Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 78

It has recently been noted that small stone microliths occur further north than previously thought. The artefacts are described in detail and illustrated. The types from Tentsmuir are new with an absence of true geometric shapes, a preponderance of obliquely trimmed blades and a lack of diminutive microliths. The general distribution of microliths in Scotland is considered.

A previously unrecognised group of chambered cairns have recently been identified in a 'blank' belt from the Dornoch Firth to the Cromarty Firth. The list comprises a regular chain of fourteen long or chambered cairns beginning just west of Edderton and extending along the foothills of Easter Ross overlooking the Cromarty Firth almost to the mouth of the Conon, together with eight comparable monuments east of that firth on the Black Isle. Only three of the monuments have previously been described. The relationship of these monuments to the Clava and Pentland types is considered and each of them is described in detail.

Incised slabs form the largest class of sepulchral monuments of the Middle Ages now remaining in Scotland. They fall into two main groups, the West Highland slabs, in which Celtic influence strongly predominates, and the Lowland slabs, which follow the general style of contemporary monuments in Western Europe. The former are generally of mica-schist, the latter of sandstone. Four previously unreported late medieval examples are considered.

A brief account of the history of the castle and results of excavation are presented. Only the ruin of a small castellated mansion, dating from the later sixteenth century was visible. Excavation revealed the base of a massive tower-house thought to date to the fifteenth century. A brief note on the Cheyne family who owned the tower-house and a pottery sherd which came from Germany are included.

In the course of the clearance of the Museum's cellars in 1939 a box was discovered containing relics from the excavation of a cave near Kildalton House, Islay. The relics comprised pounders, pot lids, flints, animal bone, charcoal and almost three hundred pottery sherds.

A short cist of early Bronze Age type contained cremated human remains. It had been badly damaged on discovery. There were no traces of a mound or a cairn. The bones comprised parts of an adult and some animal bones.

The discovery of a few pottery sherds happened during machining and it was clear that a group of at least seven cinerary urns had been destroyed. An eighth urn was discovered along with deposits of cremated bone. There were also traces of a probable cairn and another inverted urn. Parts of at least four urns were recovered and a minimum of three individuals were represented among the cremated bone.

A long cist contained an extended skeleton together with an arrowhead and a slug knife of flint, both calcined, and fragments of bronze which joined together to form part of a blade. This grooved blade is unlike any other surviving relic from a burial deposit\r\nin Scotland.

Short accounts of the lives and achievements of James Curle and Arthur J H Edwards. Curle's account of the brochs at Bow and Torwoodlee, which he contributed to the Society's Proceedings, still holds its place as the basic description of two of the most remarkable early monuments of the Lowlands while his work at Newsteads Fort laid the foundations for a typology of Roman objects found in Scotland. Arthur Edwards was director of the museum from 1938-44. As a result of his studies he was able to initiate a new era in the conservation of the relics of Scotland's past, and the splendid iron work from Newstead, Traprain Law, and Viking graves constitutes enduring monuments to his skill.