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Site of cists. On March 15th, 1878, while excavating drains in Dundee Street, Carnoustie, three 'stone coffins' (long cists) containing human remains were discovered, all within a distance of 15m. The cists were lying East-West, about 1.75m in length, and formed of rough sandstone slabs, with bare earth for the bases. The bodies were examined by Dr Robert Dickson. Two of the burials were reasonably intact. One of the skeletons appeared to be that of a female. Dr Dickson retained some bones. No relics were found within the cists which were in sand and shingle about 30 cm below the ground surface. Dr Dickson recalled that 'Some weeks previously' another cist with bones had been found not far from the spot and that 'About 23 years ago' (circa 1848), when the foundation of a house at The Cross was being cleared, another cist had been exposed. Further discoveries include 30 cists discovered in 1810 about 365.7m from The Cross (See NO53SE0004) and at different times single cists have been exposed when erecting houses in the lower part of the village. One cist, discovered in about 1810, during the construction of the High Street, contained an Early Bronze Age bronze bracelet, classified as Coles' Band type. It is undecorated, made of one strip of bronze, with one end broken and twisted out of shape. It is 5.33 cm in diameter, 0.81 cm wide and 0.13 cm thick. The unbroken end is square. The cross section is rectangular, slightly convex on the exterior. The condition is slightly corroded on both sides, but otherwise good. The donor of the bracelet, Helen Lingard Guthrie, left a note with the bracelet in 1955. In it she recounted the story of the discovery, that the workmen found 'stone coffins', arranged in the shape of a cross- and that she was told that the findspot was 'near the Cross, or on Nichol's Brae, Queen Street' and that 'The bracelet was the only ornament found in the coffins'. This is presumably the 'gold bracelet' recorded by Dickson as being retained by the George Kinloch, the landowner.
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NO53SE0001 - CARNOUSTIE