Monument record 870 - GEIRISCLETT, NORTH UIST

NF77NE 15 7684 7520.

(NF 7684 7520) - Chambered cairn or long cist lying upon Geirisclett, almost exactly at high-water-mark on the extremity of a small point.
It was investigated by Beveridge who found three of its sides intact but the east end entirely lost. At that point there were slight indications of a narrow passage bending towards the south. Part of a fallen capstone was found at the western end and what appeared to be the main capstone a few yards away. The chamber was paved throughout.
Finds included fragments of pottery, a flint scraper and a broken hammerstone. (E Beveridge 1911)
The site was visited by Miss Henshall in 1962, when the cairn was found to be considerably robbed and disturbed: on the south side stones have been built into a rough breakwater projecting from the cairn to make a sheltered landing-place. (Information from MS, A S Hensall {Chambered Tombs of Scotland, Vol. 2})
The finds are in the NMAS.
E Beveridge 1911; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1912.

The remains of this much-robbed cairn are generally as described and planned by Henshall.
The chamber is in a good state of preservation. To the east of the chamber, on the high-water-line, is the probable capstone, with another large stone to its north.
Surveyed at 1/10,560.
Visited by OS (W D J) 21 June 1965.

NF 7684 7520 A trial excavation was conducted, by the author in association with CFA, in the chamber of this Neolithic tomb which had been previously investigated by Erskine Beveridge in the first decade of this century (NF 77 NE 15). The chamber lies at HWM and is highly vulnerable to tidal erosion and scouring.
Excavations revealed an inner and outer chamber divided by a substantial threshold slab. The inner chamber was neatly paved, as Beveridge had suggested, and also incorporated a hearth in its NW corner. Further excavation, in a 1 x 1m area where there was no paving, revealed underlying and apparently undisturbed deposits, the earliest of which was a dark silty material banked up against the sides of the chamber.
Paving in the outer chamber had been all but removed by scouring, apparently since Beveridge's time, revealing a partial lower paving of small stones and a post-hole containing two sherds of Neolithic pottery (Hebridean Ware), probably residual.
The paving and associated features in both chambers appear to date to a period after the removal of the tomb's capstones, possibly in the Bronze Age or later, and may relate to secondary buildings built into the body of the cairn. The excavations have, however, demonstrated the survival of earlier deposits and artefactual remains at risk from further erosion and scouring.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
I Armit 1996


NF 7684 7520 Further excavations were conducted during May 1997 at the Neolithic chambered tomb of Geirisclett (NMRS NF 77 NE 15). Trial excavations in 1996 (Armit 1996) had demonstrated that primary tomb deposits in the burial chamber and passage areas had survived previous investigations c 1900-10 by Erskine Beveridge, but that these were now under threat of scouring by tidal action. The 1997 season was designed to excavate fully any deposits surviving in the burial chamber and passage areas in advance of their destruction. The structure of the cairn was not examined as it is not considered to be at risk in the medium term.
The burial chamber is an open-ended rectangle, 2.7 x 1.4m, and is divided into two compartments by upright sill stones c 0.5m high. Its walls are defined by five large orthostats, 1.15-2m high. The passage leading to the chamber is c 2.1m long and of uncertain width, and the kerb of the cairn was traced running in a gentle arc to the N from the passage for c 4.5m.
The inner compartment of the burial chamber contained a sequence of fills which can be divided into four units - patches of a primary floor, in situ secondary fills, disturbed secondary fills, and tertiary paving associated with hearths. It was these tertiary levels which Beveridge had exposed in his excavation at the site early this century. The outer compartment contained two distinct fills, both containing patches of paving, again sealed beneath a layer of paving exposed by Beveridge. There was no definite evidence of in situ burial deposits in this compartment. Very few deposits had survived tidal scouring in the passage area; only a patch of rough paving with a probable post-hole cut through it was encountered.
The finds comprise mainly pottery, cremated bone, and quartz. The pottery derived from at least 11 vessels in a variety of Hebridean Neolithic forms as well as a sherd from a beaker. Sherds from individual vessels were found in some cases at a variety of levels across the burial compartments, suggesting some degree of disturbance of burial deposits in antiquity. The presence of both cremated and inhumed bone reflects variations in the burial rite practised. Quartz lumps and flakes, and the occasional flint flake, were found throughout the burial compartments, and must have been deliberately introduced. No finds were recovered from the passage area. Soil samples have been taken with a view to conducting macrofossil, pollen, and soil micromorphological analyses.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
A J Dunwell 1997

