Fieldwalking in Sutherland Day 3: A visit to a chambered cairn and Dunrobin Castle Museum

Another low-lying field under investigation near Loch Fleet. (Photo: Aaron Watson)

The chambered cairn overlooking Golspie has a tree growing from its main chamber. (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Annette, Richard and Ronnie examine the orientation and landscape setting of the chambered cairn. (Photo: Aaron Watson)

While the cairn interior is disturbed, it was still possible to determine that the rear stone in the chamber has a smooth inwards facing surface, potentially offering a good screen for projected archaeo-optical images. (Photo: Aaron Watson)

In the afternoon we paid a visit toDunrobin Castle. In the grounds is a museum which contains some of the artefacts found on the shingle banks at Loch Fleet. (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Many thanks to Pat Scott and Dorothy Low for help with the project, the local farmers for their support, and to the Coffee Bothy café in Golspie for their hospitality and hot drinks.

Further information

The fieldwalking project at Loch Fleet is a collaboration between Richard Bradley, Aaron Watson, Ronnie Scott and Annette Jack. It is part of a wider investigation into the role of marine transportation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age of Britain and Ireland. The Sutherland project develops upon a survey focused upon the Culbin Sands, near Findhorn, in 2014. For more details please see:

Maritime Havens in Earlier Prehistoric Britain, by Richard Bradley, Alice Rogers, Fraser Sturt, Aaron Watson, Diana Coles, Julie Gardiner and Ronnie Scott. 2016. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 82, 1-35.
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The Earlier Prehistoric Collections from the Culbin Sands, Northern Scotland: the Construction of a Narrative, by Richard Bradley, Aaron Watson and Ronnie Scott. 2016. In Ancient Lives: Object, people and place in early Scotland. Essays for David V Clarke on his 70th birthday, edited by Fraser Hunter and Alison Sheridan. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 233-43.
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