Scottish Archaeological Journal

This paper discusses the written and material legacies of three nineteenth-century antiquarians who worked in the north of Scotland on a particular monument type, the broch. It explores the degree to which each has been admitted as an influence on the development of the broch as a type, then compares this established typology with the experiences of the author in the field of the sites described. Wider issues are addressed concerning the role of earlier forms of archaeological discourse in the development of present-day classifications of material culture and the problems of reconciling such classifications with our own experiences of material culture.

A group of four pits was excavated on a low gravel terrace above the floodplain of the River Kelvin. One pit contained sherds from four collared urns, while another pit contained fragments of a fifth. Radiocarbon dates suggest an eighteenth-sixteenth- century BC date for these features. Whereas almost all known collared urns accompany cremations, this was not the case here and alternative reasons for deposition are discussed.