Moray HER - NJ06SW0036 - 102 FINDHORN

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ06SW0036
Name102 FINDHORN
NRHE Card No.NJ06SW59
NRHE Numlink 69430
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Documentary Record Only
Site Condition Destroyed
Details Site of a large Cordoned Urn containing the cremated remains of an adult female (aged between 18 and 25 years) and an infant either in the third trimester of pregnancy or newborn. The urn also contained 22 mostly fragmentary segmented beads and one star-shaped bead, all of faience. The urn was exposed during building works in 1986, at which time it was presumed to be a chimney pot. Its antiquity was realised in 1988, when the urn fractured and fragments of bone began to fall out. It was excavated by I. A. G. and A. N. Shepherd in April 1988. The urn had been inverted in a pit in a sand ridge and an additional deposit of pyre debris placed over the upper fill of the pit. This deposit contained two faience beads, one star-shaped and incomplete, the other quoit-shaped, and a small chunk of grey flint. The urn is very similar to one found on the adjacent Culbin Sands in the 19th century and the beads can also be parallelled there. A radiocarbon determination of 3410+/-50 bp (OxA-7622, which calibrates to 1881-1541 BC, calibrated to 2 sigma) has been obtained from charcoal from the pyre debris. This is the largest single find of faience in Britain and Ireland, and the only example of segmented, quoit and star-shaped beads being found together. The urn is 42 cm tall with a base diameter of 15 cm and shoulder diameter of circa 28 cm.
Last Update20/06/2023
Updated Bycpalmer
CompilerPW
Date of Compilation16/04/1988

Google Map for NJ06SW0036

National Grid Reference: NJ 0397 6443



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
1988 Excavation

Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Date MDate YArtefact TypeFinderRecovery MethodConditionStorage LocationAccess No.
41988 CORDONED URN PW Excavation Moray Museum Service  
41988 FAIENCE BEADS IAGS Excavation National Museum of Scotland  

Ecofact

Samples Pit contents bagged; Shepherd 16/4/88.
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
URNS CORDONEDA100
BONESHUMANBURNTB100
BONESHUMANFEMALEC100
BONESHUMANNEONATALD100
FLINTS GREYE100
BEADSFAIENCESTAR-SHAPEDF100
BEADSFAIENCE G100
BEADSFAIENCEQUOIT-SHAPEDH100
BEADS DECORATEDI100