Last Monday Thomas Rees of Rathmell Archaeology Ltd told the Arran Antiquarians about the excavations carried out at Arran High prior to the building of the new school.
He runs a commercial archaeology company which specialises in ‘rescue’ digs at sites earmarked for development that local councils are legally required to undertake so that no valuable archaeology is lost forever.
He explained what can happen if a council is lax about this and it is not done at the right time.
After being called in they have to examine the site and assess what, if anything, needs doing.
At the high school preliminary trenches were dug outside the playing pitches but nothing much of interest was found, except a fire pit and some post holes.
As soon as the full site was available a large trench was dug across the field and this yielded a treasure trove of finds.
At first a stone kist — a coffin-shaped stone sided box, big enough for a crouched burial or a funerary urn containing ashes, topped with a large capstone — was uncovered.
This led to the digging of a larger trench of 30 x 30 metres, which revealed four more kists and four urn cremations.
No human remains were found, only a knife and seven Bronze Age pottery vessels.
Over the centuries the site has been ‘attacked’ by agriculture and change of use to playing fields and originally could have been much larger.
Radio carbon dating of the pottery, seeds and tiny bones shards yielded dates between 2000 and 1750BC. These finds help to tell us how Bronze Age people buried their dead and used the same site for hundreds of years.
It does not matter that this site is now destroyed as it would not have lasted for ever in its natural state and now it is recorded in minute detail for posterity.
An excellent talk, profusely illustrated, enthusiastically presented in a language everyone could understand.
The next meeting will be on Monday, November 19, at 2pm in Brodick Village Hall when Avril Paton, the well-known and admired artist from Glasgow, formerly of High Corrie will talk about ‘My Life, My Work.’
Non-members and visitors welcome.
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