Site Summary Information |
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Site Name:
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Largs
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Alternative Name(s):
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Site Type:
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Cist
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Map Sheet:
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NS25NW | |
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Council:
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North Ayrshire
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Parish:
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Largs
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Site ReportWoSASPIN 5732(NS 2080 5864) A cist, 4 1/2' long x 2 1/2' wide x 2' deep, was found at Largs, close to the hedge bounding the E side of the Irvine road, while digging a drain for the cottages being erected on the ground opposite May Street, a few days before Munro's visit on 26th January 1906. The cist lay lengthwise across the drain, its cover 2' below the surface of the road. It was constructed of 7 or 8 red sandstone slabs, sometimes forming a double row, in which case the gaps were sealed with clay. The cover, broken into fragments, was a massive block of conglomerate. It contained the crouched inhumation of an adult male, accompained by a beaker, only a fragment of which survived. The skull is in Edinburgh University Anatomical Museum. R Munro and J Abercromby 1906; W Turner 1917 On Monday, a little mild excitement was caused in Largs by the discovery, during the operations of providing a pipe track for the main drain to the new cottages being erected on the Haylees estate opposite the head of May Street, of a stone cist containing a skeleton and an urn. The pipe track is carried close to the hedge on the east side of the Irvine Road, and the stone cist was found lying diagonally across the excavation, the cover being about two feet below the surface of the road. The cover was a massive block of conglomerate sandstone which must have taken some labour to put into position, while the rest of the coffin was of old red sandstone - both kinds of stone being common in the neighbourhood. The body was found in a sitting posture, as was common in these cases. The length of the cist is about 4 1/2 feet, the width 2 1/2 feet and it is 2 feet deep. The urn which was enclosed was of primitive pottery, ornamented with simple criss-cross markings, but very neatly done. The process of breaking through the heavy cover of this ancient tomb proved too severe a one for the fragile bones, which were broken pretty badly, but the skull remained intact. We understand that it is intended to re-erect the cist and preserve the bones in the Skelmorlie Mausoleum in the old kirkyard of Largs. The site of this sepulchre is almost immediately below the site of Margaret's Law, or Haco's Tomb, in Haylee Grounds. Although found only two feet below the surface of the public road, it must be remembered that the road is considerably below the level of the adjoining fields and gardens, and the cist was therefore more than two feet under the surface before the road was built. In the tumulus on the hill-side, as is well-known, several of these stone coffins with skeleton remains were discovered when the cairn was taken to pieces over a century ago. There is a natural instinct in this district to associate all such 'finds' with the Battle of Largs and the heroes buried in consequence of it; but the remains found this week were interred hundreds of years before the date of the battle. The practise of internment in stone cists , and with 'grave goods' (such as the urn found in the cist) is held to have been general in the 'bronze age' - in prehistoric times, before the introduction of Christianity. Cremation was also a mode of disposal of the dead both at that time and during the previous 'stone age', but both these gave way to burial in earth after the introduction of Christianity. Antiquarian Find At Largs', Largs and Milport Weekly News, 01/01/1906 Submitted to WoSAS by Maycroft, L, 03/11/09 Entered WoSAS (MO'H) 09/11/2009 |
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Further Reading
Turner, W , 'A contribution to the craniology of the people of Scotland. Part II Prehistoric, descriptive and ethnographical', Trans Roy Soc Edinburgh, Vol 51, 1914-17, pp.171-255.(1917) |
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