Object: Miniature Food Vessel
Date: Bronze Age
Description: A very small ‘Yorkshire vase’ type vessel. 86mm high, maximum diameter 82 mm. It has
four perforated lugs and is decorated with an impressed cord design. This type of vessel is widespread
throughout Bronze Age Britain and Ireland and is usually found with cremated remains (as was the case
in this cist).
Origin: From a cist at Kildavanan. In 1992 the capstone of this cist was dislodged while ploughing.
Another cist had previously been excavated in the same area by Dorothy Marshall in 1954. The
excavation was carried out by Edwina Proudfoot and members of the BNHS. It was funded by Historic
Scotland and the vessel is on loan from them. Transactions of BNHS Vol XXVII
Object: Food Vessel
Date: Bronze Age
Description: Restored food vessel 125mm x 110mm. Impressed with cord decoration. The vessel was
placed upside down in the cist.
Origin: From a cist at Kildavanan, discovered by farmer Mr Lochhead in 1952 while ploughing.
Excavated in 1954 by Dorothy Marshall. Two long bones and a piece of skull were also found.
Transaction BNHS Vol XIV.
Object: Food vessel
Date: Bronze Age
Description: Food vessel of the ‘Yorkshire Vase Type’ dating from around 2000 B.C. Decorated all over
with line and dot patterns and with three lugs. Height 162mm and 160mm diameter at the mouth. Found
almost intact with one lug broken off and a piece missing from the base.
Origin: Found in one of three cists at Little Kilmory Farm in 1933. The cists were found by farmer Charles
Duncan while ploughing. He removed the food vessel for safe keeping and replaced the capstones until
the cists could be examined by Dr JN Marshall and Professor Thomas Bryce. Some bones and teeth
were found in the cist with the food vessel and, from the teeth, it was concluded that the burial was that
of a child of about 12. The other two cists had no grave goods but some bones and teeth remained in
each, from another child of around twelve in one and a child of around six in the other. Transactions of
BNHS Vol XI.
Object: Food vessel
Date: Bronze Age
Description: Coil-built pot of a very friable local clay with large grains of quartz and schist. It is decorated all over using a comb and the flat end of a stick or a bone. It is fired to a pinkish-red colour. The pot was recovered from the cist in pieces and was reconstructed. As a lot of it was missing, the overall dimensions can only be estimated – about 130mm high and 150 mm diameter.
Origin: The food vessel came from a cist found on the raised beach area above Montford. A small area had been quarried and the sides of the cist were spotted by John Speirs. It was excavated in 1996. Excavation report by Edwina Proudfoot in the Transactions of BNHS vol XXV.
Object: Axe Mould
Date: Bronze Age
Description: Two fragments of a clay mould for the production of socketed axes. When complete this mould would have been a two-piece form, which could be reused. The mould would have produced a wide-splayed axe with a ribbed design, similar to those found in Ireland. It was found at Little Dunagoil.
Origin: According to Dorothy Marshall, the mould was found ‘at the top of the hillock’ of Little Dunagoil. It was discovered in 1948
Object: Spacer-Plate Necklace
Date: Bronze Age
Description: Spacer-plate necklace made from Whitby jet with the addition of some lignite beads. It was found in one of 3 stone cists on the island of Inchmarnock. It had been buried with a young woman, who was given the title ‘Queen of the Inch’. The necklace was restrung by Dr Alison Sheridan who found that it had been made up from parts of at least four necklaces. The lower spacer plates had been re-bored to bring the number of strands up from eight to ten.
Origin: The three cists discovered on Inchmarnock by Dan Boag in 1960, were excavated by Dorothy Marshall. The bones were re-excavated in 2006 and radiocarbon-dated to between 2140 BC and 1900 BC before being re-interred in the cist.