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Site of Bronze Age cists. Both long and short cists, many containing grave-goods, have been found in this area over the period from before the construction of the railway in the early 19th century to 1941. In the 1850s, the antiquary Jervise records the discovery of cists in a gravel hillock 'little more than a foot below the surface, composed of flagstones and from three to four feet long. Fragments of bone were found in the whole except one, and in it an urn was got'. Jervise also records that the workmen broke the urn and that black beads, probably jet, were also found. In 1877, during gravel digging in the knoll called 'The Dog's Knowe', two cists, made of slabs of freestone, were discovered. Both were demolished before they could be investigated, but the second cist was measured internally before its destruction. The cists lay east-west, almost exactly in line. The first cist had a double cover. The top stone being the largest stone at the site (5-6 ft long (1.5-1.8 m), 3-4 ft wide (0.9-1.2 m), 1 foot thick (0.3m) and weighing over a ton) and separated from the lower cover by 6-9 inches of soil. The lower stone was of similar dimensions, but only 6-9 inches (15-22 cm) thick. The cist was floored with the natural soil, which contained badly preserved fragments of human teeth and bone and jet beads. The beads were divided up between the workmen and one onlooker who caused the workmen to look in the soil to see if any were present. The side stones overlapped the end slabs. Apart from the massive cover slab, the stones were smashed overnight and then used as road building materials. The cist was approximately six feet below the then ground surface. The second cist, 6.5-7 ft (1.98-2.1 m) away from the first, was discovered by children. This had sandstone packing stones around the exterior and had to be broken to gain access. This cist was set deeper, the floor being nine feet from the surface. It contained a Food Vessel and a flint flake at the south side and at the west end. The internal dimensions were 4 ft 8 inches long (1.4 m), 2 ft 6 inches deep (0.75 m) and 2 ft 4 inches broad (0.7 m). The side slabs were over 6 ft long (1.8 m) and overlapped the end slabs. The eastern stone had a triangular piece of stone inserted to prevent it wobbling. The cover was in three pieces. At the time of discovery, locals reported that two cists had been found previously, one about twenty years before and the other 2-3 years before 1877. This latter was smaller than the 1877 cists and contained only fragments of bone. Older inhabitants recalled a circular encampment, called 'The King's Camp' on top of the knoll. It was 20 ft in diameter (6.1 m) and hollow in the middle. The Food Vessel is about 6 inches in diameter (15 cm) and 5 inches high (12.7 cm). It had contained a small quantity of earthy matter when found. It is decorated with diagonal lines of pits and marks. The flint flake, 5.5 cm (2 3/16 inches) long and 3.1 cm (1 1/4 inches) broad, has one edge trimmed into a cutting edge. The necklace consists of four oblong plates, two triangular, both of these being decorated with patterns of small holes in diamond shapes and seventy-eight fusiform (barrel-shaped) beads of various sizes. At least five others were known to have been discovered, one of which was probably a toggle of unusual cubical form broken after discovery. On 9th September 1941, again at 'The Dog's Knowe' a cist was discovered whilst gravel was being removed for construction of an aerodrome. The cists were broken up on site and the contents collected as an afterthought. The urn fragments were removed and not returned. A second cist was discovered on the following afternoon and was secured for excavation. It contained a Beaker and the remains of a crouched inhumation, lying on the right side with the skull to the east corner. The Beaker, opposite the skull in the north, was removed, but the bones left within the cist and they were further damaged when the end slab collapsed on them whilst the cist was interfered with overnight, the skull being smashed and the teeth removed. They were subsequently returned with the aid of the police. The cist was floored with pebbles, methodically arranged. The Beaker was 21.6 cm (8 1/2 inches) high, 16.5 cm (6 1/2 inches) wide at the mouth externally, 15 cm (6 inches) wide at the bulge and 8.9 cm (3 1/2 inches) wide at the base and is decorated with three bands of impressed decoration. The dimensions of the second cist were 1.16 m x 0.8 m (3 ft 10 inches x 2ft 8 inches) outside, 0.99 m x 0.76 m and 0.45 m (3 ft 3 inches x 2 ft 5 inches and 1 ft 6 inches) inside. The cover-stone was huge, an irregular slab 1.52 m (5 ft) long, 0.86 m (2 ft 10 inches) broad and 7.6 - 22.8 cm (3-9 inches) thick. The entire cist was relocated to Pitscandly, where it was reassembled and the inscription, possibly 1500 BC, consisting of white pebbles inserted into the floor. The bones from the first cist in 1941 were of a male over 40 years old, with evidence of unhealed wounds to the forehead and a deeper one to the left thigh. The bones from the second cist were also of an older male with evidence of dental abscesses and infection. The site is now built over.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Angus
HER -
NO45SE0012 - LUNANHEAD