Staff from Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) are undertaking the excavation of a prehistoric burial cairn at Law Knowe. The work is being undertaken in advance of the construction of a nine-hole golf course and leisure development on the site, and was recommended by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service.
Law Knowe cairn is one of a number of prehistoric burial monuments recorded from the areas to the north of East Kilbride, and occupies a prominent knoll overlooking the town. The cairn was identified in Ure's 'History of Rutherglen and East Kilbride' (1793), and was also recorded in the Ordnance Survey's 'Object Name Book' of 1857. The site of the cairn was depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of the same year, and it has appeared on all subsequent editions to the present day. The site is recorded in our SMR database as 'WoSAS Pin 9251'
Despite appearing being identified on maps for the last 150 years, the earliest sources to refer to the cairn suggested that it had been largely removed by Antiquarian activities in the late 18th century. According to Ure, in its original form the cairn measure '8 or 10 yards' in diameter, and had a kerb of large flagstones. Although Ure recorded that nothing had been found inside the cairn, the ONB mentioned the recovery of an 'urn' from the cairn, perhaps reflecting a discovery made during a later stage in the destruction of the cairn than that witnessed by Ure. Certainly, when staff from the Ordnance Survey revisted the site in 1955, they recorded that no upstanding trace of it was visible in the field, though a subsequent visit by Dr TC Welsh in 1982 did identify the presence of a low circular mound on the summit of the knoll.
To date, the current phase of fieldwork has involved the excavation of a number of trial trenches across the presumed site of the cairn. This has served to identify the survival of a quantity of cairn material on the highest point of Law Knowe, in what would have been a highly visible position from the valley below. Further work will seek to define the extent of the cairn, and look for any evidence of burials. While the existing site record suggests that the cairn is likely to have been disturbed at some point in the past, it is possible that satellite burial may have been inserted in the area surrounding the original cairn. In addition, fragments of worked flint have been recovered from the topsoil overlying the cairn, together with later sherds of medieval pottery.