On the horned cairns of Caithness : their structural arrangement, contents of chambers, &c. / by Joseph Anderson.

  • Anderson, Joseph
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the horned cairns of Caithness : their structural arrangement, contents of chambers, &c. / by Joseph Anderson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    51] Wherever, among the revolving centuries, the date of these mighty monumental structures may be found, the people that reared them were no despicable barbarians. They are the work of a people possessed ol no inconsiderable constructive skill, ingenuity, and resource, a people numerous, united, and energetic,—and a people, too, of strong reverential feelings and sentiments regarding the sacredness of the remains and memories of those who were dear to them in life, and who may also liave been in their day “ the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.” contunts of the oiia.mukus in the hoi:neu caiuns. £o/iff Gairns. No. 1. On tlie floor, broken human and animal bones, mingled, uuburnt. Imbedded in the floor of ashes, a large quantity of comminuted and burnt bones. A fnw flint chips, small-sized. One small conical worked flint. Two pieces of pottery, unornamented, No. *2. On the floor, broken human bones and bones of animals splintered, mingled, unburnt. Also, a cist with enclosed urn, ornamented with twisted string impression, and deposit of seventy beads of lignite. Imbedded in the floor of ashes, a large quantity of bones, human and animal, broken and splintered, chiefly burnt. No flint chips, no pottery. No. 3. One fragment of bone of large animal in small chamber, with floor of slabs of stone. No ashes. In tri-partite chamber, on the floor, human and animal bones mingled, broken and splintered, unburnt. Bones of horae, ox, deer, and swine. Imbedded in the floor of ashes, bones, human and animal, broken and burnt. No flints and no pottery. Short Cairns. No. 4. On the floor, broken and splintered bones, human and animal, unburnt. Imbedded in the floor of ashes, an immense quantity of bones, burnt, human and animal, the latter those of horse, ox, deer, and swine, with dog or fox and small fowl; of the long bones, only the joint ends remaining, the rest in splinters ; also bones of the rat or vole in immense quantities. Pottery, ornamented and plain, five or six varieties. Flint chips, several scores, some partly worked. One polished hammer of grey granite, perforated.
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