The early Bronze Age cairn at Sketewan, Balnaguard, Perth & Kinross

Abstract

The excavation of the cairn in 1988 revealed a complex sequence of EBA funerary activities. These comprised several episodes of pyre cremation, construction of a large central cist, and six smaller satellite cists all of which had cremations deposited within them. This `cemetery' area was later surrounded by an eccentrically positioned ring-cairn which, subsequently, was covered by a massive mantle of stones. Burial and other ceremonial activities continued in the vicinity of the cairn, taking the form of further cremation deposits within a succession of at least three ring-groove palisade, and a minor cairn finally covered these structures as well. Two final cremations in pits atop this cairn, marked by small upright boulders, attest the longevity of the funerary tradition associated with this monument. There are specialist reports on: `The pottery' by Colin Burgess (305--9); `The plano-convex knife' by Bill Finlayson (309--10); `Cremated human remains' by Kath McSweeney (311--18); `Plant remains' by Camilla Dickson (318--22); `The soil and pollen stratigraphy beneath the cairn' (322--5) and `Palynology of the cist deposits' (326--7), both by Richard Tipping; `Minerals' by J G MacDonald (327--8); and `Kerb stones of the ring-cairn: size, type and colour' by Richard Tipping (328--31).