Carn Ban
Unearthed in 1902 by Thomas Hastie Bryce (1862-1946), Carn Ban is a Clyde Tomb in a clearing on the Isle of Arran in North Ayrshire in Scotland .
The cairn from "Black Arran Pitchstones" ( Pechstein ) is one of the few megalithic complexes on the island that was not built near the coast. The hill of Carn Ban is roughly rectangular, about 30.0 m long and 18.0 m wide. At the lower end of the cairn it is about 4.5 m high, at the rear of the chamber about 3.6 m high and at the northeast end it merges into a semicircular 10.2 m fringed by horns (horned cairn) as the hill climbs wide and over 6.1 m deep forecourt.
Obviously, earth and stone from the slope above the cairn have weathered and have accumulated in the depression between the hill and the end of the cairn, but above all they have almost completely buried the forecourt. The end of the two horns is marked by two upright plates, while cairn material is not visible at the ends of the horns. Apparently, although it exists below the vegetation, it never reached the level of the orthostats . On the northwest side of one horn there is a stone about three feet high. It marks the horn width of about 4.2 m. When TH Bryce excavated this side of the cairn in 1902, he found no built enclosure. Six stones of the facade of the forecourt can be seen at irregular intervals. Apparently, however, several are hidden. The 5.6 m long chamber is divided into four areas. It was backfilled with loose earth and stones, some large, after the Bryce excavation. The floor of the chamber was covered with a layer of charcoal two inches thick .
The only finds consisted of flint and pitch stone flakes and the unburned fragment of a human bone. A now-lost fragment of burned bones was also found at the southwest end of the Cairn, where several larger stones indicate the presence of a second chamber. At the west corner of the cairn was a layer of three flat plates that appear to be pieces of broken stone. It was probably standing upright at or near the corner of the cairn.
A flint scraper and some chips, mainly made of flint, but also some pitch stone, were found near Carn Ban.
literature
- Thomas H. Bryce: On the cairns of Arran: a record of further explorations during the season of 1902. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. 37, 1902/1903, pp. 36–67, here pp. 36–44, ( digital version (PDF; 1.89 MB) ).
- Audrey Shore Henshall: The chambered tombs of Scotland. Volume 2. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1972, ISBN 0-85224-190-9 , pp. 381-3833, no. ARN 10.
- Jack Stevenson: Glasgow, Clydeside and Stirling (= Exploring Scotland's Heritage. ). HMSO, Edinburgh 1995, ISBN 0-11-495291-4 .
- Frances Lynch: Megalithic Tombs and Long Barrows in Britain . Shire, Princes Risborough 1997, ISBN 0-7478-0341-2 p. 38 ( Shire archeology 73).
Web links
- Entry on Carn Ban in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database
- Description Engl. Picture and sketches
- Chamber graves on Arran engl.
Coordinates: 55 ° 29 '17.6 " N , 5 ° 10' 53.2" W.