Geirisclett chambered cairn lies at HWM on a rocky promontory on the Western shore of the Vallay Strand . The cairn has been much disturbed by stone robbing and later constructions of uncertain date within its core ( these latter disturbed and rendered largely uninterpretable as a result of exploratory excavtions by Erskine Beveridge.) The cairn now stands to more than 2m high, and its size and shape are difficult to define with confidnce: Henshall ( 1972 ) proposed a sub- rectangular form c.20m across and classified it as being of 'Clyde' type. A sub- rectangular burial chamber and short entrance passage lie on the Eastern side of the cairn. The chamber was explored in 1911 by Erskine Beveridge (1911 , 255-6 ); remaining deposits were excavated in 1996 and 1997 in response to the threat of tidal scouring ( Dunwell 1997;DES 1996, 106; DES 1997, 84), revealing evidence of Neolithic and Beaker funerary activity. A curving lenght of the kerb of the cairn was exposed, suggesting that it had a sub- rounded forn. A full account of this site is being produced (Dunwell and Armit in prep.)


Date Added
06/09/2017 Type Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn
Local Authority - Na h-Eileanan Siar
Parish
North Uist
NGR -NF 76833 75205
Coordinates
76833, 875205
The monument is the remains of a chambered cairn dating from the Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age. It was constructed and in use between around 4000BC to 1800BC. It survives as a sub-circular grass-covered cairn. The burial chamber, which is built of large upright slabs, is visible on the east-southeast side of the cairn. The monument is located on a low promontory on the eastern shore of the Geirisclett peninsula, immediately above the high water mark.

The cairn measures around 18m in diameter and stands up to 2m high. The remains of a kerb are visible on the north and east sides of the cairn. The chamber is formed by five large upright slabs defining an irregular rectangle around 2.7m long by up to 1.4m wide. The slabs vary in height from 1.15m to 2m high. The interior of the burial chamber is divided into two compartments by a substantial stone slab, laid horizontally. A second slab divides the outer compartment from the remains of the entrance passage. Only the north side of this passage is preserved. It is defined by a line of kerb stones which extend eastwards from the chamber for around 2.1m and meet the outer kerb of the cairn. The south side of the passage cannot be traced. A large prone slab measuring 3.8m long, up to 1.1m wide and 0.3m thick lies outside the chamber entrance.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above ground elements of the field wall and breakwater.
HES Scheduling Description.

Erskine Beveridge, 1911, North Uist: its archaeology and topography, 255-6 illust. (Bibliographic reference). SWE12876.

PSAS, 1911-12, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 335 (Bibliographic reference). SWE9079.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 80, No. 237 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

J G Callander, 1928-9b, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 96-7 (Bibliographic reference). SWE337.

J N G Ritchie, 1969-70a, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 45 (Bibliographic reference). SWE6178.

D L Clarke, 1970, Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 2, 518, No. 1669 (Bibliographic reference). SWE1060.

A. Henshall, 1972a, The Chambered Tombs of Scotland, 515-17, (Bibliographic reference). SWE3275.

I Kinnes, 1985, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 45, No. 5 (Bibliographic reference). SWE4689.

I Armit, 1996i, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 106 (Bibliographic reference). SWE38155.

A J Dunwell, 1997, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 84 (Bibliographic reference). SWE40610.

Andrew Dunwell, 1998, Vallay Strand Project 1995-7 (Unpublished document). SWE41015.