Aberdeenshire HER - NJ74SW0011 - MIDTOWN OF PITGLASSIE

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ74SW0011
NameMIDTOWN OF PITGLASSIE
NRHE Card No.NJ74SW12
NRHE Numlink 19198
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of cairn comprising of two concentric rings, 6m and 3m in diameter respectively, of mostly water-rounded boulders. In Autumn 1978, excavation took place on this small round mound where digging in the 1950s had produced Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery and lithics. The excavation was organized by the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate of the Department of the Environment, now Historic Scotland. The excavation revealed an original annular mound, composed of circular banks of stone, earth and turf. The central area was filled with stone rubble, mostly disturbed and redeposited in the 1950s, but with one remnant of a possible central cairn. Pre-mound activity included turf-stripping and cremation, followed by the formal deposition in a number of pits of cremated bone (from, probably, one individual), accompanied by pottery and lithics, including a Neolithic leaf-shaped arrowhead. In addition to these specific deposits, pottery of Grimston Lyles Hill tradition, numerous quartz and further flint pieces were found within the mound and fragments of Beaker were recovered from the disturbed central area. Remnants of a possible circle of stone settings were found around the perimeter of the monument. Radiocarbon dates for charcoal from a cremation pit and the pre-mound surface provided dates of between 3964 and 3342 cal BC.
Last Update05/09/2017
Updated Bynackerman
CompilerAF
Date of Compilation27/10/1978

Google Map for NJ74SW0011

National Grid Reference: NJ 7022 4352



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
1950 Excavation
1978 Excavation

Excavations and Surveys

Date MDate YTypeDurationDirector / OrganisationAuspicesFundExtent
01950 0A FENTON  0
101978 56AN SHEPHERDSDDSDD0

Artefact and Ecofact

Date MDate YArtefact TypeFinderRecovery MethodConditionStorage LocationAccess No.
101978 BURNISHED POTTERY ANS Excavation National Museum of Scotland  
101978 LEAF-SHAPED ARROWHEAD ANS Excavation National Museum of Scotland  
01950 CINERARY URN SHERD AF Excavation National Museum of Scotland  
 1950 FLINT SCRAPER FRAGMENT AF Excavation National Museum of Scotland  

Ecofact

Samples Cremated bone report by FVH Powell
Palynology Pollen analysis report by S. Rapson 1984
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
CAIRNSRING A100
PITSCREMATION B100
URNSCREMATION C80
BANKSEARTH D100
BONESHUMANBURNTE100
SCRAPERSFLINT F100
ARROWHEADSFLINTLEAF-SHAPEDG100
POTTERY BURNISHEDH100
PITS  I100