Summary

Pottery food vessel, finely ornamented, from Cockburn Mill Farm, Abbey St Bathans, Berwickshire

Accession Number

X.EE 102

Other references

Original description

URNS OF FOOD VESSEL TYPE: Urn, 5 3/8" high, 6" dia. at mouth, 3"at base, finely ornamented, found in a cist on the farm of Cockburn Mill, near Cockburn Law, Abbey St. Bathans, in 1911.Trevor Cowie notes, 29 September 2009: Katherine Prentice whose parents farm at Cockburn Mill sent in the following transcription of an extract from the Border Magazine, an illustrated monthly publication dated June 1911 (although it refers to Cockburn Farm it seems clear that this is a reference to the vessel from Cockburn Mill which it borders). The extract is from the THE BORDER KEEP (In which are preserved paragraphs from various publications, to the authors and editors of which we express our indebtedness). "In the first week of February, 1911, there was unearthed in a field on Cockburn Farm, near Duns, an ancient stone coffin. The place at which the cist was found is a stony bank, in cultivating which from time to time the plough had been noticed to come into contact with what seemed to be a large stone. It was arranged to remove the obstruction, but when those employed for the purpose had begun their work they discovered that the stone which had obstructed the work of the plough was really a slab covering a stone-built grave. The interior of the grave, which was formed of four large slabs of the red sandstone, which crops out on the banks of the river Whitadder measured about 3 feet in length, by 2 in width, and was about 2 feet deep. It was covered by a similar stone, but there was no bottom slab. The dimensions, like those of other cists, recorded in the district, show that the body which it contained had been doubled up before burial. The grave contained, in addition to some of the bones of the skeleton, a very fine urn of the “food vessel” type, such as is commonly associated with interments of the bronze age. The urn measured about 5½ inches in height, by 6½ inches across, the upper part adorned with two raised bands with a dotted pattern, the under conical part having a zig-zag ornament, and the whole by no means destitute of a certain rude artistic taste. It was preserved almost intact." (Info from Katherine Prentice, then Assistant Curator, Scottish Mining Museum). RCAHMS also notified.

Associated person/people (e.g. excavator/former collection)

None

Discovery / field collection

Date of discovery

Not recorded

Method (e.g. excavation)

Not recorded

Place (i.e. location of discovery)

Cockburn Mill Farm, Cockburn Law, Abbey St Bathans, Berwickshire, Scotland, Northern Europe

Grid reference

Not recorded

Acquisition

Acquisition date

1912

Acquisition source (i.e. name of donor)

George T. Turnbull

Acquisition source role (e.g. donor)

Donor

Image