North
end wall, showing the entrance to the
north cell
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Each
wall has a cell built into its thickness
and each of the cells is entered by a narrow
opening, about 50 x 50 cm. The one in the
south cell is level with the floor but the
other three are hatchways, separated from
the main chamber by a step. The northern
cell is the most difficult to access—not
only is there a 30 cm step but there is
a thin slab set on edge on top of that,
raising the opening a further 16 cm.. The
opening in the west wall leads to a double
cell with the two parts divided by a lintel
and a kerb-stone. The cells are all roughly
the same size and shape—about 1.5
x 1 metre at floor level with a corbelled
ceiling that rises about 1.7 metres above
the floor. However, it should be noted that
the roofs of three of the cells were removed
and then replaced and that of the northern
cell was entirely missing when the site
was explored in 1888. Only the ceiling of
the east cell was apparently left undisturbed.
The main cell on the west side is the largest
and its companion is the smallest.
The
first proper excavations were conducted
by M.M. Charleson in 1901. He found that
the entire interior was blocked with stone
debris, the upper part of which contained
a lot of animal bones. The lowest 30 cm
of fill, however, he described as having
“a somewhat fatty unctuous appearance”
and contained human and dog bones. The side
cells too were found to contain human and
animal bones, and there was a human skull
in the roofed part of the entrance passage.
Altogether there was evidence of at least
eight interments—five in the main
chamber and three in the cells. No articulated
skeletons were found, only the skulls and
some of the other bones. Dog bones were
plentiful and the skulls of twenty-four
dogs were found on the floor of the chamber.
Unfortunately,
all of the animal bone, which also included
cattle, birds and what may have been a small
horse, has been lost. |
