Tuesday, April 20, 2010
WARBUSTER NORTH
There is much confusion over these tumuli remnants north of Skae Frue (the antiquarian's Skeldro, probably the true Orcadian name) on the map. What appear to be three reports in the NMRS are one. Captain F.W.L. Thomas in 1851 is the earliest note of them and isn't one of those. Several bowl-barrows in an era in on a moor north of that mound with a scatter of many lumps of cramp, some incorporated in the Warbuster hill-dyke. Petrie in September 1850 excavated one and found a crude hammerstone at the back of a small kist (P.S.A.S.VII).In 1928 RCAHMS came to call (Howan Wasbuster, RCAHMS reord no. HY21SE 40) but gave bad directions - fortunately they did tell us they were the ones on the map ! A group of 6/7 mounds all under 2½' high with large quantities of cramp. Special note was taken of one some 34 foot across having a few stones of decent size about its north margin with a NW/SE aligned 20"x18" cist near the centre in which the inspector found a bit of calcined bone. Next to it was a 21'D probably natural mound but then a similar sized mound to the first also with earthfast stones about the base [like Bookan Cairn HY21SE 19 had]. The latter had signs of excavation too, as had a fine-turf covered 25'D mound some 200~300m north. In the mid-1930's J.G. Callander saw them (HY21SE 4 at HY280145) but similarly muddled up the directions, referring to the Ring of Brodgar rather than the Ring of Bookan. He refers to the notable mound as having the stones of a cist cover visible at the top and covered by cramp. By 1966 the O.S. sees a total of seven mounds 4-10mD by 0.2-0.7m high which it correctly equates with those seen by Callander. At HY28031459 they found a mound without cist. The explanation would be that Callander mistook the cist base for a cover and these fragments were lost in the intervening decades. All of which leaves one anomaly. In 1964 the farmer at Howan had levelled the field adjacent to the north three years previously but still had a 5mD 0.7m high earthen mound (also HY21SE 40) to show the O.S. (at HY27921466), though this is most likely natural anyway.
There is much confusion over these tumuli remnants north of Skae Frue (the antiquarian's Skeldro, probably the true Orcadian name) on the map. What appear to be three reports in the NMRS are one. Captain F.W.L. Thomas in 1851 is the earliest note of them and isn't one of those. Several bowl-barrows in an era in on a moor north of that mound with a scatter of many lumps of cramp, some incorporated in the Warbuster hill-dyke. Petrie in September 1850 excavated one and found a crude hammerstone at the back of a small kist (P.S.A.S.VII).In 1928 RCAHMS came to call (Howan Wasbuster, RCAHMS reord no. HY21SE 40) but gave bad directions - fortunately they did tell us they were the ones on the map ! A group of 6/7 mounds all under 2½' high with large quantities of cramp. Special note was taken of one some 34 foot across having a few stones of decent size about its north margin with a NW/SE aligned 20"x18" cist near the centre in which the inspector found a bit of calcined bone. Next to it was a 21'D probably natural mound but then a similar sized mound to the first also with earthfast stones about the base [like Bookan Cairn HY21SE 19 had]. The latter had signs of excavation too, as had a fine-turf covered 25'D mound some 200~300m north. In the mid-1930's J.G. Callander saw them (HY21SE 4 at HY280145) but similarly muddled up the directions, referring to the Ring of Brodgar rather than the Ring of Bookan. He refers to the notable mound as having the stones of a cist cover visible at the top and covered by cramp. By 1966 the O.S. sees a total of seven mounds 4-10mD by 0.2-0.7m high which it correctly equates with those seen by Callander. At HY28031459 they found a mound without cist. The explanation would be that Callander mistook the cist base for a cover and these fragments were lost in the intervening decades. All of which leaves one anomaly. In 1964 the farmer at Howan had levelled the field adjacent to the north three years previously but still had a 5mD 0.7m high earthen mound (also HY21SE 40) to show the O.S. (at HY27921466), though this is most likely natural anyway.
Labels: Bookan, F.W.L. Thomas, George Petrie, Howan, J.G.Callander, Wasbister, Wasbuster
