Machrie Moor, Arran: recent excavations at two stone circles

Abstract

Excavations at stone circles 1 and 11 on Machrie Moor revealed previous use of the land on which they were situated, with features dating back to the earlier Neolithic. The exact positions occupied by both circles were found to have been preceded by timber monuments, comprising several elements in the case of circle 1. Evidence for fenced land divisions and ard ploughing between the timber and stone phases was also recovered. Both stone circles contained a single inserted cremation deposit. Stone circle 1 had been dug into in 1861 by James Bryce but circle 11 was previously untouched, having been buried in peat. The ceramic assemblage, though not extensive, produced examples of pottery traditions spanning over a millennium. A catalogue of Neolithic pottery by Audrey Henshall is on microfiche.

Excavation of pits containing grooved ware at Hillend, Clydesdale district, Strathclyde Region

“…Despite its small size, the Hillend group is a significant addition to the limited inventory of Grooved Ware from sites in southern Scotland, where hitherto the tradition has been represented almost entirely by unstratified material recovered from sand-dune systems (eg Luce Sands: Mclnnes 1964) or by much smaller unrepresentative groups or individual sherds from a few inland sites (listed by Wainwright & Longworth 1971, 268-306). To their list can now be added small groups recovered in the course of recent excavations at Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran (Haggarty 1991), Wellbrae, Clydesdale District (Discovery Excav Scot (1991Alexander & Armit, 1993), Biggar Common, also in Clydesdale District (Discovery Excav Scot (1993), 87; T Ward, pers comm), and Beckton, Annandale District (Discovery Excav Scot (1992), 19-20).…”

Rethinking Scotland's Neolithic: combining circumstance with context

“…Timber circles in Scotland share a number of characteristics that suggest re-use and alteration on a number of occasions. For instance, some timber circles were re-worked into stone circles, as at Machrie Moor, Arran, North Ayrshire (Haggarty 1991), or into henge monuments, as at Cairnpapple and North Mains, Perth & Kinross (Barclay 2005). Others have a tendency towards concentricity, demonstrated with a double circle at Machrie Moor I, a triple circle at Dunragit and six rings at Balfarg, Fife, suggesting the reiteration of the circle on several occasions.…”

A Neolithic ring-mound at Midtown of Pitglassie, Auchterless, Aberdeenshire

“…Apart from Pitglassie, the only direct dating evidence of the pottery style under discussion is provided by the early fourth millennium BC radiocarbon dates from Boghead (Burl 1984, 71), and it may be noted that similar pottery has been found twice below chambered cairns in Caithness (Davidson & Henshall 1991, 69) and below the stone and earlier timber settings at Machrie Moor (Haggarty 1991).…”

“…It is surely not chance that the pits containing bowl sherds at Machrie Moor correspond with the positioning of the subsequent circle monuments (Haggarty 1991) or that the general scatter of Neolithic pottery covers areas subsequently used by the builders of henge and mound at North Mains: there, their dispersal in the course of ploughing (Cowie 1983, 251) may owe as much to a ritual preparation of the surface as it does to a chance incorporation through manuring.…”