Glen Wood Cairn(s) View all content for Glen Wood

Archaeological notes NO66SE 2 6778 6227. (Name: NO 678 622) Three Laws (NR), Cist, Skeletons, Urn & Ring found (NAT). OS 6" map, (1959) The three 'Law of Logie' were three mounds, two of which had been dug into for sand and gravel by 1793. One contained a cist with a complete skeleton. 'The second Law was found to contain four human skeletons, deposited only at about a foot depth from the surface ... and at a little distance from these was found a beautiful ring, supposed to be of ebony, as black as jet, of a fine polish and in perfect preservation. This ring, which the minister of the parish has in his custody, is of circular form, flat in the inside and rounded without; its circum- ference is about 12 inches and diameter 4. The thickness of its rim in the middle is more than half an inch, and its greatest breadth about an inch and a half, which diminishes in gradual proportion till it is only about 1/4 of an inch.' At a depth of about 4' what was obviously a cinerary urn lying on its side was found at 6' were 'several cavities.' The third and largest of the three Laws was still intact 'near circular, with a sort of fosse round it, filled up with round stones, intermingled with pieces of glass.' OSA 1793. The sites of two of the mounds (B and C) are occupied by old gravel pits. The third appears to be a possible saucer-cairn and lies a little to the north, on the summit of rising ground. It is a circular enclosure very slightly raised in the centre, and surrounded by a shallow ditch and outer bank of earth and stones. This bank is 3.8m broad and generally 0.7m high except on the SW where it is 1.2m high as the ground dips into a slight hollow. The ditch is 3.2m wide and 0.3m deep. Across the bank it measures 36.0m in diameter. Dense undergrowth and fallen trees within the wood made detailed examination difficult. Visited by OS (J L D) 25 June 1958. The survivor ('A') of the 'Three Laws', on a rise, has recently been cleared of trees and scrub and mutilated by bulldozers crossing it, and is in poor condition. It consists of a fairly level circular area with a slight internal rise, c.20.0m in diameter surrounded by a ditch c.2.0m wide and 0.4m average depth with an outer bank of rubble stones on it rim c.3.5m wide and 0.4m average height, best preserved in the N arc. The interior is featureless, except for a mutilation in the N arc where a hole has been dug in the ditch to reveal the rubble infill mentioned in OSA, and the considerable stone content of the interior area, revealed by probing. No entrance is evident. The site appears to be a saucer-cairn with Wessex affinities. Scotland's Places.

Posted by drewbhoy 14th April 2017ce

Comments (0)
You must be logged in to add a comment