy finding allsorts!
Archaeology & History
The old tomb is actually a few hundred yards beneath the small rocky summit of Barr a’ Chuirn, with the overgrowth of the woods imposing itself upon it. The Scottish Royal Commission report (1988) told that there was a large seat built here in the 19th century called the Lady’s Seat, and actually set up on the cairn itself so giving groovy views all round to those who came here. The Seat was made from large slabs of stone, which may originally have come from the old tomb. An excavation here in the mid-19th century,
“found the remains of two cists and some burnt bones, with a ‘skeleton of later date, between the two cists, but probably put there by the men who destroyed the cairn.’ In 1929 Craw re-examined the site and found that the central cist had chambered and grooved slabs. This cist is aligned ENE and WSW, and the E end-slab is now missing; the cist measured about 1m by 0.5m and about 0.3m in depth internally. The northern side-slab is grooved at the west end.”
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll: volume 6 – Mid-Argyll and Cowal, HMSO: Edinburgh 1988.
Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NC 635 384
Archaeology & History
This small cup-marked stone came to light following the work of Mr Angus MacKay of Sutherland, more than 100 years ago. In his essay in the Scottish Antiquaries journal (1905), he wrote the following:
Grumbeg carving
“A cup-marked stone was found by me in the burial place of Grumbeg, Strathnaver, September 1905, standing upright at the head of a grave, and showing about 6 inches above the ground. It is evidently a fragment of a larger slab: its extreme length is 20 inches, and it is about 15 inches at its broadest part. The upper three circles are 2.5 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches deep, very symmetrically hollowed out, but the fourth and lower circle is shallow and indistinct. As the stones covering the other graves are for the most part what is called rough mountain slabs, it seems to me that this cup-marked fragment was found in its present condition elsewhere, and placed here to conveniently show a lair.”
If such was the case, a good contender might be the denuded chambered cairn close by.
