The excavation of a kerbed cairn at Beech Hill House, Coupar Angus, Perthshire

Excavation of an Early Bronze Age cemetery and other sites a the West Water Reservoir, West Linton, Scottish Borders

“…Parallels for both the bipartite vase and the globular bowl forms, and for their general style of decoration, are easy to find. In addition to the aforementioned Limefield example, similar bipartite vases could be cited, for example, from Idvies, Angus (Callander 1924), Cockenzie, East Lothian (Cowe 1983, no 27), and Beech Hill House (Cist 5), Coupar Angus, Perthshire (Stevenson 1995). Examples of parallels for the globular bowl include Upper Kenly (Proudfoot 1997) and Balbirnie (Ritchie 1974), both in Fife; and Gladsmuir, Midlothian (Cowe 1983, no 21).…”

“…The main activity on the site was funerary, with both inhumations and cremations being deposited in cists and perhaps unlined graves. Although there is a broad shift towards cremation through time, it is well attested that both rites were in concurrent use during the Early Bronze Age (Burgess 1980, 297-300); for Scottish examples associated with Food Vessels, see for instance Beech Hill House, Perthshire (Stevenson 1995), North Mains (Barclay 1983), or Barns Farm ( Watkins 1982). The reasons for choosing one form of burial over another are not understood in detail, but could involve, for instance, manner or time of death, family traditions, status, or death away from home (Burgess 1980).…”

“…It is hard to assess the presence or absence of markers, as normal excavation, which concentrates on an isolated cist find, stands little or no chance of finding them. However, where larger scale excavation has taken place there is no clear indication of them, as at Barns Farm ( Watkins 1982), North Mains (Barclay 1983) or Beech Hill House (Stevenson 1995). This suggests the West Water features are genuinely atypical, and the possibility that the marked burials were in some way special should be considered.…”

“…Interestingly there are clear differences between burial rites; most cremations are in filled cists (24 compared to five empty) while inhumations are more balanced, but with a preference for empty (50 compared to 20). While many sites adhere either to empty or to full cists, some show both: for instance Beech Hill House (Stevenson 1995), Cists 1-4 filled, Cist 5 empty; Gairneybank, Kinross-shire (Cowie & Ritchie 1991), Cists 1, 2 and ?3 empty, Cist 4 with a gravel fill; North Mains (Barclay 1983), notably the henge where burial B was empty while burial C had been backfilled such that the cover slab did not touch the side slabs; Almondbank, Perthshire (Stewart & Barclay 1997, 33), Cists II, III and VI empty, V, VII-XI filled.…”

Three cists and a possible Roman road at Barbush Quarry, Dunblane, Perthshire

“…Three other Food Vessel-associated dates have been anomalously late -namely two from human bone at Mount Stuart, Bute (Sheridan 1997) and one from charcoal at Beech Hill House, Perthshire (Stevenson 1995). These dates do not form a coherent group, nor do they make sense in terms of the other dating evidence relating to Food Vessels and their associated artefacts.…”