Description

The monument comprises a Clyde-type cairn which is situated on a relatively narrow strip of almost level grazing bounded by arable fields to the SE and a rocky ridge to the NW.

Little of the cairn material now survives, although it seems likely that the cairn was trapezoidal in shape and measured 16m at the broader (NE) end and was at least 20m long. Entered from the NE, the roofless chamber is about 6m long and up to 1.5m wide internally, and is divided by transverse septal slabs into four compartments; one of pair of portal stones may survive. The chamber contains a

layer of debris about 0.6m deep, but when emptied in 1901 it was filled with stone and soil, from which was recovered a chert flake and tiny fragments of burnt bone. A 15th or 16th century coin from this chamber also suggests that the cairn was first disturbed in antiquity.

The area to be scheduled measures 60m SW-NE NE by 40m transversely, to include the cairn and an area around in which evidence associated with its construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it is one of only six chambered cairns on Islay, four of which are in the vicinity of Port Ellen and are physically associated with other ritual monuments, such as burial cairns and standing stones. Despite its partial and disturbed nature, the monument still has the potential to provide information about the date and nature of Neolithic ritual activity and hence to augment the scarce evidence for neolithic activity in Islay, whilst contributing to a better understanding of the development of Neolithic society in Scotland as a whole.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NR 34 NE 10.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland